SOUTH Pacific Oil (SPO) is having close negotiations with government ministries and other stakeholders for its relocation to a site at Ranadi, probably by 2019.

SPO General Manager Carson Korowa in an interview with Island Sun said they have already purchased a land at Ranadi, and done with the design work but now working closely with different government ministries.

“We need to work closely with the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification and the Ministry of Environment and Conservation specifically for the fuel facility itself.

“And other ministries that play an important role in that like the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development (MID) because we need to have a wharf, upgrade of road and other things. There’s a lot of other involvement in that,” he said.

Mr Korowa said once they get all these things in place, they could start very quickly.

“We hope we could start maybe probably by 2019 but before that we have to put all those things in place.

“Now we have to get approvals, look at the financials, land issues because these things are provided by the government to enable the new depot facility,” Mr Korowa explains.

He said the cost will be very high, which may at least reach $100 million before they could relocate everything from Point Cruz to Ranadi.

The General Manager said the reason for relocation is the limited availability of space in the current location.

“As you can see, we cannot build any more tanks, we cannot store any more drums and so forth, so those are reasons we move otherwise we cannot grow.

“If we grow whether in Honiara or in the provinces, the facilities here will remain the only facility where the import takes place.

“And from that import we distribute to other provinces, we cannot really go further down to provincial development until we sort out this one, because that is part of the supply chain.

“So we want to move out as well, the board has tasked the management and look at ways of moving out, the government wants us to move as well, we must put our heads together to work as a team for that relocation,” he said.

Mr Korowa denies speculations purporting that the reason for relocation is based on the unsafe condition of its Point Cruz centred location.

He said the current facility itself is very safe, and is in compliant to the latest codes in fuel storage and distribution. He said the fire protection they have is probably the best in Honiara.

“We also have environmental protection system, if there is a spill we can contain within the facility. So as far as safety is concern everything is quite safe here.”

He adds if they could put all the money for immediate relocation, the price of fuel is likely to go up which they are sensitive with that.

“It’s not just we tried to relocate there’s a lot of other involvement in that, and that is why a lot of negotiations are continuing at the moment,” said Mr Korowa.