LEGISLATION DEPRIVED BILLIONS, A PAP FINDING REVEALED

                                                                   Coconut copra. Photo credit: www.jebasexports.com

A People’s Alliance Party (PAP) meeting in Honiara has been told State legislations have for many years continued to deprive Solomon Islands billions of dollars of export earnings from its resources.

National Economic Consultant, Reuben Tovutovu, a member of PAP in his power-point presentation, said the Government and the resource owners are the big losers because state legislations do not allow them to receive the maximum benefits of export earnings from their resources.

He said the forestry, agriculture and fisheries sectors could have brought in billions of dollars annually, but poor legislation, monitoring, and recording of actual export volumes have been the culprits.

Mr. Tovutovu said transfer pricing by companies operating in Solomon Islands is also a major killer because profits they make are remitted back overseas.

PAP Ministers agreed with the assertion and uttered the need for a re-look into the legislations covering the sectors.