HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS (3 November 2026) — The commissioning of three new reservoirs and trunk mains today marks a major upgrade to Honiara’s water supply system, strengthening the city’s capacity to meet demand and support future growth.
The facilities were delivered under the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project, a transformative joint investment supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, and the Government of Solomon Islands.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, ADB’s country director, Anthony Gill, emphasized the project’s broader impact on the nation’s socio-economic development and climate preparedness.
“Today’s commissioning is an important milestone for the people of Honiara and demonstrates what can be accomplished through strong partnerships and a shared commitment to improving essential services.
“It is an investment in public health, economic growth, climate resilience, and human development.”
Minister for the Ministry of Mines, Energy, and Rural Electrification Derrick Manu’ari, in his keynote remarks, highlighted governments’ recognition that water security is not simply an infrastructure issue.
“It is a matter of national security, public health, economic resilience, and social equity.
“Our future water security will depend upon integrated approaches to water resource management, infrastructure planning, catchment protection, system efficiency, and climate adaptation.”
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒖𝒑𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒂’𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎:
· 𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚: 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝑻𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆, 𝑻𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒉𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒅𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 8.5 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚’𝒔 (𝑺𝑰𝑾𝑨’𝒔) 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉.
· 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 105,000 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒂, 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 300,000 𝒃𝒚 2050.
· 𝑼𝒑𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌: 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓 10 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑲𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒊 𝒕𝒐 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒍𝒂 𝑹𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑽𝒖𝒓𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒌. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒌 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒔, 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔.
The project establishes a foundation for upcoming investments aimed at expanding water network services, strengthening institutional performance, and securing long-term water resilience across the Solomon Islands.
ADB is a leading multilateral development bank supporting sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth across Asia and the Pacific. Working with its members and partners to solve complex challenges together, ADB harnesses innovative financial tools and strategic partnerships to transform lives, build quality infrastructure, and safeguard our planet. Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members, 50 from the region.
Source: ADB Press Release
