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Cover Story

responsible and are required to take action immediately.”
OceanWatch Solomon Islands is a local non-government or-
ganisation working with remote coastal communities to promote
interest in the sustainable management of their resources. Ocean-
watch’s Chris Bone has told Islands Business that he suspects
the delay was due to ineptitude in the company itself and that
Honiara was caught unawares. He claims no oil spillage contain-
ment equipment has been seen in Rennell since mining started.
“One of the reasons this is such a tragedy and that it has got
so bad, is that the environmental impact assessment or public
environment report, they weren’t scrutinised properly because
someone should have seen this as a possibility…There should
have been an oil boom there and tested for something like this
and why isn’t there an oil boom in Honiara? This could happen
there as well.”
Prime Minister Hou has questioned the circumstances under
which Bintan is mining bauxite, telling the ABC: “If the normal
due process was not adhered to in the award of the development
concerned and of the mining lease, then this would constitute a
serious breach in our process and must be dealt with accordingly
including the revocation of the development concerned and the
mining lease.”
He described the mining operations as ‘immoral’, paying little
taxes or royalties. The government of Mannaseh Sogavare re-
moved a 20 per cent tax on bauxite exports in 2017.
“At this point apart from some direct employment benefits for
workers in Rennell, the country is not benefitting from this opera-
tion at all, it is my government’s view, that exporting of resources
with virtually no economic return is immoral and unacceptable,”
Hou told ABC news.
The Solomon Islands Government said it was considering halt-
ing mining operations in order to speed up the clean-up process,
but at the time of going to press, this had not yet happened. An
investigation into the issuance of the mining license has been
ordered. The grounded Solomon Trader on Rennell Islands’s west coast. Photo: Australian High
Tourism Solomons CEO, Josefa Tuamoto says the local commu- Commission-DFAT
nity and the country’s tourism industry are threatened by the spill.
“We hold grave concerns for the local community and for the It blamed the slow response on bad weather, the remoteness
damage already done to their homes and livelihoods” he said. of the location, and “ransacking of the vessel once the crew was
“Add to this the economic impact this disaster potentially holds for evacuated.”
the country – international divers make up a large percentage of Transparency Solomon Islands puts the blame for the crisis
the 28,000 international visitors we host every year and this situ- squarely at government’s feet, saying: “The government… turned
ation even now could act as a strong deterrent to their coming.” a blind eye to the fact that with the forest now almost gone, the
The Australian government has been central to the recovery loggers turned miners have brought into the mining sector the
effort, supplying equipment, vessels and specialised personnel. corrupt practices of the logging sector.”
But like the Solomon Islands leadership, Australia has been It urges voters in the April national election to vote for leaders
frustrated at the slowness and inadequacy of the response, Min- who will reclaim their forest and minerals from unscrupulous
ister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne stating: “Given escalating operators, and to be vigilant regardless of who comes to power.
ecological damage, and a lack of action by commercial entities Oceanwatch’s Chris Bone says while he suspects the spill and
involved, the Solomon Islands Government has requested Aus- the mining is an election issue in Rennell itself, it doesn’t appear
tralia’s assistance. In response, we are mobilising an offshore to be an election issue more broadly.
pollution mitigation operation, including equipment, vessels and “The fact that there zero tax being charged to Bintan for all of
specialised personnel, under the leadership of AMSA and work- the bauxite that is being exported, that certainly should be an
ing alongside the Solomon Islands government’s own efforts. election issue… there is no benefit to the Solomon Islands to this
“Australia continues to stand behind the Solomon Islands Gov- bauxite being exported. There is very little economic development
ernment’s efforts to ensure that commercial parties responsible from it for the people there, and I know people there, I have talked
for this incident take action and are held responsible.” to people face to face who have been persuaded to let their land
New Zealand has also supplied expertise, and Bintan Mining be mined and it is awful,” he says.
says it has bought in US and UK experts. “It’s absolutely tragic and this will make it much, much
For its part, Bintan has released a statement saying: “This is a worse.
normal salvage operation and local people should not be panick-
ing as we are doing all the necessary procedures to curtail the oil Additional reporting by Samantha Magick
spillage and eventual bring to safety the vessel Solomon Trader
from the reef.” r benjokomaisavai@gmail.com

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