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Zero covid-19 case

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO 

THE country has all its covid-19 cases becoming negative, meaning there is zero case of the virus in country.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare confirmed this in his national address yesterday.

“I am happy to announce that our nationally reported cases of covid-19 positive cases remain at 18.

“All 18 cases are now negative. 14 have been discharged to the community. Four are still at the Central Field hospital. They will be released after they have  three consecutive negative tests seven days apart following their last positive test.

“This is a tremendous achievement. It is an excellent testament to the effectiveness of our pre-departure protocol on covid-19.

“It also gives due credit to all travelers to Solomon Islands who complied with our requirements. Thank you,” said Sogavare.

He said six reactivation cases of covid-19 from the last flight from Manila that came in on January 21, 2021 have also been picked up.

“All six cases tested positive in our GeneXpert machine but tested negative with the qPCR machine. This indicates extremely low levels of virus fragments in the body that are unlikely to infect other people.

“All six cases also had antibodies in their system indicating they had all been exposed to covid-19 before they arrived in Solomon Islands and therefore have developed some protection against further COVID-19 infection.

“All six cases have already tested negative on re-swabbing immediate after their positive tests,” said Sogavare.

He said they will be released after having three three consecutive negative tests taken seven days apart.

“Fellow citizens, we do not put the re-activation cases into the central field hospital which is reserved for the new positive covid-19 cases.

“These cases are isolated in our other quarantine stations on advice from our health experts. They do not pose infection risks to others due to the extremely low viral load that were only picked up by the extremely sensitive GeneXpert machine while negative on the qPCR machine which is currently the Gold Standard for covid-19 tests.

“Let me assure the public, these same health experts that have been responsible for keeping our country safe want to ensure all reactivation cases are managed at different locations and they will be released following the same protocol of 3 consecutive negative test after their last GeneXpert positive tests.

“Let me also assure the public we do not have any community transmission of covid-19 in Solomon Islands,” said Sogavare.

Cabinet approves covid-19 vaccination policy

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. Photo supplied.

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO 

YESTERDAY cabinet approved the national policy on covid-19 vaccination.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, in his national address said, “I am pleased to inform you all that my Cabinet has approved the National Policy on covid-19 vaccination yesterday afternoon.”

He said following the approval the Ministry of Health and Medical Services with the support from the COVID-19 National Coordinating Committee and its Technical Working Group on Vaccines have been directed by Cabinet to finalise the implementation plan for rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Solomon Islands.

Sogavare said the impact of the covid-19 vaccines in reducing both the numbers of new cases of covid-19 infections as well as the seriousness of covid-19 infections is nothing short of miraculous in many countries that had rolled out their vaccination programmes.

He said there is still a lot more work needs to be done in finalising the country’s roll out plans but early information on the levels of side effects have been extremely encouraging and on the level of protection extremely heartening

“It is our hope that of much of the world’s populations can be vaccinated this year, so that we could perhaps see a return to some normality in travel by 2022.

“To date we have been offered 108,000 does of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the COVAX Facility. My government is in the process of negotiating procurement of additional doses of the vaccine,” said Sogavare.

He said at the moment the detail plans to roll out the vaccine is in progress.

Sogavare stressed a communication strategy to support awareness about the vaccine programme is also being finalised by the Ministry of Health. This includes important information about the vaccine target groups for the first vaccination.

“Awareness information about covid-19 vaccines and our vaccination programme will start to appear on all media channels from this week,” he said.

‘Abuse of power’

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Leader of Opposition Mathew Wale. Picture Supplied

THE Leader of Opposition, Matthew Wale condemns the Prime Minister for using his office to seek support for an intending candidate for the upcoming South Choiseul Constituency by-elections, further labelling the action as abuse of official position.

A signed letter sighted by the Leader of Opposition shows the Prime Minister asking the Chiefs of the South Choiseul Constituency to pledge their political support for an intending candidate nominated by Our Party. The South Choiseul Constituency seat was left vacant after Robertson Qalokale was removed by petition recently.

