Andrew Abba scored two goals for Waitakere United yesterday in the New
Zealand national soccer league
BY ROMULUS HUTA
Andrew Abba scored two goals for Waitakere United yesterday in the New Zealand national soccer league
ANDREW Abba kept his scoring form intact by getting on the scoresheet twice as Waitakere United hammered Tasman United 3-0 yesterday in the New Zealand’s ISPS Handa Premiership.
The former Solomon Islands international, 29, has now taken his season tally to three goals in four games as five-time champions Waitakere continued their resurgence at Trusts Stadium in West Auckland.
The Chris Milicich-coached team, who got off to a forgettable start to the season with two straight losses, scored three goals in 10 minutes to record their second straight win.
Chilean Eder Franchini Pasten opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Abba came off the bench to score twice in five minutes to secure a comfortable win.
In the other match yesterday, fellow Solomon Islander Micah Lea’alafa helped Auckland City to defeat Eastern Suburbs by 1-0 and remain top of the table.
Waitakere United 3 (Eder Franchini Pasten 70’ – penalty, Andrew Abba 75’, 80’)
The national rugby 7s team that competed at the Oceania 7s over the weekend.
By Taromane Martin
The national rugby 7s team that competed at the Oceania 7s over the weekend.
THE Solomon Islands rugby 7s national team has finished 9th overall at the recent Oceania 7s challenge in Fiji.
The national 7s squad lost both of their pool matches on Friday losing 37-0 to Papua New Guinea in day one of the competition and then losing to Fiji 47-0.
The national 7s squad however, bounced back in day two of the competition on Saturday to claim two victories defeating Tuvalu 40-5 and then Vanuatu 29-7 in the men’s 9th position play offs on Saturday.
“What is next for Solomon 7s in 2019. Improvement of the ranking definitely will be important but again it is team work,” the Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF) said in a statement.
“It is Christmas break so time to take a break and enjoy the achievements of 2018, reflect on the positives and analyze where we can improve in 2019.
“Acknowledge all stakeholders, partners who worked with SIRUF to make 2018 another successful year for rugby.
“Much have been achieved and we should appreciate and agree 2018 was an exciting year. Long live rugby lo Solomons,” SIRUF said.
The national rugby 7s squad is expected back in the country tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the men’s rankings from the recent Oceania 7s in Suva, Fiji is as follows:
Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Australia, Tonga, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Nauru and Niue.
A high ball contest between the KOSSA and the Solomon Warriors in Sunday's match. KOSSA won 3-1. PICTURE BY ROMULUS HUTA
BY ROMULUS HUTA
A high ball contest between the KOSSA and the Solomon Warriors in yesterday’s match. KOSSA won 3-1. PICTURE BY ROMULUS HUTA
A superb performance by KOSSA in yesterday afternoon’s round of the Telekom S-League caused a 3-1 upset over defending champions Solomon Warriors at Lawson Tama Stadium.
KOSSA’s victory redresses the loss succumbed to Warriors in the first round which also ended by the same margin.
KOSSA now move to 18 points on the table on third place behind Henderson Eels (23 points) and Warriors (22 points).
After an even display by both teams for most past of the first half, KOSSA striker Harrison Mala used his pace to beat Warriors goalkeeper Philip Mango, who had already advanced past his mark in a 50-50 through pass. Mala made a small tap on the ball past Mango before slotting it into an empty net for the first goal in the 43rd minute.
A minute before halftime recess, Moffat Deramoa capitalised on a defensive blunder by Warriors player Fred Fakarii to beat Mango in similar fashion for the second goal.
The halftime team talk appeared effective for Warriors as they mounted pressure against KOSSA and created hosts of chances.
In the 63rd minute, it paid off when Kensi Tangis pulled one back for Warriors after reaching out to a perfect pass steered from Alwin Hou on the left.
The goal enlivened Warriors fighting spirit and they could have scored twice through Tangis and Hou. However, KOSSA goalkeeper Tony Talo had to be on his best to keep out Warriors from getting anymore ball past his goal line.
