MINISTER of Mines, Energy & Rural Electrification, Bradley Tovosia has hit back at Axiom Chief Executive Officer Ryan Mount and Opposition Leader, Matthew Wale for accusing him of illegal mining dealings.
Prior to the April 3 National General Elections, Mount accused Tovosia of issuing a Letter of Intent over San Jorge in Isabel to Bintan Mining when he already knew Axiom already has a pending application.
However, Tovosia has defended himself in media saying the decision was made by the Minerals Board.
Tovosia’s war of words with Mount has attracted the attention of Wale, who is the Parliamentary wing leader of Solomon Islands Democratic Party (SIDP).
Wale called on the then Prime Minister to remove Tovosia as Acting Mines Minister for alleged corruption.
He had demanded Tovosia be sacked immediately and a full investigation launched into the allegations.
Speaking in Parliament during the Sine Die motion recently, Tovosia said his name was tarnished before the election by Axiom.
He said he will bring the Mines and Minerals Act to cabinet before tabling in Parliament for amendment to reflect the people’s wish.
Further to that, Tovosia said it’s not good for Wale to call on the Prime Minister to sack him.
He said there was no respect and culture in Wale’s approach to ask the PM to sack him.
Tovosia first entered Parliament in 2010.
Prior to that, he was the Member of Provincial Assembly in Guadalcanal.
Members of the national Bilikiki beach soccer team that left the country on Thursday. PICTURE SIMON ABANA.
“We need to concentrate on what we can do”: Omokirio
By Taromane Martin
Members of the national Bilikiki beach soccer team that left the country on Thursday. PICTURE SIMON ABANA.
SOLOMON Islands Beach Soccer national Head Coach Gideon Omokirio says they will do their best at the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup next week.
The national beach soccer team, dubbed Bilikikis left the country with a 12 man squad yesterday for the competition which will kick three days’ time in Tahiti.
The players are: Fred Hale (GK), Izomo Bird (GK), Anthony Talo, Kevin Koipala, James Naka (C), Nelson Sipolo, Nicholas Muri, Thompson Pete, McPhilip Aisah, Allen Fa’arobo, Roy Mafane and Max Fa’ari.
The Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) said the Bilikikis will travel through Brisbane before heading to Tahiti where the competition will be held.
Coach Omokirio says they have been working hard for this competition but knows the tournament will be tough with the likes of two time FIFA Beach Soccer finalists Tahiti and Vanuatu also seeking qualification for the World Cup.
“We have been working hard in training for the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup and I believe my boy has what it takes to compete in Tahiti,” he said.
“There are a couple of experienced players in the team like James Naka, Nicholas Muri and Fred Hale who will be leading by example for the new boys.
“It will be tough especially against the hosts Tahiti who were our main rivals in past tournaments; we need to concentrate on what we can do rather than what other teams could do to us.
“A team to watch in the competition is Vanuatu and New Caledonia. We will do our best to represent our country out there no matter what happens in the next few weeks in Papeete,” Gideon Omokirio said.
Meanwhile the tournament in French Polynesia will see New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu joining defending champions and two-time World Cup runners-up Tahiti to compete for regional supremacy and for a spot in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Paraguay 2019.
With double-headers scheduled over six consecutive match days, each of the five participating teams will face each other once in a round robin format before the final and the third-place play-off to conclude the competition.
OFC Competition Director Chris Kemp says the tournament will be a fantastic opportunity for the beach soccer mad nation to showcase the game across Oceania.
“With the best talent from the Pacific on display we are expecting a very high level of competition and plenty of entertainment for the fans.
“We are confident that Tahiti, which distinguished itself on the global stage both by reaching two World Cup finals and by hosting the successful 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, has the necessary infrastructure and experience to deliver a top class event which we are all very much looking forward to,” said Kemp.