“In my view, the letter is clearly designed to influence the Chiefs and leaders in that Constituency as heads of their respective communities to rally support for the PM’s candidate.

“It is clear from the tenor of the whole letter that the Chiefs are being told that there are no other choices except that offered by the PM’s ruling government and his political party. This is clearly undemocratic intended to influence how people vote,” says the Opposition Leader.

Wale adds, “Also, the action appears to be in breach of the Constitution and the Leadership Code (Further Provisions) Act.  While the law imposes a duty on all leaders to carry out their roles in a certain manner; the duty placed on the PM must rank the highest as the buck stops with that office as far as management of the affairs of the country is concerned.”

He says the duty imposed by law demands that the PM not be engaged in any act that gives rise to a conflict of interest situation, demeans that office or position, or diminishes the respect and confidence people have in the government.

“Using the official letter head, promoting his political party and saying that the government is the only option for an incoming MP to serve the nation or his people surely must run afoul those constitutional requirements as any sitting non-member of government or any intending candidate, or the public for that matter will certainly be asking questions.

“I am therefore calling on the Chairman of the Leadership Code Commission to exercise his power to cause an investigation into this matter and to take whatever action is appropriate.  This action borders on misconduct in office and so must be investigated.  No one is above the law,” Wale adds.

–OPPOSITION PRESS

Upside down deaths

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Lake Tengano

BY BEN BILUA

PEOPLE living near Lake Tegano, the biggest freshwater lake in the southern hemisphere, have expressed fear at the recent unexpected deaths of flying foxes in the area.

Reports from the island, which hosts the country’s only bauxite mine and a number of logging operations, say the flying foxes are dying in droves.

Richie Paungahenau, who lives at Lake Tegano, confirmed witnessing the dead mammals.

 “We noticed flying foxes dying and rot on the ground,” he told Island Sun by phone.

“We really don’t know the cause of this and we are afraid that there might be something bad going on with our environment,” he added.

Paungahenau said immediate response to investigate the issue is paramount to decrease further threats among the people.

“It’s been days since the sighting of flying fox dying but there is no investigation.

“We don’t know whether the province or the government will send a team to investigate what is going on here.”

Police on Rennell Island also confirmed they received reports from locals about this extraordinary incident.

“Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RISPF) officers on Rennell island in the Rennell and Bellona Province confirm that they have received reports from local people on Rennell island about flying foxes dying on the Island,” the Police Media Unit said.

“Police officers cannot scientifically confirm the cause of death but it is suspected that this could be caused by the lack of food for the flying foxes following the logging operations on the Island,” the Media Unit added.

“It is believed that Bellona island is not affected as there is no logging operation on that Island.

“Police on Rennell request that the necessary Ministry send their officers to Rennell to assess the situation.”

An Officer from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation Department stated that there is no formal complaint or reports raised to the Conservation Department.

“We will collaborate with other ministries in respond to the report only if there is a formal report from those concerned or provincial executive,” the officer said.

When contacted, Premier of Rennell/Bellona Province Willie Tuhagenga said the report is serious and needs immediate intervention.

“From report, I know this is serious so both the province and responsible institution within the national government must team up to investigate the issue,” Tuhagenga said in Honiara, where he is currently staying.

“I will discuss this with my executive and will come up with possible plans to look into this matter,” he said.

Rennell island currently hosts Bintan Mining Ltd, an Asian owned company extracting bauxite from the island.

A number of logging activities operated by Asians are also taking place there.

Rennell is the world’s largest raised coral atoll at a size of 660 km².

The island consists of raised coral limestone, dominated by Lake Tegano, a large brackish lake on the eastern half of the island.

May-or nay

Written by
Alfred Pagepitu
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City Mayor Wilson Mamae

Mamae fights off call to resign voluntarily

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

Honiara City Mayor Wilson Mamae has refused to concede to calls for him to resign.

