Bina Harbour Project Committee Approves Site Layout Design

Senior officials from across government met in Honiara earlier this month to review options for the layout of the Bina Harbour port and tuna processing plant planned for Malaita.

Three concept layouts for the site were completed by companies Kramer Asia Pacific, which focused on the land side infrastructure, and Haskoning Australia, which addressed the wharf and other port infrastructure.

The Bina Harbour Tuna Processing Plant Project Steering Committee participants were unanimous in endorsing a layout that best suited the nature of the site, was fit for purpose and cost-effective, and could accommodate expansion.

Further, it was acceptable to the community and had the least impact on the environment.

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey, Stanley Waleanisia, told the meeting,

“This is a priority project, a lot of work is required, and we all need to get on board and achieve this for Malaita.”

The port infrastructure features a berth designed for loading and unloading fishing and international shipping vessels, as well as a container and cargo handling yard. The tuna processing plant infrastructure includes a construction pad, access roads, office and personnel accommodation, utilities and storage facilities.

Over the next two to three months, the concept layout will be developed to a point where more detailed costings can be completed. This will give the Government and its development partners a clearer understanding of the funding required to construct the port and other supporting infrastructure. Further design work will follow.

Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Permanent Secretary and Chair, Dr Christain Ramofafia, expressed his gratitude to the meeting for its support, emphasising that, as a national project, the MFMR needed and welcomed broad government involvement. He also acknowledged the support given to the Bina Harbour Project Office, which is coordinating preparations for the project.

“We are extremely grateful to the New Zealand Government for its support, due to which we are making progress and on track for a good outcome.”

While the location of the tuna processing plant is indicated on the layout, it will not be built by the government. It will be constructed and operated by a global tuna industry operator under the project’s public-private partnership model.

The concept layouts have drawn on many months of prefeasibility studies, bathymetric surveys, and geotechnical data undertaken by the Bina Harbour Project Office.

The Steering Committee also discussed the cross-agency development of a Master Plan for the entire land area to accommodate residential and commercial growth. The need and means to set aside government funds for this national investment, as well as to secure development partner financing, were discussed, with PS Finance and Treasury, Mckinnie Dentana expressing his ministry’s availability to support this effort.

The ministries represented included National Planning and Development Cooperation, Finance and Treasury, Lands, Housing and Survey, Environment, Commerce, Trade and Industry, Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening, and the Office of the Prime Minister.

It was hosted by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the lead ministry for the Bina Harbour Tuna Processing Plant project.

The Bina Harbour Project Office is funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Ends//

– Bina Harbour Project Office