The Solomon Islands government has handed a multi-million-dollar contract for a port upgrade to China’s largest construction company.
The state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Company was the only company to bid for the project, according to government sources.
“This will be upgrading the old international port in Honiara and two domestic wharves in the provinces,” said Mike Qaqara of the infrastructure development ministry, in an interview with Reuters.
The two upgrades are to take place in Makira and Renbel provinces and together form part of a $170 million funding deal from the Asian Development Bank.
The announcement comes nearly a year after Beijing and the Solomon Islands leadership (under Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare) signed a security pact that would allow the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to station troops, weapons, and naval ships in the region….