Mr Mamae was reportedly handed a seven-day notice signed by four councillors, including deputy Mayor Charles Aiwosuga, on Wednesday last week, demanding he resigned voluntarily or face a motion of no-confidence.

In response, Mamae has issued a defiant statement claiming support from six councillors backing him, and announcing refusal to resign, which he says is a sign of guilt.

Mamae says he will take “appropriate action against these opportunistic councillors” calling for his resignation.

Six councillors are reportedly with Mamae in this saga: Robert Oge, Dorah Huapii Irofia, Eddie Siapu, Mostyn Saferio, Clement Terewauri and Luciano Sade.

There are 12 elected councillors and to remove the mayor, seven councillors must support the motion.

Councillors Reginald Ngati and Billy Abae are also said to be part of the plot to oust the Mayor.

Emphasised in Mamae’s weekend statement are the following five points:

•          The meeting of the Committee is only called by the City Clerk on the advice of the City Mayor. Thus, the so-called meeting of the Executive Committee on the 11th day of February, 2021 is not according to procedures that are outlined in the Honiara City (Council Standing Orders) 1999. As such, the notice was base on resolution of the Executive Committee Meeting which was unlawfully authorized.

•          The letter of “Notice Requesting the Lord Mayor of HCC Wilson Mamae to Voluntarily resign from the position of HCC Lord Mayor, effective as of February 17, 2021” was unprocedurally issued to mainstream and social media without prior serving of the notice to the City Mayor. As such the notice was not procedurally served.

•          The not-signing of the notice by Cr Mostyn Saferio, Cr, Robert Oge and Luciano Sade although named in page 2 of the notice shows the lack of integrity of the notice and as such the call for voluntary resignation of the City Mayor displays lack of support on the part of the petitioners.

•          The Councilor for Mataniko Ward, Cr. Clement Terewauri signed the notice in the disquise of collective decision making. As such, he rejects his approval of the notice in disguise.

•          The allegations that were mentioned in the notice were baseless and fabricated stories that holds no truth in its entirety.

Mamae said Deputy City Mayor Aiwosuga, Reginald Ngati, Billy Abae, Leonard Solomon Sai and Francis Idu are unhappy councillors who have been undermining his leadership.

The City Mayor takes appropriate actions against these opportunistic councilors.

Eels six points clear

Written by
Taromane Martin
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Eels
Eels

Hattrick for Lea’i

By Taromane Martin

Henderson Eels moves six points clear on the 2020-2021 Telekom Soccer League (TSL) competition table after a stellar performance against KOSSA FC yesterday.

Four first half goals and a double in the second half was enough to secure all three points for the Eddie Marahare coached side, despite having goal keeper Anthony Talo red carded in the final minutes of the first half.

Golden boot race leader, Raphael Lea’i scored three goals in that match to see him extend his goals tally to 25 points, while Eels team mate Joses Nawo, who was also on target yesterday, is with 22 points.

Despite losing Talo late in the first half, Eels Head Coach Eddie Marahare said he was confident in securing all three points while also containing KOSSA’s attack in the second half.

Tutizama Tanito and Augustine Waita were also on target for Eels scoring in the 16th and 88th minute of the game respectively.

“I’m happy with the win today because we have five games left to play and we aim to win all our remaining games,” Coach Marahare said.

“We know winning the TSL is something we want to achieve. However, looking at the current standing on the table it is still a close race so all our remaining matches are important to us.

“I was a bit concern with the referee’s decision on sending off Talo however I was sure we’ll all get three points with the four goals we got in the first half.

“Also, I was sure we would be able to contain their attack despite having less defenders while also maintaining our attacking.

“So, win today I think sets us on the right track for the title. From here we’ll regroup and focus for our remaining matches,” Marahare adds.

With yesterday’s result, Henderson Eels FC now leads the competition table with 41 points while defending TSL champions Solomon Warriors FC are lurking with 34 points in second.

TSL matches for Round 2 of the season meanwhile continues on Wednesday with the mid-week clash between Malaita Kingz FC and Real Kakamora FC at 4pm.