KOSSA was forced to regroup in numbers back into their own territory fending off continuous threat posed by Warriors.
When everyone thought an equaliser was going to come for Warriors, KOSSA captain Paul Wale surprisingly turned on with a perfect strike which had the margin extended to 3-1, leaving Warriors to face an uphill situation over the next 16 minutes remaining on the clock before the end of regulation time.
KOSSA held on to the lead until fulltime.
Coach Vivian Wickham was impressed with the courageous effort shown by his boys.
“We lost by the same margin in the first round and the boys responded well today.
“The players listened to instructions and played with passion which is what any coach wants.
“Full credit to the boys as they deserve the win today,” Wickham expressed.
“It wasn’t Warriors day today but they are a strong team, their position on the table being first is the testament to the quality of coaching and players they have.
“They will respond I’m sure.
“But we will work on areas we need to work on and there is a lot.”
Meanwhile, in the other matches played over the weekend, Henderson Eels slipped in with a 2-1 win over FC Guadalcanal on Saturday while Malaita Kingz edged Real Kakamora with the same margin.
In the final match yesterday, Marist FC young guns put on a matured performance as they came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Western United 3-2.
Coleman Makau scored in the first half to put united in front leading by a goal to nil.
The second half started and National U-17 forward Steward Qwanafia scored his debut goal for United to make it 2-0.
Under-20 striker Patrick Taroga pulled one back in the 58th minute before fellow national striking team mate Ali Mekawir levelled things up in the 76th minute for Marist.
Taroga got the winner to complete his brace via a spot kick in the 82nd minute to hand Marist maximum points.
SINU no longer accept MPs funding arrangement, G-province tops list
BY GEORGINA KEKEA
AS of 2019, Solomon Islands National University (SINU) will no longer accept any sponsorship of students through Constituency Funding arrangements from MPs.
In a statement issued to the public, SINU says this decision was made by the Senior Management Committee of SINU.
“This is to control untimely or non-payment of fees under these arrangements”.
The statement says, under these funding arrangements, MPs must pay the students fees in full or pay 60 percent upfront payment.
Of this brunt, Guadalcanal province was axed the most, where SINU will no longer accept sponsorship from their funding arrangements.
“All students, both new and continuing, will have to pay during registration the full fee or sixty percent upfront of the total. Only students who met any of these two payment options will be allowed to enrol next year,” the statement said.
Recently, SINU was lenient to students but was faced with a dilemma when the students’ fees were not paid.
The university needs the funds for their operations and when the students’ fees were held up, services and operations were also affected.
Because of this, as of the upcoming academic year, SINU will be strict when it comes to sponsorship of students fees through.
ABC reports that while the Army wants to lure 1,000 personnel, the Royal Navy is hoping for 300 more
people and the RAF expects to take
on 50.( Getty )
Solomon Islanders can now join the British Military
BY GEORGINA KEKEA
SOLOMON Islanders and other citizens of Commonwealth countries can now join the British Military.
In the past, other nationals wanting to sign up for the British military must reside in the United Kingdom (UK) for five years. Now the rules had been loosened.
Speaking to Island Sun on Friday, Deputy Head of Mission, British High Commission (BHC) says with the opening of this new programme, Solomon Islanders can also apply to work in the British military.
He says Solomon Islanders will be competing with citizens of other commonwealth countries. However if one has belief in him or herself, there is nothing stopping him or her to apply.
Mr Paul Dryden told Island Sun, in this current programme, the British military is looking for 1000 personnel.
“They will be advertising on their websites. There are three separate websites. There is the British Army Website, the Royal Navy website and the RAF website.”
ABC reports that while the Army wants to lure 1,000 personnel, the Royal Navy is hoping for 300 more people and the RAF expects to take on 50.
At the same time, Dryden says, there is no funding for this. Except a call for applications where due process will be adhered.
