THERE is no provision under the covid-19 quarantine regulation mandating the police to charge people in quarantine throwing out anything from the quarantine centres.
Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau stated this during his weekly media conference that there are regulation gaps and police cannot charge people in quarantine if they throw out anything from their rooms.
He said with regards to the two Chinese nationals alleged to have breached quarantine regulation, only the one who went and took the package from the Pacific Casino Hotel quarantine centre will be charged, while the one under quarantined will be freed as there is no provision under the regulation to charge him.
Mangau said the investigation is now completed and police will charge the Chinese who went into the Pacific Casino Hotel and picked the package.
This is the incident that occurred on September 3 this year, that a vehicle entered the Pacific Casino Hotel premises and a parcel was passed to another person in the vehicle by the Chinese national under quarantine at the Hotel through the ventilation window of a room on the southern side of the premises.
Mangau said such gap or loophole with the regulation police with work with the responsible authority to amend and include such provision to cater for any future happenings.
However, at the moment police will monitor people from outside who go near the quarantine centres so that such incidents are not repeated again, Mangau said.
OPPOSITION leader Matthew Wale is calling on the Prime Minister to take urgent steps to address the allowances of front-line officers in the fight against covid-19, which had been revealed as being unpaid since September 2020.
“If the reports are true, then it is clearly hypocritical of the government to be giving credit to front-liners while neglecting to pay them their dues,” Mr Wale said
“Each time they perform their duties, they are actually exposing themselves to serious health risks for the sake the rest of the community and I am surprised that their allowances would be left unattended,” he added.
“I therefore question the government as to why this has happened.
“I am concerned that the delay may have something to do with government’s spread of our limited resources including finances.
“I am concerned that payments that have political attachments which are not health related may be taking precedent over front liner allowances.
“If this is the case then something drastic must be done.
“We cannot lose sight of our front liners and other key health needs.
“They are too important in our fight against a health pandemic to be ignored just because we have to spend money elsewhere for political reasons.”
Further, on the nurses’ threatened sit-in protest, Wale also calls on the Prime Minister to take immediate steps to deal with their concerns.
“The last thing we want at this point in time is for our nurses to be left without options.”
Wale said it is obvious the nurses feel that their grievances have not been taken seriously and dealt with in a timely manner.
“It is therefore important that the legitimacy, legality and proportionality of these claims are given proper consideration.
“Clear lines of communications must be established therefore to avert any misunderstanding and the inevitable.
“Sensible and reasonable decision-making therefore is need on the part of government.”
SOLOMON Islands Nursing Association (SINA) proposed peaceful sit -in process planned for today (Friday 30th October) over delays to their covid-19 allowance has been postponed.
A statement by the General Secretary, Steven Maitani, on Thursday 29th October said they have called off the plan for now because authorities have not responded to their application to stage their protest.
“Following SINA members submission dated [October 19] to Government to review Covid-19 Allowance however Government fail to respond accordingly.
“Consequently, on [Oct 23] SINA sought application to stage Sit-In protest on 30.10.20, in accordance to Procession and Public Assembly Act 1996. As of today, [Oct 29] SINA received no approval and upon follow up with relevant authorities, SINA was advised there needs to be a consultative talk between relevant authorities before an approval can be granted.
“In absence of the relevant authorities approval, the protest will be called off accordingly. SINA is a law abiding institution and ensures its actions must be within the armpit of law.
“SINA Executive however was disappointed with the outcome of the decision and shares great concerns and sympathy with their members.
“SINA Executive however is aware of the ongoing frustration of their members and will tomorrow (Friday 30th October) find ways to harmonise their members’ concerns and irritations.”
According to a source who requests anonymity, the planned sit-in protest planned by SINA members and proposed to be held today (Friday 30th October) is illegal and likely to be cancelled.
The source said it is illegal because the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) denied receiving any letter or application from SINA requesting for a peaceful sit-in protest and so Honiara City Council (HCC) has also denied to grant SINA members permission and told them that for any gathering to held one has seek the Coronavirus Over Sight Committee’s approval.
“Nurses are told by the Solomon Islands government that any sit-in protest organised today is illegal and if they do so, it will be at their own risk.
