THE report of the Think Tank on Malaita National Projects’ credibility has been questioned and alleged of plagiarism.

The Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare disclosed this on the floor of Parliament yesterday after the Leader of the Official Opposition Hon Jeremiah Manele, questioned the Government on the engagement of the Malaita Think Tank.

Sogavare told Parliament that contents of the compiled report consisted of written work by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources that was not made reference to.

The Malaita Think Tank was engaged to look into the persistent delay and the non-delivery of the Malaita National Projects.

The group was appointed by the Prime Minister in early March 2016.

The main objective of which is to review and examine existing approaches and models of project delivery on Malaita and to advise the Government on how best to move these projects.

The Team was initially given 70 days to complete the assignment.

Leader of the Official Opposition Hon Manele raised three questions on the floor of Parliament yesterday questioning the appointed Think Tank.

Manele questioned the tangible achievements the Democratic Coalition for Change Government (DCCG) made under the Malaita Think Tank setup, how much is costed the Government to set it up and what was the period of engagement of the Malaita Think Tank.

The Prime Minister told Parliament that the Government decided to disengage the group as the report that was compiled by the team was dubbed as not credible by those the Prime Minister stated yesterday, to be familiar in the field.

He added that the compilation of the report also failed to adhere to professional inscription of the expected report.

“It is not a credible document,” said the Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare.

The report is said to be presented in a diluted chronological order and loses uniformity in the presentation.

The Prime Minister told Parliament that despite the action taken by the Government to disengage the Think Tank, the report still does contain useful methodology that may be used in other Government undertakings.

It is understood the Malaita Think Tank was initially supposed to be engaged for 70 days, however, the group was granted an additional 30 days extension of duties totalling up to 100 days’ worth of engagement.

The Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare confirmed to Parliament that the group was engaged for 100 days.

This paper understands that after the 100 days, the Malaita Think Tank requested for another extension.

The extension requested was four months to implement the Bina Pilot Scheme worth $2,174,800.

The eight-member team is headed by Team Leader Barnabas Henson who too is the Secretary of the United Democratic Party (UDP).