Schedule for the 2019 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup which will kick off Monday next week in Tahiti are as follows:
PRIME Minister Sogavare shakes hands with David Kalush as other officials looks on. (From left) Israel’s Consular to Solomon Islands Leliana Firisua, SDA Mission
President Dr Tovosia, MHL Chairman William Lamur. (From right) Rolland Piko and Policy Secretary Celsus Talifilu. PHOTO FROM PM PRESS SECRETARY.
Prime Minister Sogavare welcomes Israeli direct foreign investment
PRIME Minister Sogavare shakes hands with David Kalush as other officials looks on. (From left) Israel’s Consular to Solomon Islands Leliana Firisua, SDA Mission President Dr Tovosia, MHL Chairman William Lamur. (From right) Rolland Piko and Policy Secretary Celsus Talifilu. PHOTO FROM PM PRESS SECRETARY.
PRIME Minister Manasseh Sogavare has welcomed initiatives for an Israeli direct foreign investment into the country.
Sogavare expressed welcome during a courtesy visit made by Israeli investor in the area of Sustainable Energy and Water Processing Plant, David Kalush, President of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Mission Dr Silent Tovosia and Chairman of Mainland Holdings Limited, William Lamur yesterday morning.
Following months of meetings between Mr Kalush and the President of the SDA Mission, the parties have reached arrangements to roll out projects on a 30.2 hectare land owned by the SDA mission at Betikama.
Kalush will invest in an eight megaWatt solar farm and a state of the art Water Processing Plant.
According to the Government’s Policy Secretary of the Production Sector Celsus Talifilu, to allow the projects to maximise the production of Power and Water, a Poultry Processing Factory will also be developed on the land in partnership with Mainland Holdings Limited, Papua new Guinea’s leading company in agribusiness.
Apart from the benefits of the water processing factory and its use of sustainable energy through its proposed solar farm, this Foreign Direct Investment will also be a boost for the economy through employment at the Chicken Processing factory and distribution of the manufactured products.
The Poultry Processing factory will involve egg and meat products and an out growing’s scheme helping farmers to grow birds and eggs that will be supplied to the processing factory
The Prime Minister further reiterated that the Government will continue to support the discussions and provide assistance to ensure the investment takes off the ground.
This Israel, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea initiative will be a first major commercial joint venture to roll out in the country.
US Ambassador Catherine Ebert-Gray and Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare during discussions at the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Relations with the Superpower to be revived with return of the US Peace Corps
By EDDIE OSIFELO
US Ambassador Catherine Ebert-Gray and Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare during discussions at the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
ABOUT 40-45 Peace Corps volunteers are expected to arrive in Honiara from the United States in July.
This is part of the US move to revive the Peace Corps programme here after 50 of them left the country during the ethnic conflict from 1998-2003.
In the past, the Peace Corps focussed on health and education in the communities as volunteers.
United States Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, Catherine Ebert-Gray told media in Honiara yesterday they expect the government to identify which places these volunteers will serve in.
She said they may focus on environment, education and health.
Ambassador Ebert-Gray and Jennifer Spande, Deputy Director of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands based in Washington, have met with the Japanese Ambassador in Honiara and discussed how Japan supports its volunteers here.
She said Solomon Islands is a safe place for volunteers to work.
“Volunteers who served in Solomon Islands have shared their enduring stories of Solomon Islands,” she added.
Currently, nearly 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers are working in 76 countries to bring clean water to communities, teach children, protect the environment, help start new businesses, and prevent the spread of AIDS. Since 1961, more than 155,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving in 134 nations.
Borris Teddy (L) and Rocky Donaldson on their bikes. Donaldson has been named for next month’s Pacific Games
while Teddy will not be available due to work committment.
By Taromane Martin
Borris Teddy (L) and Rocky Donaldson on their bikes. Donaldson has been named for next month’s Pacific Games while Teddy will not be available due to work committment.
TRIATHLON Solomon Islands Federation says they will be sending a seven man team for next month’s Pacific Games in Samoa.
