Solomon Water has expressed concern over recent incidents of threats to its staff by some customers and is calling for customers to respect Solomon Water employees who are dedicated to ensuring that the people of Honiara have access to clean and safe water.

Staff have been threatened while reading water meters or fixing damaged pipes and the number of these incidences are increasing. These threats are completely unacceptable, and Solomon Water strongly condemns them. Solomon Water employees are doing their jobs to ensure the SOE is able to continue its service to supply safe and water to its customers in Honiara, and they should not have to fear for their safety while doing so.

In a statement today, Solomon Water CEO Ian Gooden says "We are deeply concerned by the threats that our employees have faced while carrying out their duties. Our staff work tirelessly to ensure that our customers have access to safe and clean water, and they should be able to do their jobs without fear of intimidation or violence. We urge our customers to treat our staff with respect and kindness, just as they would like to be treated”.

"We take the safety of our employees very seriously, and we will not tolerate any threats or acts of violence towards them. We are working closely with the police to ensure that our staff can continue to do their jobs safely and without fear".

Solomon Water is committed to providing its customers with safe, reliable, and affordable water services. The SOE urges its customers to report any incidents of threats or violence towards its staff to Solomon Water immediately.

We’re with you in improving value, improving services and improving for the future - all aimed at delivering our vision of “Safe water for a healthy nation”.

 

Media contact:

Ruth Ramoifuila, Communications and Corporate Support Coordinator

Phone: 44662  | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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Solomon Water has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Ontong Java Community in Honiara. Signed on Tuesday this week, the MOA grants an easement on their land to install a critical wastewater pipeline which will be connected to Solomon Water’s proposed wastewater pump station at the National Referral Hospital, adjacent to the eye clinic.

Solomon Water would like to inform our valued customers that recent heavy rainfalls has impacted our supply and many Honiara residents have been without water over the past few days. Supply was turned off on Wednesday 17 May due to the heavy rains in the water catchment area. The heavy rains also caused a major landslide which has affected the Chubina sinkhole, one of the sinkholes supplying Kongulai to collapse into the underground cave system.

Solomon Water CEO Ian Gooden says “We are right now monitoring the situation and are sending an investigative team to review the situation and consider solutions to the site in the morning. It could take a few days to resolve this as there is a lot of debris in the cave entrance and the area remains quite unsafe".

On Tuesday 16 May, Solomon Water together with stakeholders and partners celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony for the Honiara Water Reservoirs and Trunk Mains Project at the Panatina Reservoir site. The ceremony was led by the Minister for Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification Honorable Bradley Tovosia, and attended by officials from the Solomon Islands Government, Guadalcanal Provincial Government, key Solomon Water stakeholders and project donors, the Asian Development Bank, European Union and the World Bank.