BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
THE MINISTRY Of Fisheries and Marine Resources will soon introduce a new Tilapia species to local tilapia farmers in the Country.
This was highlighted last week at the heritage park Hotel by the Ministry’s Assistance Secretary Miss Lisa Sugumanu during the second day of the premier’s conference in Honiara.
“So we want to introduce a new tilapia species and this new species is called “gift”, why because it grows fast and we can harvest early that can help farmers to have more and also to help farmers with low cost,” Miss Sugumanu said.
“The reason behind the introduction of new species is to generate income and for the food security for our communities,” said Sugumanu.
“The Issue with local tilapia breeds is Low production and the sizes are too small.
“From Oversea, the Tilapia will be quarantined before giving out to farmers. In this case, the ministry will work with farmers to improve their ponds in order to suit the new species and to identify if the new species can adapt and is suitable for us,’’ she adds.
Miss Sugumanu said that as of now the total number of tilapia farmers in the country had reached 117 where the majority of these farmers are from the sister province of Malaita and Guadalcanal.
While presenting the Current work of the Ministry to premiers, she said that the two national projects they are working on are Bina Tuna processing and the National hatchery projects at Aruligo, West Guadalcanal.
“The two National project we are working on is Bina and the National Tilapia freshwater hatchery projects. This also includes other small projects at the provincial levels like seaweed, sea cucumber, and many more. Our Tilapia project is located at Aruligo,” said Sugumanu.
She said that the Tilapia project was implemented through four phases.
“Phase one has already been completed, phase two which is currently in progress involved the constructions of 10 outdoor ponds, power supply for the hatchery, water supply, and we are anticipating erecting staff houses for our staff at the sites,’’ she told Premiers.
“We have also started phase three of the project but at the moment it is very slow and for phase four we are yet to start,” she said.
She pointed out that one of the programs the ministry is working on is their provincial staff houses, mainly to address the staff housing needs of their officers.
“So in 2019, we did the designs which will be used in other provinces. So last year and this year we have managed to build two staff houses, one in Kirakira (complete) and in Gizo which is 80% near completion.
“The successful completion and erecting of the staff houses come about after the formalities of the land were given to us after we made some discussions around the issue of erecting the houses, so from there we allocated a budget for them,’’ she said.
She highlighted that one of the problems faced during the rollout of programs that affect the implementation of the projects includes land disputes and the current situation of the government, which also affect things like procurement, logistics, etc.
“When the government of the day changes its policies it will have a greater impact on some of our major development targets. Working with other ministries is also another challenge, technical capacity in our country is one of the challenges in government and private sectors,” said Sugumanu.
In response the Premier for Makira Ulawa province, Hon. Premier Julian Maka’a has thanked the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine resources for building the new staff in Kirakira.
“ Fisheries sector is one of our important sectors and I must acknowledge them for the support in the province and I hope we will continue to support each other in the sector for the benefit of the country,’’ he said.