Head Coach Nathan Thompson told SunSPORTS yesterday the team consists of four athletes and three officials.
Coach Thompson said two new faces will also be part of the team which consist of former triathletes Rocky Donaldson and Adriana Tukuvia, who represented Solomon Islands at the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea.
The Coach said some of their best athletes could not make it into the squad due to school, work commitment and family issues, however is confident of improving on their results in 2015.
“We supposed to have more females on the team but due to personal and family reasons they could not make it in the final team,” Coach Thompson said.
“Some of our experience male athletes like Boris Teddy did not make it to the team also due to school and work commitment.
“But we have four athletes, three male and one female plus three officials who make up our final team for the Samoa Pacific Games.
“Two of the squad members will be their first time to compete outside and it will be good for them to see the level they’ve reached while the two old ones, I’m hoping they can improve from the previous results at the 2015 Pacific Games.
“We plan to have our final Triathlon race competition towards end of the month. After that then we’ll concentrate and continue with our preparation for competition next month,” he adds.
Meanwhile the final TriSI Federation athletes and officials for the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa are as follows:
Athletes: Timson Judd Irowane, Junior Patrick Newman, Rocky Donaldson and Adriana Tukuvia
THE Honiara Amateur Boxing Association (HABA) has strong evidence that the President of the Solomon Islands Amateur Boxing Association (SIABA), Mr Patrick Morris, is actively misrepresenting the success of Solomon boxers at the recent Tri-Nations Tournament held in Suva, Fiji, last weekend.
The Solomon Star ran an article on Tuesday 11 June 2019 in which Mr Morris was quoted as saying, “From our seven fighters we’ve managed to come home with three victories and four defeats.”
But the President and Vice-President of HABA, Mr Waisea Bainivalu and Mr Thomas Selena, have been informed by International Boxing Association (AIBA) officials in Fiji that only one Solomon boxer, Mr Jeffery Nyieda, actually won a bout.
“So who is lying?” asked Mr Bainivalu. “Is it AIBA? Or is it SIABA under the presidency of Mr Morris? Our national sporting authorities and the people of the Solomon Islands deserve to know the truth. And if Mr Morris has simply invented the results reported in yesterday’s newspaper, he should be held accountable for deceiving the nation.”
In addition to confusion about the number of Solomon victories, there is also confusion about Mr Morris’s claim that the seven Solomon boxers attended the Tri-Nations Tournament “as part of their preparation for the upcoming Samoa Pacific Games.”
“Our understanding is that only four of the seven boxers who went to Fiji are actually members of the national boxing squad,” said Mr Bainivalu.
“Why didn’t other members of the national boxing squad attend? And on what basis did SIABA select the boxers who did attend?”
“All of the Solomon boxers who attended the Tri-Nations Tournament fought hard and well against strong opponents,” added Mr Bainivalu.
“They’re to be applauded for their performances. But we in HABA believe they are being let down by SIABA’s ongoing incompetence.”
The confusion surrounding the Tri-Nations Tournament is just the latest problem for SIABA under the long leadership of Mr Morris. According to Mr Selena, HABA has identified a litany of failures of the national federation over recent months and years.
“SIABA under Mr Morris has no vision whatsoever for growing and improving the sport of boxing in the Solomon Islands,” Mr Selena said.
“SIABA hasn’t held an Annual General Meeting in years. The current executive committee never meets and its membership is unclear.
“We in HABA know almost nothing about SIABA’s formal governance structure. Decision-making is opaque, including decisions about finances. Mr Morris appears to run SIABA like an arbitrary dictator.”
“SIABA doesn’t provide any development opportunities for Solomon coaches and officials. There are currently no AIBA accredited coaches, referees, or judges anywhere in our country.
“This is an embarrassment because it means that Solomon boxers cannot be cornered by their own countrymen at international competitions, as happened to Henry Kia at the last Commonwealth Games.”