“However, the national government has responded positively to nurses grievance over delay and non-payment of allowances in a meeting held yesterday (Thursday 29th October) at the Prime Minister Office (PMO).
In this meeting it was revealed that covid-19 allowances for nurses was delayed at the Accounts General office, Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MoFT),” the source said.
With this, the source said Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MoFT) McKinnie Dentana gave directives to the office of Accounts General, MoFT and his team to quickly process the delayed payments for nurses and immediately send the payment to nurse bank accounts rather than waiting for their fortnights.
The source said that nurses are reminded by SIG that in this current situation of covid-19 pandemic any gathering of more than 10 people or huge number of people is not encouraged as it is against the covid-19 regulations.
SINU students meeting at Pavillon, Panatina Campus on Thursday 29th October.
SINU SIG-students urge gov’t to pay up
By EDDIE OSIFELO
ABOUT 1,055 government-sponsored students at Solomon Islands National University (SINU) are calling on the Ministry of Finance and Treasury to settle their second semester allowances.
The students are under pressure from their landlords and demands to meet their basic needs after semester two resumed early this month.
Each student is supposed to receive a total of $29,720 after tax deduction for the whole semester which runs until January 2021.
As such, Ministry of Finance and Treasury is expected to make a total payout of $31 million to meet the students’ allowances.
One of the students said they found out that their allowances was on invoice stage, awaiting Permanent Secretary, McKinnie Dentana to approve the payment.
“Our allowance is one off payment; therefore, the government should prioritise it compare to students in regional universities.
“We have been waiting for nearly five months now after we spent our first semester allowances to return home during the break,” a student spokesman said.
The student said if things comes to worse, they will ask the government and SINU to allow them to return home.
Reports reaching Island Sun revealed that the government is facing serious cash flow problem, making it difficult to meet its obligation to the students, SINU and even the 500 nurses planning to go on strike today.
Finance Permanent Secretary, Mckinnie Dentana could not comment when contacted on Thursday 29th October.
THE first round of assessment of all applications towards the Economic Stimulus Package under Fisheries and Tourism sectors completed the entire screening process this week.
That’s according to the ESP Oversight Committee of the national government.
“This means approvals have been made on the most genuine applications through the vigorous screening process,” a government statement said.
“Following the completion of the screening process, the recipients whose applications are approved will be contacted in the coming days,” the statement continued.
“All successful applicants will be contacted to collect their letter of offer from the committee and sign an agreement with the ESP Oversight Committee.
“The purpose of the agreement is to ensure that all recipients are committed and are obligated to utilise the ESP support according to its intending purposes when they applied.
“As stated in the agreement, all recipients of the ESP are obliged to report to the committee during the monitoring stage that the funds they receive are utilised accordingly to the stated purpose that they had applied for.”
The ESP Committee reiterates that all applications go through a vigorous and strict screening and selection process and a list of information relating to the applications will be published via a database following the launch of a data software today.
Meanwhile, approvals for projects such as piggery, poultry, timber milling and root crops are currently under screening process and is expected to complete by the end of this week or early next week.
Process to release payments on cleared recipients is under way as well.
“The Government through the ESP Committee is fully committed to the implementation of the ESP on the interest of the wellbeing of the people, national stability and economic empowerment,” the statement said.
A fishing vessel spotted during the survelliance flight on Tuesday 27th October.
BY PRIESTLEY HABRU
A Pacific wide maritime surveillance operation has discovered a few suspicious foreign vessels in Solomon waters as of early this week.
The Pacific Islands Forum Agency (FFA) coordinates the surveillance operation with the Royal Australia Air Force (RAAF) supporting with one C-27J Spartan aircraft operating out of Solomon Islands.
After one of C-27J’s surveillance flights to the southern and western Exclusive Economic Zones of Solomon Islands on Tuesday, Flight Lieutenant Andrew Willersdorf said there are a few suspicious vessels spotted so far in the last eight to nine days.
“Potentially there are a couple of suspicious vessels, which have been forwarded to FFA, so they would investigate further,” he said.