Man charged with murder of rugby player

Written by
Jennifer Kusapa
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Late Henry Angikimua when representing the country internationally in the rugby league code. Photo Supplied

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

A man has been charged with the murder of a young man in Avatai village, west Rennell.

Earlier this week, Island Sun reported this incident in which the victim was a well-known national rugby player, Henry Agikimu’a, who died in what was described as a ‘brutal killing’.

Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau confirmed yesterday that police have charged the man who is allegedly responsible for the death of late Agikimu’a. The deceased was 28 years old.

Mangau said the suspect was arrested and charged, and will appear in court on March 3, 2021.

Mangau said police investigation is still ongoing, and at this stage the cause of killing or the status of the suspect is yet to be established.

He said prior to the incident the deceased and his uncle were in the kitchen of their home. The deceased was trying to light a roll of cigarette when the suspect entered the door with a bush knife and cut him on the back of his neck.

Mangau said at that time the deceased was facing the stove to light his roll and it is believed the deceased was not able to defend himself because the suspect attacked from behind.

Mangau said the suspect left the kitchen after he committed the act.

Agikimu’a was rushed to Tigoa hospital but was confirmed dead by the nurse in charge.

Police at Tigoa then attended to the incident and the suspect was arrested. He was later flown to Honiara where he was charged and currently is being remanded in custody awaiting court appearance.

Gov’t 2-faced, ESP corrupt officer an example: Wale

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Opposition Leader Matthew C Wale.

LEADER of Opposition, Matthew Wale says the government continues to say one thing and do exactly the opposite when it comes to taking a strong stance against malpractice or corruption within the public service.

The Opposition Leader made this statement in response to revelations by the Permanent Secretary for Finance and Chair of the Economic Stimulus Package Committee, who stated that disciplinary action had been taken against one of their officers who was caught committing what they described as discrepancy actions in the implementation of the controversial stimulus package.

Wale said a lot of money had been poured into the Stimulus package and there is so much public outcry of dissatisfaction about the manner in which funds under the package were approved and distributed and so this revelation is a serious matter of public concern. 

“It might warrant reassignment or it might warrant a more severe action but unless true facts are disclosed, the revelations may well be deceiving intended to hide something or others implicated as well,” says Wale.

“I am concerned that reassignment in this case may only mean the transfer of an entrenched culture of malpractice or corruption in the public service from one point to another.”

He said this is not sound management policy and may well undermine the public statement made by the Prime Minister reinforcing the government’s strong resolve to fight corruption.

“I therefore call on the responsible government officers to disclose the fact surrounding the so-called discrepancy action committed. I especially call on the Chairman of the Public Service Commission to confirm whether his office had actually dealt with the case nor not,” adds Wale.

The Opposition Leader points out that with the huge number of complaints of nepotism, political interference and corrupt practices surrounding the implementation process, it is of paramount importance in resurrecting government credibility, restoring public confidence in the public service that disciplinary measures taken commensurate to the actual level of breach and malpractice or corruption is involved, instant termination should be considered.

–OPPOSITION PRESS

Strike notice for Malaita

Written by
Barnabas Manebona
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BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

WORKERS Union of Solomon Islands (WUSI) has issued a 28-day strike notice to the Malaita Provincial Government for lack of response to a log of claims dating back to 2016.

General Secretary of WUSI Tony Kagovai issued the strike notice which takes effect on February 15 (this week) and lapses on March 14 (next month).

Kagovai says the issues are based on the following:

-Continuous refusal by Malaita Provincial Assembly to implement the 9 percent wage increase infection.

-On the 30th July, 2020, the Union has sent a Log of Claims on behalf of the Direct Employees of the Province (both Admin and Health workers) for the year 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021 to the Provincial Secretary but he had not responded to it.

-In and around September of 2020, the GS of WUSI and the Chairman of the Union Committee have personally met with the Premier and he had personally assured them that he will deal and sort out the matter and that all correspondences be directed to him.