“SIABA is only a non-financial member of AIBA and its ongoing dysfunction is really testing the goodwill and patience of the international governing body.
“We in HABA have been advised by senior officials within AIBA that the Solomon Islands is one of several countries currently under consideration for expulsion.”
“We have also received alarming reports about the training regime for the national squad being sent to this year’s Pacific Games. Apparently it almost entirely consists of shadowboxing and running, with many training sessions being led by one of the boxers, not a coach. This is obviously inadequate preparation for boxers heading into a competition like the Pacific Games.”
“HABA has been trying for months to help the national squad by holding tournaments at the Multipurpose Hall. But we’ve been unable to do so because of SIABA’s failure to pay for hiring the Multipurpose Hall for last year’s national selection trials. This issue has only recently been resolved, no thanks to SIABA, which still owes ten thousand dollars to the Honiara City Council (HCC).”
Both Mr Bainivalu and Mr Selena called for all national sporting authorities in the Solomon Islands to take emergency action to reform SIABA for the sake of future Solomon boxers.
-Will Malaita go to the provincial election today?
-Reports of no ballot papers for some wards
By Alfred Sasako
THE Malaita Provincial Election would go ahead today despite conflicting reports last night that ballot papers for the Province were not ready.
This seems to be confirmed by one report that ballot papers for Malaita Outer Island Polling Stations left Honiara by boat yesterday afternoon. The ballot papers are due to arrive there this morning.
Attempts to contact authorities to verify the conflicting reports were unsuccessful.
Island Sun last night sent emails to the Chairman of the Malaita Provincial Elections, Max Lua, and Coordinator, Robert Dolaelasi to confirm whether or not the provincial elections would go ahead.
None responded by the time Island Sun went to bed last night.
Earlier reports which swept through Honiara late afternoon yesterday said there was a delay in getting the ballot papers to Auki before they were distributed to the polling stations.
Those familiar with the work said the sheer logistics involved suggests that if the ballot papers were not ready, the election may have to be postponed. This however could not be independently verified.
It was not clear whether the printing company which was awarded the contract received the documents in good time. Island Sun last night searched the 2018 Telephone Directory and Google for the company but it was not listed.
The leadership behind the success story on audit issues in Buala. Premier James Habu (seated right), Provincial
Secretary John Mark Lokumana (standing right), Eileen (standing left)) and the PGSP Provincial Capacity Development
Advisor Mr Joseph Ramo (sitting left).
-Provincial governments take the lead in accountability and compliance
-First time for any provincial government since Independence
The leadership behind the success story on audit issues in Buala. Premier James Habu (seated right), Provincial Secretary John Mark Lokumana (standing right), Eileen (standing left)) and the PGSP Provincial Capacity Development Advisor Mr Joseph Ramo (sitting left).
ISABEL province has created history by being the first ever provincial government to score a clean sheet in its audit report, a feat never seen since Solomon Islands gained Independence in 1978.
For those who have been following the capacity building efforts of the Provincial Governance Strengthening Programme (PGSP), which is being implemented by the mother Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening, MPGIS, would not be surprised to learn that the Provincial Government of Isabel has landed a clean audit report 2017/18.
This is an achievement of monumental proportion resulting from the consistent efforts of Premier James Habu and his hardworking administration team in Buala. It is the first time a government agency clinches such an excellent audit report since independence.
Under his leadership, Isabel Province secured qualified audit opinion in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 and eventually a clean audit report called ‘’unqualified’’ audit opinion declared by the Auditor General of Solomon Islands after satisfying himself that the financial statements and the transactions audited by the audit team did not indicate any material misstatement that would have rendered the statement misleading.
On the basis of this assurance, the report is unqualified meaning that it is indeed a clean audit report. It may not be issue-free but the issues raised are not material enough and poses lesser risks to the public fund management.