Tuesday’s surveillance flight was the eighth Flight Lieutenant Willersdorf and his crew had made within Solomon Islands waters since this operation – known as ‘Operation Kurukuru’ began two weeks ago.
A few local journalists were invited onboard the Tuesday’s flight which flew over the Indispensable Reefs, an uninhabited coral reef located about 50 kilometres south of Rennell Island.
The six-hour surveillance flight was able to sight five fishing vessels which were all photographed and recorded as standard procedures during such operations.
Flight Lieutenant Willersdorf said what his team members normally do in a day is to take photograph of fishing vessels and gather intelligence which would then be taken back to FFA.
“FFA will then analyse those pictures along with the information we provided such as location, time and any activity that is happening on the boat at that time and they will make investigations further on that if they see any illegal activity or any unregulated fishing.
“It’s all part of a big effort for broader Pacific islands nations including Solomon Islands and working together to make sure that the EEZ are respected and that fishing is regulated to ensure sustainability for the future for the Solomon Islands and other Pacific islands nations,” he added.
Flight Lieutenant Willersdorf said Australia is proud to be able to assist in this operation and he thanked the FFA and Solomon Islands for hosting them for this period of the operation.
Flight Lieutenant Andrew Willersdorf
He reiterated that the Australian Defence Force is also happy to help with Operation Kurukuru.
Apart from the RAAF’s C-27J Spartan aircraft under Flight Lieutenant Willersdorf’s command, five other aircraft from the FFA and Quadrilateral regional partners of Australia, New Zealand, USA plus France are providing air surveillance under the Kurukuru Operation 2020 for FFA member countries including Solomon Islands.
The air surveillance by a total of six aircrafts are also conducting trials using satellites and other emerging technologies.
In the sea there are 12 Guardian Class and Pacific Patrol Boats from Pacific nations operating alongside five French Navy and United States Coastguard vessels.
Indispensable reef
The aim of Operation Kurukuru is to detect, deter, report or apprehend potential Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing activity and build capacity of national surveillance initiatives through support and mentoring from the Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre at FFA.
SIXTEEN returning female students quarantined at the Guadalcanal Beach Resort were released yesterday after completing all testing protocols.
Karl Kuper, Chairman for Institutional Quarantine Facilities (IQF), confirmed that the 17 students, who returned from the Philippines, were released on Tuesday night after successfully completing their fifth test.
Kuper said only one of the 18 students is still at GBR quarantine facilities.
According to Ministry of Health and Medical Services Office, returning students from the Philippines have taken their fifth round of testing and if all are negative they should be released.
However, the results returned were negative so they were released to their families since all their previous four tests returned negative as well.
Health Ministry further said that daily health screening is ongoing and the number of quarantine days and testing depends on risk assessment of country of departure.
Those from high risk and intermediate risk countries will undergo 21 days of quarantine and four tests and those from low risk countries will undergo 14 days of quarantine and three tests.
“All these quarantine and testing protocols are set in place to ensure we continue to prevent the virus from spreading beyond quarantine and isolation wards to our communities.”
Nurses to stage sit-in protest over unpaid allowance claim
BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
NURSES in Honiara and Guadalcanal will stage a sit-in protest starting tomorrow over delays to their covid-19 allowance claims.
The action is likely to bring to a stand still health service delivery in the city and on Guadalcanal.
The proposed sit-in protest was communicated in a letter General Secretary of Solomon Islands Nurses Association (SINA) Steve Maitani delivered to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health Pauline McNeil yesterday.
Maitani stated in the letter the protest would be staged to allow responsible authorities to act on the grievances of the nurses.
“The SINA Office humbly calls on the Government to expedite our concerted efforts towards settlement of this undertaking to ease our hardworking nurses anxieties especially at this critical period of covid-19 SOPE,” the letter reads.
“Not only that but time is against us, and so it is timely we remind the Government on what we have committed ourselves to deliver to our hardworking nurses in a timely manner,” it added.
“SIG had failed to respond to this urgent call for Covid-19 Allowance Review and facilitate payment accordingly, by close of business on 30th October 2020.”
Maitani said the sit-in protest would be staged at the National Referral Hospital car park.
