The Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry is calling on the Government, Opposition and Civil Society groups debating over the media to sort out their differences and put the issue to responsible authorities.
Chief Executive Officer, Jerry Tengemoana says that whilst he understands the call made by the Opposition and Civil Society for the government to be accountable, SICCI feels that there are better and more effective ways of addressing the issue to avoid distorting the integrity of all institutions concerned, as noted over the on-going media debates.
Tengemoana says business houses pay big chunks of taxes to the government and therefore supports the call for the government to be more accountable and responsible when spending taxpayers’ money.
“As the representative body and voice of the private sector, SICCI will be expressing its concerns directly to the government in a formal way”, says Tengemoana.
“This on-going debate is causing a lot of anxiety within the business community and we want to avoid possible repercussions that might arise from the frustrations of the population, if the issue is not addressed properly.” he warns.
Tengemoana reiterates that any social disorder will heavily impact on businesses, and more so, on the tourism industry as Solomon Islands gears up to host the next Miss South Pacific event in the latter part of this year.
SICCI feels there are more pressing issues such as unemployment, traffic, infrastructure, health and sanitation that the nation should be focussing on and therefore appeals to all parties to redirect their energy and resources in addressing these issues.
The call by the Chamber follows the on-going media debate over the recent Indonesia trip by Prime Minister, Honourable Gordon Darcy Lilo which has been branded by civil society groups and the opposition as being controversial.
Press Release: SICCI