In a brief conversation with the newly appointed Provincial Secretary of Isabel, John Mark Lokumana, he cited the following as contributing factors to their success in securing a clean audit report (that shows that the Provincial Funds being the SIG Fixed Service Grants, PCDF and its own source revenue are being well managed, accounted for and accurately reported):
The Administration holds regular meeting of Heads of Division, at least monthly, to discuss issues relating to performance and internal control systems,
The concerns of the Provincial Annual Assessment reports are highlighted.
Issues raised in previous audit reports are tabled for long-term solutions to be found to fully address them.
The few officers who may have issues affecting their work are called by the Administration to help them to overcome those issues whether work or personal related.
The Provincial Administration ensures that it focuses on its core competence in terms of its operations in order to make maximum impact.
For the past four years, the Provincial Administration has been on their toes following up staff performance. Officers in Isabel Provincial Government are giving deadline to deliver expected outputs.
The Annual Work Plans are output based and monitored with relative ease.
Staff salaries and remuneration packages are good.
Of course, all this would not have been possible without the unflinching support of the Provincial Executive in Buala who in the last four years presided over the rein of the Province.
The PS of IPG informed PGSP that the Administration had the full support from the Premier and his Executive in implementing the Public Expenditure Management reforms and Public Financial Management reforms that are being carried out by the MPGIS through its PGSP programme.
The Executive, he said, fully endorsed the PGSP reform initiatives and further embraced the capacity building that is being delivered to the officers and more recently the Provincial Assembly Members. Asked how he feels about this life-time achievement for the Province, Premier Habu said, “The achievement is great for the Province and it should underpin future strategic development efforts. It is a moral boost for the staff since it would surely build their personal confidence.”
The former Provincial Secretary, Mr Selwyn Vasuni, who served the Province for four years as the PS must also be commended. Most of the audit achievements took place during his time. As the PS of Isabel, he coordinated the seconded and direct employees to deliver.
Mr Lokumana also highlighted the immense contributions made by his long serving Provincial Treasurer, Eileen Baragamu, who has been heading the finance team in Isabel and taking care of control measures in the Treasury Division.
The man behind the capacity development through on the job training and mentoring has been Joseph Ramo, the PGSP Capacity Development Advisor based in Buala.
Given his audit background, Ramo has been supporting the Treasury Division in accounting, internal controls and financial reporting. His consistent support to the Treasury Division has paid dividend.
Asked how he may maintain such a performance in the future, PS Lokumana placed hope on the team whose efforts had led to this historic achievement. He excitedly announced the arrival of the following officers whose contributions would surely add value to the Provincial operations and help to further clean up the system and institutionalise further reforms in the area of Public Expenditure Management and Governance.
Recently the Ministry has provided a Resident Engineer (Tom Ro’Uhau), a Planning Specialist (Norman Hiropuhi), an Accounting Specialist (Ben Arilasi) who came on board in the month of May 2019. The Procurement Specialist has been recruited and may report to duty shortly to complete the line of specialists recruitment for the Province to strengthen the human capacity for effective service delivery.
With the core team now being strengthened by the Ministry, the PS has renewed confidence that with continuous capacity building and mentoring of the team by the PGSP, IPG would surely maintain the clean audit performance it has been working for since the strengthening programme started in 2008.
On the future of PGSP, from Isabel Province perspective, Mr Lokumuna urged the MPGIS to ensure continued support to the programme in the areas of capacity development of seconded officers, specialists, direct employees and the MPAs who would soon be elected to the Provincial Assemblies. Being a technical programme, all Provincial Authorities have been demanding officers with technical skills to strengthen capacity to deliver the programme and meet the demands of the revised Financial Management Ordinance.
As part of the recent discussions on the welfare of Provincial Officers by the PGSP Joint Oversight Committee, the PS of IPG reiterated the need for the programme and the Ministry to commence the process of converting Provincial Core Officers into contracted officers on performance based.