-Furthermore, following the assurance by the Premier in September 2020, the Union have written to the Premier on the 3rd September, 15th October 2020 and 9th December 2020. Unfortunately, the Office of the Premier had failed to respond or informed the Union of its position of the matter to this date.

Malaita’s Provincial Secretary Fredrick Faabasua said the matters raised in the notice are not new matters.

In highlighting this, Faabasua however cautioned the union that it is equally important to appreciate that there are outstanding issues regarding the validity of the agreements the union was making reference to.

For instance whether the agreements as claimed in the notice, were executed in accordance with the terms of the existing governing rules of the Malaita Provincial Government and thus have the enforceability of the law.

It is vitally important that as part of due diligence check, in ensuring that the current MPG Administration is implementing lawful decisions, it is incumbent on the MPG to first verify these important matters/issues before further consideration is given to the request made by the union.

In the meantime MPG will be taking the following actions immediately:

-Set a date to meet with the provincial planning team and others with a view to prepare and finalize its new budget. It is hoped that matters raised in the notice will be discussed.

-In the proposed meeting, matters for clarifications on the validity of the collective agreement dated 24 July 2017 and other claims will also form part of the discussion.

-Also it is important for MPG to carry out awareness program targeting direct employees, on matters pertaining to how direct employees’ gross and net salaries are being calculated; so as to ascertain whether such a method is consistent with the Unified Salary Structure applied by MoFT.

“These are some of the important issues attached to the entire claim in your letter that my administration wishes to address,” Faabasua said this in his letter to the president of WUSI.

The provincial secretary also reminds WUSI that the country is still under the State of Public Emergency (SOPE).

“Any action taken on your part that borders on; or may militate towards placing the general public at risk may be deemed unlawful under the existing Covid-19 regulations.”

The provincial secretary hopes that both parties will be able to reach an understanding; so as to completely avoid a strike action taken by members under essential services during these unprecedented times when the State of Public Emergency is still in place domestically.

No evacuation centres in SI

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Director of NDMO, Loti Yates. Photo by Solomon Today.

BY BRIAN LEZUTUNI

THE Solomon Islands is yet to have evacuation centres despite the possibility of devastating cyclones hitting the country.

And so far, the National Disaster Management Office is using schools as evacuation sites, most of which lack the capacity and the necessary resources to cater for a large population during an event of disaster.

 Director of NDMO, Loti Yates confirmed that no evacuation centre was built and in the event of a disaster, acquiring these shelters as requisition assets could only be made through a disaster declaration by the National Disaster Council.

The use of schools as evacuation centres, however, can only be done when a declaration of disaster is made.

The Director said even with these schools, there are limited resources available to respond to the challenges presented by a huge influx of people to these centres.

“We experienced this during the 2014 floods, when we realised that we needed extra toilets, extra water waters when delivering services at the evacuation sites.

“The schools are designed to hold a number of students 3-8 hours a day, limited resources there is designed to suit that population during that time, not to host people for weeks, and months.

“So we haven’t gone as far in ensuring we have proper evacuation centres in place,” Mr Yates added.

He said there are minimum standards for humanitarian response that must be adhered to when building an evacuation center.

“The number of people in rooms, the number of families, calculated by the number of water tanks to drink and their volume, the number of toilets to use, these are some of the standards we have to meet.”

He also pointed out that building one is going to be expensive as there is also the issue of sustainability and whether it could be used to facilitate other activities when there is no disaster.

Meanwhile, the threat of a devastating cyclone hitting the Solomon Islands is a possibility according to the Director of the Meteorological service, David Hiriasia.

He said while the Solomon Islands are used to the formation stages of cyclones in the region, we should not rule out systems with the devastating effects of categories 3-5 strength from hitting us.

He said one such cyclone to have made direct impact on the county in the past was cyclone Namu three decades ago.

He said the Cyclone Namu system was formed up north in the Malaita Outer Islands before it travels down.

“As cyclones travel down it tends to intensify, and in such an event two of the most vulnerable provinces would be Temotu and Rennell Bellona,” he added.

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