Government remains tight-lipped on outcome of Brisbane RIPEL talks.

THE government remains tight-lipped on the outcome of its secret talks in Brisbane last week, four days after arriving back, deepening the uncertainty over the future of the bomb disposal training school at Hell’s Point on the outskirts of east Honiara.

Instead, Chief of Staff Robson Djokovich, hit out at the Island Sun last Thursday, the day after the top level delegation was due to arrive back from the talks. They did not due to problems with the Solomon Airlines flight.

In his outburst particularly against the author of the report, Alfred Sasako, Mr Djokovich said.

“Disappointing that despite the positive indication conveyed you chose to portray the outcome of negotiations with LSL in the negative even though none of whom who were a party to discussions responded to your email inquiries.

“Directly speaking and for your own sake, if you are going to continue to make up your own facts just for the sake of unnecessarily sensationalizing issues, your credibility will be undermined and your representations will end up like a cartoon page meant for entertainment purposes only,” Mr Djokovich whose style of leadership was blamed for the downfall of Prime Minister Sogavare in 2008, said.

“The results we had in mind were achieved that is why there was no need to further elaborate as yet and had you been patient proper facts could have been provided when we were scheduled to meet,” he continued his tirade.

“Unfortunately you have burnt that particular bridge so best wishes with those still remaining,” he said in an email to Alfred last week.

The delegation never made it back to Honiara last Wednesday, the day it was scheduled to return, due to what Mr Djokovich described as “technical issues with the aircraft …, claiming it was one more discrepancy in the report.

But Alfred checked with the Special Secretary to Prime Minister (SSPM), John Muria jnr who in an email was not sure of himself of when the delegation was due back.

Four days after the delegation arrived back in Honiara, there was hardly a word from the delegation on the talks, also attended by Patrick Wong and van Vlymen.

Mr Djokovich told friends in private that the delegation had secured a deal in the discussions, But he has not provided any details, particularly in view of the importance of the land for which Mr Wong is claiming $50 million.

An Australian source privy to the talks said last week the negotiations did not go too well because Mr Wong and Mr Vlymen were “asking for too much.”

The Hell’s Point is where the nation’s bomb disposal training school is located. That investment is backed by both Australia and the United States Government.