TWO government approved repatriation flights are scheduled for November 19 and 24, 2020.

Chair of Covid-19 Oversight Committee, James Remobatu relayed this to all Solomon Islands citizens and non-nationals residing overseas.

He said on November 19, Solomon Airlines operating IE626 will depart Honiara International Airport at 0700hrs, arriving Bonriki International Airport, Kiribati at 1045hrs.

It will depart for Fiji at 1145hrs arriving Nadi International Airport at 1445hrs.

Solomon Airlines operating IE627 flight will depart Nadi International Airport on the same day for Solomon Islands arriving Honiara International Airport at 1745hrs.

For Solomon Islands students based in Philippines, the government has approved a second flight on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.

Solomon Airlines operating IE629 will depart Manila International Airport on November 24 at 0700hrs en route to Solomon Islands making a stopover in Biak, Indonesia arriving Honiara International Airport at 1805hrs.

Remobatu said all nationals and non-nationals who will be boarding this repatriation flights must have valid Solomon Airlines tickets and are strongly encouraged to contact Solomon Airlines Office in Brisbane and Honiara for ticketing information.

Solomon Airlines can be contacted on email [email protected] or visit their website: https://www/flysolomons.com/.

“The Government is conscious of the welfare of its citizens in view of the confirmed cases being imported through the repatriation flights coming from high risk countries,” Remobatu said.

He added the Government is very cautious of the potential importation of the virus into the country and wish to remind all incoming travellers to comply with the following requirements:

1. That the Joint Travel Advisory No.4 issued by the Solomon Islands Government dated 21st March 2020 is currently in force and that all incoming travellers must take heed and comply with.

• With reference to the JTA No.4 paragraph 1.1, all non-nationals who wish to enter Solomon Islands must apply to the Office of the Prime Minister through the COVID-19 Oversight Committee for exemptions approval. Applications can be forwarded through the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade.

• All persons entering Solomon Islands will undergo mandatory quarantine at a Government identified quarantine station for a specified period provided under the Solomon Islands Emergency Powers (COVID-19) Regulations 2020.

• All persons entering Solomon Islands from COVID-19 affected countries (but with regressing rate of new infections and decreasing number of active cases) must provide two negative test results from their country of origin 14 -12 days and 72 hours before travelling to Solomon Islands and will undergo mandatory 14 days quarantine and surveillance at a Government identified quarantine station. Further they will undergo a required number of qPCR tests for COVID-19 to be determined by the Solomon Islands Government Health Authorities.

• All persons entering Solomon Islands from very high risks COVID-19 affected countries with infection rate increasing, consistently serious or wide community transmission report must provide 3 negative test results 21 days prior to travel (day 21-18, 14-12 and 3 days before travel). All persons are required to undergo 21 days in-country mandatory quarantine period, and be required to undertake a number of qPCR tests for COVID-19 to be determined by the Solomon Islands Government Health Authorities.

• It is a prerequisite for all incoming travellers to MUST complete a Pre-Departure Form and Instructions on the Conduct Form truthfully and return to the Solomon Islands Government Health Authorities 5 clear days before travelling into Solomon Islands. All completed pre-departure forms can be forwarded through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade or any Solomon Islands Missions Overseas nearest to your location. Anyone who fail to comply and respond truthfully will be penalised with $10,000 fine or 5-years imprisonment or both. Find attached the Instructions on the Conduct Form for all incoming passengers.

• The Solomon Islands government may advice Solomon Airlines to deny any person from boarding if they do not meet the above requirements.

• Persons may also be denied boarding at the gate if and when symptoms of COVID-19 are physically identified on them.

• Foreign nationals will meet their own quarantine costs at Government quarantine Hotels upon entry into Solomon Islands. 

“All persons travelling or intending to travel to Solomon Islands are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with these travel requirements,” Remobatu said.

–GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS UNIT

Gov’t urged to stop proposed ban on FB

LEADER of the Independent Group Dean Kuku urges the government to ‘call it quits’ on the proposed ban on Facebook.

“The proposed suspension of FB by DCGA cannot go unchallenged because it is simply an act of sabotaging a basic fundamental right enshrined in our country’s constitution,” Kuku said.

“It goes against one of the pillars of our constitution – freedom of expression which we hold close to our chest,” he added.

Kuku said by extension freedom of expression include freedom to find, select and use information

“So when this freedom is tampered with, we would require the peoples’ mandate, a fresh mandate through dissolution of parliament and early elections is the way to go.”

He said the government’s mindset deviates sharply from the expected when the world is merging into a global village, yet DCGA is taking SI into the primitive past.

Kuku said the government’s desire to suspend FB will do more harm than good, because lest you forget FB is not just a communication medium, it is also good for education and business, especially in this time of the corona virus pandemic.

“What I find incredibly strange is government decided or is deciding through absolutely narrow lenses to punish FB which makes the proposal appear to look like a rushed one, when WhatsApp, Instagram, viber and the rest of social media platforms are still available for use.”