Dryden says interested Solomon Islanders must take note that all costs to UK must be borne by the applicant including other expenses pertaining to this process of application.
He says the BHC also has no part to play in this recruitment but can only assist in giving out information about the UK.
He however said a career in the military is a good one, as there are different roles in the military that one can apply for.
He said those wishing to seek a career in the military should check the websites of the three different military setting.
“Probably some qualification and a proficiency in the English language are requirements. There could be other requirements depending on the job or a need of some sort of qualification or not. A lucrative offer but a costly one,” Dryden says
Dryden then wishes Solomon Islanders who wishes to apply for a career in the British Military all the best and encourages them to go to the websites to know more about the programme.
It was reported by overseas media that the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have struggled to recruit sufficient numbers from within the UK and by next year all roles and ranks are open to citizens — older than 18 — from all Commonwealth countries.
More than 4,500 Commonwealth citizens, from countries including Australia, Fiji, Ghana, South Africa and Jamaica are already in the ranks of the British Armed Forces.
Solomon Islands has been a member of the Commonwealth ever since it gained Independence from Great Britain in 1978.
A new fungi which can help us deal with our plastic habit has been found.
This is according to the first ever State of the World’s Fungi, produced by Kew Gardens and a team of around 100 scientists from 18 countries, reports that fungi successfully degrades Plastics (polyurethane) in a matter of weeks.
The plastic-busting potential was discovered last year by a team of scientists from China and Pakistan, who search for to separate the fungi that were degrading plastics (polyurethane) at waste disposal sites.
The fungi were identified as aspergillus tubingensis and the scientists observed how it broke down bonds between the different polymers in weeks, rather than the decades it can take plastic to naturally break down.
The breakthrough comes as people across the world demands the throwaway consumer culture that has filled the world in a toxic tide of plastic that is killing marine life and polluting seas.
In relation, according to the report authors, argued that fungi deserve more specialist attention, saying further research into these often neglected organisms could provide answers to some of humanity’s greatest challenges. There may be as many as 3.8 million fungal species but only 144,000 of them have been named.
According to Dr Ilia Leitch, senior scientist at Kew Gardens stated that there are hidden, mysterious kingdom that are underpinning the majority of life on earth.
“We just don’t know enough about them. There are fungi inside plant cells and they can influence how resilient a plant is to climate change. There are all these different links and impacts that we just take for granted but we ignore them at our peril,” she says.
Leitch also says that other fungi and microorganisms are also being explored for their potential to break down other types of plastic.
“By understanding how the fungi break down these bonds and what the best conditions are, you can then increase the speed at which they do it.”
Every year, at least some millions of tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans, sometimes breaking down into tiny micro plastics that make their way into our food chain with, as yet, unknown effects. Through its Clean Seas campaign, and the UN Environment to mobilise governments, businesses and citizens to rethink how we produce, use and manage single-use plastics.
The Kew Gardens report showcases the kind of ground-breaking thought that will be at the heart of the fourth UN Environment Assembly to be held in March next year.
With the theme for the meeting- innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production.
The motto is to Think Beyond and Live Within: to think beyond major patterns and live within sustainable limits to tackle environmental challenges and assure a prosperous future.
WHILE a HIV-positive person has an annual risk of 10 percent of developing TB (tuberculosis), a HIV-negative person is at greatest risk of developing the disease after two years of initial infection.
This is according to Infectious Disease doctor Wei-Ru Lin from Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH) in Taiwan.
Moreover, he stressed on the difference between a HIV-negative person having a 10 percent lifetime risk of developing ATBD (Active TB Disease) compared to a 10 percent annual risk for people living with HIV.
Dr Lin explained that a 10 percent lifetime risk means 1 in 10 HIV-negative people with Latent Mtb Infection (LTBI) will develop ATBD over the course of their entire life.
