Taxpayers to pay $2.9 million in annual rentals for MRD new offices in refurbished Chinese-owned motel

 

IT has emerged that the move to Ranadi by the Ministry of Rural Development will cost taxpayers more than $2.9 million in annual rentals in a deal involving a hardware proprietor, a former Member of Parliament and the government.

Sources said the new offices are located in a refurbished motel, owned by a hardware proprietor who might have already sold it to the former Member of Parliament. The former MP helped put the rental deal together, the sources said.

The ex-MP was said to be negotiating the purchase of the motel but his ability to repay the loan for the building stood in the way, the sources said.

At the time, the former MP was told that unless he could secure long term rentals for the building, there would be no sale, the sources.

The sources said the former Member of Parliament pounced on the opportunity by negotiating a rental arrangement for the building with former Permanent Secretary, Selina Boso.

“It was her last act of official duties before she was relieved of her duties last week,” one official said.

It is not clear whether the title for the building has been transferred to the new owner.

Under the deal, taxpayers will pay $245, 000 a month or $2, 940, 000 a year rental for the building, a statement issued by the Government Communications Unit on 7^th May this year, said.

It did not say the duration of the rental arrangement.

The statement quoted the Minister for Rural Development, Jimson Tanangada, as saying the relocation from Town Ground in Central Honiara to Ranadi in East Honiara was made for “a number of genuine reasons”.

“The run-down state of the former SMI Building coupled with lack of space to accommodate the 200 staff members of the Ministry are amongst the reasons for their decision to relocate early this year.

“….the former SMI Building is very old and heavily infested with termites with continued leakages during wet seasons which have caused ongoing damages to office equipment, files and other properties.

“Furthermore, as a result of the old state of the SMI building, there were threats of fire hazards due to electrical defects which have caused a fire incident during the 2016 Christmas period,” Mr Tanangada said.

But the Minister never disclosed anything about the fact that the building was once a motel.

Instead, Mr Tanangada described it as “the newly-built Office building at Ranadi, identified by a specially selected Ministerial Committee based on its suitability to accommodate the entire MRD staff, proper parking spaces, proper storage space for materials and equipment for constituency projects, its closeness to major project suppliers and service providers and its modern setting and safety standards.”

“Besides, a proper inspection by relevant officials has been conducted and the building was certified prior to the MRD occupation,” the Minister was quoted as saying.

“The monthly rental for the new office building is SB$245,000.00 compared to SB$131,000.00 for the old SMI building. This is an increase of $113,800.00 per month which covers both the ground and top floors of the entire building,” the Minister said.

Mr Tanangada said he acknowledged the concerns over the increase in rentals but said his officials had made budgetary allocations to meet the cost this year.

The Minister has played down suspicions of corrupt dealings in the relocation exercise, saying anyone who is not satisfied with his explanation should direct their concerns to relevant authorities such as the police or the courts.