This, he said, would lead to re-design of the officers’ job descriptions with measurable indicators that would pin-point what is expected of each officer and how they would be held accountable. Now that the performance-based system initiated by the Ministry through PGSP is here to stay and is being institutionalised, the officers should thus be held accountable through the same system.
The perfect aligning of the officers’ jobs descriptions to what the province is being assessed annually would be helpful to the Provinces and motivating to officers.
The key person behind the Provincial Governance Strengthening Programme is Stanley D Pirione, the long serving Permanent Secretary of MPGIS who, according to the project structure of PGSP, is the National Project Director and Chairman of the PGSP Joint Oversight Committee.
He has been very supportive and behind the project for continuous capacity building of Provinces in Public Expenditure Management systems, Public Finance and Good Governance.
Under his leadership from 2012, the programme evolved and delivered series of invaluable mentoring and on the job training of Provincial Officers, which seems to have resulted to the remarkable achievement being announced for Isabel Province.
His decision in 2015 to carry the training of officers and MPAs down at the provincial level where a critical mass would benefit has yielded results particularly in the area of improved understanding of processes and procedures and the need for compliance enforcement of the Provincial Subsidiary Legislation (Financial Management Ordinance).
Inset (at newly completed PCDF funded six-classroom block at Fo’ondo in Northern Malaita, June 2019) is Momodou Lamin Sawaneh the current Programme Management Expert of PGSP.
Momodou is conducting most of the trainings and continuous capacity building of Ministry, MPAs and Provincial Officers on Public Expenditure Management, Public Finance, Planning and Governance for the past 10 years.
He is one of those behind the PGSP led reform initiative through MPGIS and providing consistent policy advices and technical support on the practical implementation of PCDF Operations Procedures Manual and the recent review of Provincial Regulatory Framework (Financial Management Ordinance) that aims at promoting greater accountability of public funds including strengthening of internal controls at the sub-national level.
His expertise in public finance has led him to push for the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) for Provinces in May 2010, being the first government agency to adopt such a renowned international standard.
He has since been training officers in every aspect of IPSAS application in financial reporting. The PGSP officers are backed by the Ministry team in the Finance Division in their capacity building efforts to ensure Provinces clean up their audit issues (Geoffrey Vakolevae and Priscilla Cheka have been instrumental).
The communications Division of the programme (led by Baddeley Nukumuna) has been instrumental in ensuring continuous visibility of the programme, provincial outputs and the impacts that are being felt by the people.
Behind the provincial success stories is the PGSP Steering Committee (members of the Joint Oversight Committee) that is responsible for ensuring that the project is steered in the right direction from the project management level to the PCDF project implementation.
The committee has been very supportive of the MPGIS as the implementing Ministry of PGSP.
Their decisions on issues relating to PGSP and PCDF have been of high quality and consistent thus maintaining the goal of achieving increased accountability of public funds as demonstrated by Isabel Province.
Those who witnessed the launching of PGSP in July 2008 may be surprised that within a span of 10 years such an impact is being felt across all Provinces from infrastructure delivery to public sector accountability.
A total of more than 1,200 high quality infrastructure projects have been delivered by the Nine Provinces (see Fo’ondo in Northern Malaita).
With the capacity at the Provincial level in 2008 such an achievement would have been unimaginable. It is no wonder that the Premier and the hardworking team at Isabel described the clean audit report as an achievement of monumental proportion.
The good news for PGSP Board Members and the SIG is that more Provinces seem to be acquiring qualified audit report in 2017/18.
Even though reports are being released gradually by the OAG, we can confirm that Central Islands Province has joined the list of Provinces with qualified audit report. 2017/18 audit report of Choiseul is the 5th time for that Province to acquire qualified audit opinion (a show of consistency).
With the pace at which the MPGIS and the PGSP are conducting training of officers and MPAs, the 2018/19 audit reports may result to more Provinces joining the ranks of Isabel with clean audit reports (unqualified audit opinion).
