Premier Reveals Masina Highway Plan at DBSI Auki Launch

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The Masina Highway

By SBM News Desk

At the launch of the Development Bank of Solomon Islands (DBSI) Branch in Auki this week, Malaita Premier Elijah Asilaua revealed plans for a major infrastructure proposal known as the Masina Highway—a long-term road network intended to connect large parts of Malaita Island.

According to the Premier’s Office, the Masina Highway is a proposed inland highway system designed to link existing roads, bush tracks and highland communities from North, East, Central and Western Malaita, as well as support access to Malaita Outer Islands through improved transport connections.

A road through the heart of Malaita

The concept proposes a main road route running from Fouia in North Malaita through:

.Southern Malaita

• East Malaita

• East ‘Are’Are

• Central Kwara’ae

• West Kwaio

• West ‘Are’Are

The plan is to connect existing roads with traditional bush tracks long used by past generations to form one integrated highway system across the island’s interior.

Why the highway is needed

The Premier’s Office says the key objectives of the Masina Highway include:

• Opening access to tribal lands in the highlands

• Supporting agricultural production and economic activity

• Reducing land pressure along overcrowded coastlines

• Encouraging rural resettlement and development

• Creating new income opportunities for communities

Coastal villages, the Office notes, are experiencing population pressure and increasing disputes over land ownership, while fertile inland areas remain underutilised due to lack of access.

Linking development with land recording

The rollout of the Masina Highway is being linked with the recent launch of Malaita’s Customary Land Recording Office in Auki.

The Premier’s Office said land recording will be done at ward level through consultation with tribes, ensuring development respects cultural values while promoting reconciliation, unity and proper planning.

“This process will bring our tribes together to record customary land in ways that maintain peace, unity and respect,” the statement said.

Still at planning stage

The Masina Highway is currently in the concept development phase, with the Malaita Provincial Government working on a formal concept paper. The project has been endorsed as a long-term executive development plan, but no construction timeline has been announced yet.

Further consultations are expected under Malaita’s trade and economic cooperation framework with Jiangsu Province in China, including possible technical input from the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences to support farming productivity and value-added manufacturing.

Role of DBSI

Premier Asilaua said the opening of the DBSI branch in Auki comes at the right time, as access to finance and financial literacy will be crucial for communities preparing for future development.

He said DBSI’s role will be important in:

• Supporting small businesses

• Encouraging entrepreneurship

• Financing agriculture and processing

• Assisting rural income generation

“Access to finance and financial literacy will help shape an entrepreneurial mindset and prepare people to seize new opportunities,” the Premier’s Office said.

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