He said over the last few months, netizens had become more interested in our country’s affairs, making critique and uncovering how they have been managed and governed.

“Yet when our citizens speak out they are considered as mistreating and discrediting the government.

”It is clear that these are the voices government wants to silence – let us call it operation Hong Kong.”

Kuku said FB is targeted self-servingly by the government in simply the lenses of generating negative news, yet those abuse and criticisms never bite the government to death, adding that the government does not hold a monopoly over ideas and information.

“It would seem that government had opted for the cheapest option when other avenues are still open like lodging a police complaint or defamation claims through the courts.

“What we are seeing now is a government hell-bent on self-protection from the criticisms about heavy hand of politics in ESP disbursements and such considerations only point to human emotions like, fear, suspicion, superstition and paranoia taking over the power to reason in the governance of our nation.”

Kuku said he’d seen a dangerous pattern at play when professionals were fired, a nurses union was suspended and now government is suspending FB.

“It goes to show a government keen on consolidating power, borrowing silencing tactics from the playbook of strongmen dictators which is an existential threat to our values and freedoms.”

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

THE 2019 Census Provisional count recorded an increase of 169, 930, a 30.8 percent increase to the 2009 Census.

The increase represents an average annual growth rate of 2.7 percent for the period from 2009 to 2019. This is an increase of 17,000 people per year.

During the period from 2009 to 2019 and across the provinces, Honiara recorded the fastest annual growth of 57,000 people, 5,700 people per year; followed by Guadalcanal with a population of 48,127 people, 4,800 people per year.

The province with the lowest population is Temotu where growth continues to slow down even from 1999-2009.

Changes in population size at the provincial level showed that Malaita has recorded the highest population of 173,347 followed by Guadalcanal with 154,150 and Honiara with 130,176 people. The least populated province is Rennell and Bellona with 4,091 people.

Speaking to launch the Provisional Results of the 2019 National Population and Housing Census in Honiara, Minister of Finance and Treasury Harry Kuma on Monday said the growth will likely reach one million people in the next 10 years.

Kuma said that it is now time for the government to take a proactive approach to address the trend.

He said that up-to-date census data and findings are important for effective policy, planning and decision-making that ultimately should lead to effective service delivery and improvements in livelihoods.

“Although it is costly to invest in a census in the Solomon Islands given the vast geography and scattered islands, and the logistics involved, the return to investment outweighs the costs.

“In the absence of accurate or updated data, it would be very difficult for the government to accurately plan for development such as in supporting schools and building roads in communities,” said Kuma.

Meanwhile Kuma said that with the rising demand for information in our age of technological advances and social media, it is important that government provide reliable official statistics and information on a regular basis for public consumption to counter unreliable and unofficial information which are often sources for ‘fake information’ or ‘fake news’ in our society.

ENDS///with Kuma photo census launching…

Government reacts to public criticism

By EDDIE OSIFELO

THE Sogavare-led government is being accused of “dictatorial leadership” after Cabinet agreed on Monday to ban Facebook.

Citizens, especially those who use FB to promote their businesses, engage in discussion, communicate and sharing were stunned to see the direction government is taking to ban FB.

Minister of Communication and Aviation, Peter Shanel Agovaka says Cabinet took the decision following the barrage of criticisms levelled against Government ministers and the Prime Minister which are ‘highly defamatory and character assassination’.

Agovaka said the temporary ban is necessary because there is no law to regulate Facebook in the country.

One citizen said this should not happen but if it happens then this is a show of dictatorship.

Telecommunication Commission Solomon Islands is highly likely to bow down to Government’s decision to temporary ban Facebook in the country.

An insider in TCSI told Island Sun eventhough it is a regulator, it has no teeth to bite because the Government still controls it.

“We are just like any other State-Owned Enterprise which the government controls.

“Even though we are governed by an Act of Parliament, but still the government controls us,” insider said.

Chairman of Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee and member of Opposition, Peter Kenilorea Junior told the Guardian the ban on Facebook was a “direct and brazen assault on the freedom of expression” guaranteed by the Solomons’ constitution.

“Reports of a ban or suspension of FB is a grave concern for Solomon Islands, a democratic country. Cabinet is now strangling the very right it should be upholding. This decision should be condemned by all freedom-loving Solomon Islanders.”

Kenilorea Jnr said the proposed ban is an attempt by the government to shield itself from criticism and accountability. “As leaders, we… need to be held accountable by the electorate that place us in positions of power. We need to face the music from time to time. This is democracy.”

Two service providers, Our Telekom and Bmobile have decided to remain silent over the issues based on their privacy laws.

It is still not sure when the ban will come into full force.

In the Pacific, Papua New Guinea was the first country that planned to ban Facebook for a month in 2018 in order to conduct research into issues like fake profiles, misinformation, and pornography.

The Tongan government moved to ban Facebook in 2019 following criticism levelled against the King.

Samoan government took steps to ban Facebook in July 2020 as a result of criticisms against the Prime Minister and his government.

In the globe, China, North Korea and Iran have banned Facebook.