BY NED GAGAHE

Central Islands Province Premier Michael Salini has raised concerns about the limited consultation period for the Special Economic Zone Bill 2024, telling Parliament’s Bills and Legislation Committee that his delegation lacked sufficient time to properly analyze the proposed legislation. 

Speaking during yesterday’s hearing, Salini revealed his team only received a copy of the bill last week and participated in a briefing with the Commerce Ministry task force just one day before the parliamentary session.

“We didn’t have time to really scrutinize and understand the bill in its entirety,” Salini stated, adding that this tight timeline prevented them from fully grasping the technical aspects or potential negative impacts on provinces. 

While expressing these concerns, the premier carefully acknowledged the government’s efforts, stating: “We don’t want to undermine the amount of hard work that has been put into this bill.” He noted his understanding that consultations had occurred in other provinces before his team’s involvement. 

Salini called for more inclusive consultation processes in the future to ensure provincial governments can meaningfully contribute to legislation that directly affects their communities.

Despite the criticism, Premier Salini offered conditional support for the Bill.

 “If the intention is to build our economy for the benefit of our people, my team is willing to support it.” He said. 

The premier also highlighted ongoing challenges in legislative consultation between the national government and provincial administrations.

The Bills and Legislation Committee is expected to consider these concerns as deliberations on the Special Economic Bill throughout the week, with remaining stakeholders and witnesses who are invited to present their views.

Presented before the Committee yesterday were Premiers of Renbel, Malaita, Choiseul, Isabel, Makira, Western, Temotu and Central and provincial government officials.

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