DFAT Town houses, a major face-lift in Honiara City
Today we are here to witness the ground-breaking ceremony to commence the construction of a modern accommodation facility that will provide an excellent face-lift to our city Honiara.
SINPF Board Chairman (ag) David Rupokets made the statement when deliver his speech to mark the ground- breaking ceremony last Thursday.
This investment is particularly timely and important when our economy is going through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and negative ramifications of the recent November 2021 Honiara riots that pulled our economy backwards.
This modern residential compound built to international standards will provide a home for Australian diplomats and their families who will be coming to live and work in our country contributing to our economic and social development.
This new investment of around $112 million is made principally for our members return and growth in their retirement wealth. This investment meets our investment benchmarks. For the first 11 years, a fixed income stream will be flowing through from the lease of the residential compound for which an agreement to lease had already been signed. Additional income from the 10 new apartments will also contribute further to our incomes and returns.
The completed accommodation facilities will also contribute to and increasing our stock of economic assets in our country. As new investments are made to increase our national stock of capital assets this will also increase our capacity to grow our economy and our national wealth.
This investment will also expose and lift our internal capacity and experience when quality buildings are designed and built to international standards and quality.
In the construction phase, this investment will enable getting money into the pockets of workers who will be employed directly or indirectly and business and firms who will be providing services to the project.
“Your support for this new investment the Board has made to secure better and sustainable long term returns for our members for their retirement”, Director Rupokets said.
Director Rupokets has confirmed that this is the first property investment that SINPF Board had negotiated first with an anchor tenant before we designed and commence the construction of the property to their requirements and standards. The anchor tenant is a blue lessee, the Australian High Commission on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia.
Having a blue chip tenant as the Commonwealth Government of Australia provides stability in our property investments portfolio in terms of consistent income and returns.
The journey to invest in this new residential compound for the Australian High Commission and the expansion of the Hibiscus Executive Apartment (HEA) started on 3rd May 2018 when the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund Board (SINPF) register its interest to participate in a public tender issued by the Australian High Commission.
We had come a long way since registering our interest by going through the various stages of the tender by; i) successfully submitting our expression of interest (EOI) and later request for tender (RFT) to the Australian High Commission; ii) securing Board and Minister of Finance approval to invest in the new property; iii) signing an agreement to lease with the Australian High Commission, and; iv) recently signing of the construction contract with Hatanga Limited on 4th March 2022.
The SINPF Board would want to thank the Australian High Commission in accepting our bid and giving the opportunity to the SINPF Board the investment to construct this residence to their standards for their long-term lease. We also want to thank His Excellency Dr Lahlan Strahan and Mr. Brian Diamond Counselor and Counsel General, for their support and assistance in progressing the project.
To construct the new homes to the required standards, quality and pricing Hatanga Limited a local company was selected among other competitive contractors to construct the accommodation units and facilities.
“We are looking forward to working in partnership with you in the next two years for the construction and completion of these new facilities.
Since inception of the project Rick Bagby of FMC Pacific Ltd our property investment advisor has supported and worked with the Board, i)from the registration of our interest to preparing and submitting the EOI and the RFT, ii) designing the architectural plans and costings, and; iii) to preparing the tender documents for the construction contract.
SINPF Board applauds Bagby for your technical support, guidance, and assistance over the past three years in particular in securing the Commonwealth of Australia residential lease. FMC will be our project manager for the construction of the accommodation units over the next two years.
SINPF Board commends Lord Mayor and his team at the City Council for the approvals of the necessary and required permits that has allowed us commences the construction of this new investment asset.
The Commissioner of Lands and his team working with our team to sort out land issues so the investment can progress according to plan.
The SINPF Board is a national long-term investor with our investment horizon matching the typical membership tenure of our members from 25 years to 35 years. As part of its long term vision over the next 5 to 10 years the Board will be assessing opportunities for the development of its strategically located undeveloped properties in Honiara and Provinces.
Present at the ceremony were Dr Luke Forau, Governor Central Bank of Solomon Islands, Jeremy Bartlett, Managing Director Hatanga Limited, representative of FMC Pacific Limited, SINPF Management team, Hatanga Ltd and Bulk Shop Management team, FMC Pacific Officials and Media personnel.
