…Licensed owners will finally get paid for their guns

LICENSED gun owners, whose weapons were taken by RAMSI 14 years ago, will finally get paid.

Officials of the Ministry of Police and National Security are finalising logistics, with a full list of gun owners to be published in the Island Sun newspaper later this week, Under Secretary Steve Maesiola confirmed to the paper yesterday.

“Licensed gun owners on Guadalcanal and Honiara will be the first to get their payment out of a $2.4 million budget being set aside for the project. As soon as the logistics have been finalised this month, payment will start,” Mr Maesiola said.

He said the full list being published in the Island Sun newspaper later this week would also be displayed at provincial police stations throughout the country so that licensed gun owners can look up their names.

Mr Maesiola said names of licensed gun owners who were living in Western Province at the time their weapons were confiscated would appear on the Western Province list.

“This means that owners would have to check the list for their names, particularly where they were living at the time their weapons were taken. In the case of a man from Malaita has his name in the list from Western Province, police will assist him to travel to Gizo or Munda to get his payment,” he said.

Mr Maesiola said he’s pleased that after so many years, licensed gun owners would be paid for the loss of their weapons.

There are two weapons involved – point 22s and shot guns. Payments range between $1, 400 and $2, 400 for each weapon.

Mr Maesiola said it would appear that some licensed gun owners have been paid.

“These people won’t receive any payments under the second tranche which we said now finalising,” he said.

Mr Maesiola also warned licensed gun owners to look out for a group of people going around and selling application forms for payments.

“I am appealing to the people to watch for these people. Don’t deal with them as we will not entertain anything coming from these people,” he said.

“These people are selling these forms for $100 each. My advice is not to deal with them as they are not authorised,” Mr Maesiola said.