Nurses are expected to be in their uniforms when staging the sit-in protest.
They were advised not to carry banners, posters, or clipboards; not to shout, no weapons, no music or singing.
“Just come assemble yourself there.”
Nurses are urged to show solidarity by being part of the protest.
Comments are being sought from Permanent Secretary McNeil.
THE Honiara City Council (HCC) owned Multi-Purpose sporting facility will be fully operational into a new ‘field hospital’ by the end of this week.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made this known during his nationwide address on Tuesday 27th October.
“Fellow citizens, I had referred to my government’s efforts to temporarily convert the HCC Multi-purpose hall into a Field Hospital for Covid-19 asymptomatic cases. Work on this project was temporarily put on the backburner when we shifted focus to the Western Boarder quarantine and Isolation facilities,” PM Sogavare announced.
“With the four new asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 and the likelihood for more cases, we now urgently need to complete the work on this Field Hospital to ensure it is operational by the end of this week.”
He said that a team from the government’s Oversight Committee together with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services visited the facility earlier this week and are confident it can be completed before the end of this week.
“The completion of this facility is now the most important priority for government to ensure it is ready before we complete the second round of testing of all the passengers,” the Prime Minister said.
The facility will be ready for asymptomatic cases of covid-19.
On the same note Oversight Committee Chairman, Dr Jimmie Rodgers also confirmed the sporting facilities transition area to curb the likely surge of the virus.
“The Multi-Purpose Hall is now the field hospital; it’s an expansion of the national referral hospital into an area where designed to cope with the surge,” Dr Rodgers said.
“We don’t have rooms at the NRH for those, and it’s much better to have it close to the hospital.
He added that the facilities will not be used like a quarantine center.
“It will not be like a quarantine center, it is basically a three model hospital. Now if you look at other bigger countries in the World, they used soccer stadiums, public halls they have been remodeled into Covid hospitals and that’s exactly what we’ve doing except ours is better because the environment inside is more controlled and security is assured,” Rodgers added.
Dr Rodgers also confirmed that they are mounting CCTVs at the facilities to monitoring patients.
He adds that the Multi- Purpose facility will accommodate up to 80 patients.
Chairman of the Oversight Committee Dr Jimmie Rodgers
Players under government’s support
BY PETER ZOLEVEKE II
‘SEVENTEEN’ out of the 31 Royals Football Academy players remained back in the United Kingdom, two of which tested positive to covid-19 along with their close contacts – and will be under the government’s support there.
Sixteen of the returning footballers are already in the country on the Auckland repatriation flight on Sunday 25th, four of which were ‘red flagged’ upon arrival and later tested positive.
In a press conference yesterday, Chairman of the Oversight Committee Dr Jimmie Rodgers assured that the remaining players will return once the government arranges them to repatriate.
“On the soccer boys, sixteen arrived and seventeen still in UK. Of the ones that are in UK still supports them until flights are arranged for their return,” Dr Rodgers responded when asked.
The players have been stranded in UK since the beginning of this year; they have played their stint with Stars Football Academy and 9th-tier English league clubs.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in his nationwide address revealed that the returning footballers were tested negative three times.
“They each sent their filled questionnaires. However, our contact tracing had already established that not all the questions were answered truthfully,” the Prime Minister said.
Sogavare also said that one of who was positive refused to wear a mask during the flight sidestepping standard requirements.
“We know who that individual is, and both he and the nation, need to know that his selfish actions in the plane had put many more passengers that came in on the flight last night at greater risk of exposure to the virus, and he had put our country in danger,” he said.
The four cases are now in the National Referral Hospital (NRH) Isolation units, while the other 12 players remained in shared rooms (two each room) at the quarantine site according to the government’s ‘risk management’.
“The football players they shared rooms before they came, so the sharing room arrangement from there is maintained over here. Part of our challenge is that we don’t have enough rooms for single rooms. So where the risk is already exposed we retained the same risk,” Dr Rodgers cleared.
PM Sogavare meanwhile firmly cautioned that responsibly authorities will certainly deal with those people after their completion of required quarantine period.