The table below shows us how far Provinces have come in terms of timely submission of Financial Statements for auditing.
The baseline data shows a deteriorating situation which prompted the SIG to conceive the establishment of PGSP and its capacity development fund.
Within 10 years of continuous capacity building the situation looks radically different. It is all thanks to the continued support of SIG who is not only funding PCDF but also ensured the continuity of PGSP through phase II by providing recurrent budget support for continuation of PGSP activities. The SIG is keeping PGSP alive.
Baseline Information
Progress made since PGSP established
Province
Year established
15-year Financial Reporting performance
1993-2007
15- year Audit Reporting performance
1993-2007
10 year performance review of financial report timely submission and audits
2008 – 2018
Years audited
Years not audited
Years FS prepared
Years FS not prepared
Years FS audited
Central
1984
0
15
1
14
10
0
10
Choiseul
1991
0
15
0
15
10
0
10
Guadalcanal
1984
0
15
1
14
9
1
9
Isabel
1984
0
15
1
14
10
0
10
Makira
1983
0
15
0
15
10
0
10
Malaita
1983
1
14
1
14
10
0
10
Renbel
1992
0
15
1
14
9
1
9
Temotu
1984
1
14
0
15
10
0
10
Western
1983
0
15
1
14
10
0
10
The Minister for the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening, Anthony Kamutulaka Veke (MP) and the Permanent Secretary, on behalf of the entire MPGIS Officers and the Provincial Governments wish to extend their heart-felt congratulations to the Premier and staff of Isabel Province for this historic achievement, which came out of tireless efforts all officers and the political leadership.
The Ministry would also like to thank its Donor Partners in PGSP phase one (UNDP, UNCDF, EU and RAMSI) who provided initial funding for the programme in response to SIG request for donor funding to strengthen Provincial Governments in Solomon Islands (ref: speech delivered by Prime Minister Sogavare at the UN General Conference in 2006).
PRIME Minister Manasseh Sogavare believes the Autonomous Bougainville Government should work on bringing unity to its people before going for the referendum in 17th October.
This came after people in the northern part of the Bougainville wants autonomy, those in central are not serious on independent and the southern part is really serious for independence.
Sogavare said what is the point of referendum when the people of Bougainville are not united.
“I believe the Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison should make a quick visit to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister to discuss the possibility of deferring the referendum.
“This is to allow them to work on the unity of Bougainville,” he said.
Sogavare’s comments may be seen as interference into Bougainville internal matters.
However, he sees the need after the western part of Solomon Islands including Choiseul and Shortlands have felt the brunt of the civil war between PNG Defence Force and Bougainville from 1988 to 1998.
Sogavare said up until today, there are outstanding compensation to compensate the people of Choiseul and Shortland for suffering the spill over of the conflict.
Radio New Zealand reported the PNG and Bougainville governments have issued a joint guide on key elements of the independence referendum.
In the guide the chief secretaries of both governments, Isaac Lupari, and Joseph Nobetau, have endeavoured to answer many of the questions people have.
People in Bougainville will be asked to choose between ‘greater autonomy’ and ‘independence’.
The guide doesn’t yet have a full description of the terms as it says they’re still being developed but they’ll be given to voters in time to ensure an informed choice can be made.
But it does say ‘greater autonomy’ will be distinctively greater than the present autonomy arrangement.
The joint document says those eligible to vote will include non-Bougainvilleans who are currently residing in Bougainville and have been there for at least six months, along with Bougainvilleans and their families living outside the province.
Over 20,000 people died in the Bougainville civil war and many disappeared without being accounted for.
It also points out that while the result of the referendum is non-binding, it will be considered by both governments with the PNG national parliament to make the final decision.
SOLOMON Islands need to make an important strategic decision in its foreign policy to deal with the geo-politics in the Pacific.
Former Prime Minister, Danny Philip highlighted this when contributing in the sine die motion in Parliament yesterday.