“So if you have a group of 100 HIV negative people with LTBI, 10 will develop ATBD at some point in their lives, meaning that 90 will never get sick with TB. Most of those who develop ATBD do so within the first two years after infection”, he said.
On the other hand, Dr Lin stated that people living with HIV have a 10 percent risk of developing ATBD each year.
He said that from a group of 100 HIV-positive people who have LTBI, 10 of them after the first year will be likely to have developed ATBD.
Dr Lin mentioned that treatment and care for HIV related TB includes HIV testing and counselling, HIV prevention methods, co-trimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT), care and support and antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Dr Lin who is also the Director of Infection Control Center at KMUH along with colleague Ching-Tzu Hung, an Infection Control nurse of KMUH had facilitated a three day Infection Prevention and Control workshop at the Taiwan Health Centre during their brief visit last month.
Participants were thirty-three health workers from the National Referral Hospital (NRH), SINU’s School of Nursing, Honiara City Council (HCC) and Guadalcanal province.
THE Marovo Carver is a short Documentary about Marovo Carvings, life and culture in the Solomon Islands.
Elliot Spencer as the Director and Producer of the Documentary Filmed it as it tells the story of Tasiro, a Marovo Carver from Nggatokae Island.
Elliot Spencer first met with Tasiro when he visited the Solomon Island in 2004 when sailed by yacht with a small crew direct from Brisbane to the Santa Cruz Islands of Temotu Province.
“I liked it so much that I ended up staying. While still in my teens, I learned Solomon Islands Pijin, hunting, fishing, gardening, and story-telling solo style,” he said.
Spencer said that when met up with Tasiro, he was amazed by his level of skill as he calved directly into the wood following only his imagination.
“His name also struck me special, Tasiro is the name of my favourite actor Toshiro Mifune from the Akira Kurosawa’s film Seven Samurai 1954,” he added.
Bare triton bowl and two woodspoons made from Kerosene wood.
In relation, the documentary is part of a platform for over 75 Film Festivals around the globe where all budgets, genres and geographies are represented in one place, whom 80 countries attend it for over the course of the five days with attendance of more than 50,000 people participated.
With much adoration for the carver’s art, Mr Elliot then started producing the project as he wanted to create the cinematic film in which would showcase Solomon Islands arts and culture in a very positive way.
“I love Marovo Carvings and I have many old friends who are Marovo Carvers. The goal was to share Marovo Carvings with the World, and inspire a sense of pride among Marovo Carvers” Mr Elliot said.
Usually telling strong human stories Elliot’s work has tackled many challenging contemporary matters from refugees, indigenous issues, and the environment. While filmmaking in the Solomon Islands and China Elliot has learned to speak Mandarin and Solomon Islands Pijin which have given him a unique insight and creative freedom while filmmaking abroad.
Elliot is most known for his work “Long Yearning: Modern China Ancient Poems” Awarded Best Film Human Rights at the 5th Life After Oil International Film Festival 2018, Best Experimental Film at the ATOM (Australian Teachers of Media Awards 2017, Best Documentary at the Asia Peace Film Festival 2017.
Carvings from Marorvo.
“It’s always great to be awarded as it’s highly competitive out there, often thousands of films are entered into a single festival. Marovo Carver was made on a non-profit basis, so getting live screenings and feedback that the film has been impacting audiences is important to me,” he said.
In addition to, it’s a very positive film as it shows the original beauty of the Solomon Islands environment and the openness of Solomon Island people.
Hence, the film does bring to light some of the pressing issues facing the Solomon Islands especially with regards the environment impacts that Global Warming threatens.
“I want to put pressure on the World at large to respect the Solomon Islands and the Pacific region which I consider sacred.
“Sharing this news with the Solomon Islands. Together, we can all be proud of the Marovo Carvers,” he added.
To date, Marovo Carver was Awarded Best Short Documentary and Grand Prize Winner at the IAFOR IDFA (International Documentary Film Awards) in Japan, and Best Indigenous Film at the POP (People of Passion Awards) in Australia.