His concern came about following China’s growing influence in the Pacific to attract traditional allies of Taiwan like Solomon Islands to sign up to Beijing’s multi-billion Belt and Road Initiative in order to build infrastructures and North Korea’s nuclear programme.
Philip said Solomon Islands is racing against time and can influence by bigger power players.
“We are expecting challenges and our sovereignty can be compromised.
“This country cannot become the shadow of another state. This is our country which we want to own it to develop our goals and aspirations,” he said.
Philip warned that globalisation is going to influence Solomon Islands with a lot of things like changing it law, economy dictated, loss of languages and cultures and customs.
“We are in critical times.
“We have to be mindful at all times,” he said.
The Democratic Coalition for Government Advancement (DCGA) agreed to carry out a thorough assessment on the question of shifting from Taiwan to mainland China in its foreign policy.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare confirmed this during a press conference with media in Honiara on Wednesday after recent commentaries that some factions within the government demanded Sogavare to shift diplomatic ties to China or face motion of no confidence in six months.
They wanted the government to sign up with Beijing’s multi-billion Belt and Road Initiative in order to build infrastructures on Guadalcanal and Malaita to address the high unemployment of their youths.
Sogavare has denied any rift within the government and claimed they are rock solid as ever.
He said the government will need to look at the pros and cons of the Taiwan/China issue before making any final decision.
“We have to consider the big players like Australia because it works closely with United States of America that are concern about the security in the Pacific.
“We are small player in this situation, therefore, we need to analyse the pros and cons of it before making the decision,” he said.
Solomon Islands has diplomatic ties with Taiwan for 36 years.
Radio New Zealand reported the United States has warned that Chinese interference in the Pacific could lead to conflict and both the Australian Prime Minister and the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister have been in Honiara this week, with some theorising that the timing had to do with the impending diplomatic decision.
But Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Jeremiah Manele told RNZI that his government does not feel pressured to make a decision either way.
“It is a sovereign decision, a matter for the Solomon Islands government to look at. On that note, the government is making a comprehensive assessment of the issue so that government, the Caucus and the Cabinet, is well informed on the matter.”
Manele said his government will take its time to make an informed decision about whether to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan or pursue closer relations with China.
Further to that, Minister of Development Planning and Aid Coordination Rick Hou said he favoured sticking with Taiwan in terms of the country’s diplomatic relations.
Mr Hou, who is the former prime minister, raised the idea of reviewing the relationship.
But he said any decision needed to be done very cautiously and with awareness about the current geopolitical climate.
“Personally I think remaining with people that we know would be the best option for us in terms of our long term interests.
“Getting on with someone that we are not very familiar with, given what we know has happened in other regions, namely Africa and Asia and a number of countries in the region, I would be hesitant.”
Rick Hou said this week’s visiting delegations of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand Deputy Prime Winston Peters did not put any pressure on his government to decide one way or the other.
But he said they did seem wary of the potential implications a change in ties could have in the region.
Australian strategists remain worried that China is intent on establishing a naval base in the South Pacific – although last year Vanuatu furiously denied reports that it had preliminary talks with Beijing about establishing a permanent Chinese military presence on the island.
US Principal Deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, W Patrick Murphy would not be drawn on whether he thought it was a likely prospect, but said the “concept” of China establishing a base in the region was “quite troubling”.
RNZI said there has also been an intense debate in the Pacific about whether some nations have taken out unsustainable loans from China.
China is splashing out billions of dollars in concessional loans to developing countries, but what happens when these debt-laden nations can’t pay Beijing back?
The US Ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse Jr stoked controversy when he accused China of “payday loan” diplomacy.
Multilateral bodies like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank hold much more debt in the Pacific than China does – but the US points out that Beijing has used predatory lending tactics in several other countries including Sri Lanka and Cambodia.
Mr Murphy said China had a “role to play” in the Pacific, but it needed to adhere to the rule of law and ensure it was not fostering corruption.