Picture by Elliot spencer.Carved wood work. Bareho village, Solomon Islands.
THE United Nation peace programme together with the Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace and Malaita province will host a three-day summit on traditional governance and customary land system.
Deputy Director from the Ministry of Traditional Governance, Peace and Ecclesiastical Affairs Mr Genesis Kofana said the idea behind the summit is Malaita province wants to come up with a land law especially to pave way and allow land in Malaita province for development especially for investors.
“We try to understand ourselves on what we have in our traditional systems where we can engage developments.
“As development comes from the western society it will remove some of our laws in the traditional system and some will still remain us our fundamental laws.
“Those fundamental laws of the customary land including tribal ownership and equal sharing for resource owners still remain based on customary land value.
“This is the main concept behind this summit that the Malaita provincial government has agreed upon that all lands in Malaita province must be free for development purposes.
“We will also be looking at creating a legal frame work which includes management, leasing, benefit sharing, and registration so that the same formular will apply to all kinds of development in our lands.
“Some of our senior state’s men will be available during the three days summit.”
“It is enough of talking about land but we need to move forward in development.”
Mr Kofana also highlighted that a group presentation concerning customary land reform will be made during the summit by some local chiefs who visited Fiji last year.
A single cough can generate more than 9,000 bacterium, in other words, TB bacteria.
This is according to Dr Wei-Ru Lin, an infectious doctor and Director of Infection Control Centre at Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH).
He gave a lecture about tuberculosis (TB) to a number of local health workers during an Infection Prevention and Control workshop at the Taiwan Health Center (THC) that took place from October 30 to November 1.
Dr Lin expressed that TB is a single-cell organism bacteria, more specifically a mycobacteria of 70 different types.
He said TB can be defined as Latent MTb infection (LTBI) and TB disease.
In relation, Dr Lin expressed that LTBI is TB bacilli (class of bacteria) that is a live dormant inside the lung but does not cause destruction of organs.
TB disease on the other hand is said to be an infectious TB bacilli that results in signs and symptoms of the disease and progressively invades and damages parts of the body.
Health workers were also told that active TB disease may occur in the lungs known as pulmonary TB or in other parts of the body, called extra pulmonary TB.
Some people may experience both cases.
Dr Lin mentioned that the most common and infectious from of TB is Pulmonary TB.
He added that the damage caused by this TB disease sends pus containing TB bacilli into the lungs, which a person with TB may cough up in spit or sputum.
The other TB disease, extra pulmonary TB is normally rare but occurs in up to 40 percent of TB cases among people living with HIV.
Dr Lin went on to speak on the transmission of TB.
He stressed that TB is transmitted through the air and once TB bacteria is inhaled it pushes its way into the lungs.
“Another thing you should know about TB is that it loves oxygen. So it often initially takes root in the oxygen-filled regions of the lungs. To get inside the lungs, TB typically travels through the nose and mouth.”
“Getting there turns out to be fairly simple. A single cough can generate more than 9,000 bacterium. A sneeze can produce triple that amount and propel the germs up to 10 feet away,” said Lin.
He stated that not all individuals who are exposed to the disease can be infected.
In the case of symptoms of TB disease, Dr Lin said due to general infection and immune response, there are symptoms like fever, night sweats, weight loss.
He then spoke about treatment for the disease which includes four drugs that are taken within two phases and both depend on whether or not the patient has been treated before.
Dr Lin said the drugs are Rifampicin (R), Isoniazid (H), Ethambutol (E) and Pyrazinamide (Z) and are the first defence used for drug sensitive tuberculosis.
The first phase is the intensive phase where all four drugs are taken for a 2-3 months period and the second phase is the continuation phase where only two drugs (rifampicin and isoniazid) are taken for 4-6 months.
Dr Lin noted that treatment support such as monitoring side effects, encouraging the patient to keep taking treatment and the provision of extra care needed (psycho-social) is also essential.
