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Peace and security gaining momentum

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Australia High Commissioner HE Roderick Brazier. Photo by Australian Government, DFAT

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

Australia High Commissioner HE Roderick Brazier. Photo by Australian Government, DFAT

SOLOMON Islands is optimistic about its future with peace and security gaining momentum on a high note and people beginning to build trust in the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF).

The assurance was made by the Australian High Commissioner His Excellency Roderick Brazier during a visit to the Royal Australian naval ships last week.

He said Solomon Islands is doing really well in terms of peace and security.

Mr Brazier adds, the country faces major challenges in terms peace and security only during the ethnic tension which is an effect of the civil war 15 years ago.

“Compared to many countries around the world, that have been through terrible trauma, Solomon Islands is doing really well, your economy is growing and developments are improving.

“Honiara is peaceful, Malaita is peaceful and people are optimistic about the future and certainly don’t want to go back to those awful days.”

Brazier said Solomon Islands is a very young country, and the current generation have no memories of the causes of past terrible days.

Brazier said it is a critical ingredient to ensure the economy remains growing so that people have hope in the future.

He said a strong economy will encourage kids to go to school and encourage friends and families to participate in community activities peacefully.

He adds, people now are expecting five to 10 years from now their lives will be better.

“I think keeping the economy healthy and growing which it is at the moment is really important ingredients to peace and security,” Brazier said.

Brazier pledged that Australian will continue to support the RSIPF purposely to gain trust on police forces.

“We know when we go around the country including places where tension was traumatic such as weather coast, and the trust in police force is high at the moment, but people still remembered the days when trust was low.”

On the other hand, Brazier acknowledged the Solomon Islands Government to continue providing resources to the police force so it can keep the peace and security in Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela said Australia will continue to permanently build peace and security in Solomon Islands.

PM Hou adds that Australia and Solomon Islands have been strong partners into development aspects of the country including other development partners which resulted in country’s peace and security.

Solomon Islands have been working progressively for the SDGs Goal 16.

That is to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

 

Photo caption—Australia High Commissioner HE Roderick Brazier.

New market for fresh produce

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Market venders from the North West Guadalcanal constituency lay their potato on the floor.

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

Market venders from the North West Guadalcanal constituency lay their potato on the floor.

THE North West Guadalcanal constituency will establish a new market for fresh produce late this year at the Mataniko River Bank.

Market vendors from North west Guadalcanal will no longer have to lay their produce on the floor of the market as they have been doing for many years.

Member of Parliament for North West Guadalcanal Mr Bodo Dettke has stepped in to address the hardship women of his constituency are facing.

Dettke will build a new market particularly for vegetables called the North West Guadalcanal Constituency Rural Farmers Market at the Mataniko River Bank.

North West Guadalcanal Subsistent Farmer Association’s Chairman Mr Francis Orodani welcomes the initiative by Dettke, saying that it will remove one hardship the women of the constituency face every day.

He says it is mentally degrading for women to have to put their fresh produce on the dirty floor of the market, but have been forced to do so in the past years because they did not have any choice.

It also affects the quality of the produce too, he adds.

Orodani said every day about 100 women in the constituency come to Honiara Central Market and spend the whole day in such conditions, wet or hot and dry.

North West Guadalcanal MP, Hon.Bodo Dettke

Thus, MP Dettke decided to offer his block at the Mataniko River Bank to build a market which the new proposed market will contain 40 tables designed to accommodate two vendors each, thus allowing for 80 in total.

“If the pilot the project works perfectly and gain popularity among women then its permanency will be around white River area,” Orodani said.

HCC Market Master Jimmy Hanson Riunga said if HCC’s authority aware about the new market setting, he welcome such initiative as it will address issues central market currently face in terms of spaces.

He explained in legal side, if market setup within town boundary it should be under HCC’s mandatory.

However, Riunga said he support the idea MP Dettke has in place for people of the North West Constituency.

Currently, construction is progressing slowly at the Mataniko River bank.

Each woman will have her own market space, and no one will be allowed to use another’s spot.

Vendors will also be using identification tags.

The market also designed to have a storage container to avoid half price or free supplying of produce goods at the end of the day which commonly practices.

No betel-nut and coconut is allowed (unless it is clean, and this is purposely to avoid littering around the area) —only vegetable and sea foods.

Australia protects South Pacific waters

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

AUSTRALIAN naval ships have played a critical role in providing assistance to protect the South Pacific marine realm from threats.

During the Royal Australian naval ship’s recent visit to the country the Australian High Commissioner to Solomon Islands HE Roderick Brazier said the assistance they have rendered is to protect the marine domain from threats.

“The assistance we are providing in the South of the Pacific is helping them to protect the marine time domain from transnational treats to your precious national environments,” said Brazier.

He said with this major role, they will soon be providing replacements for the Auki and Lata patrol boats to assist them (Australian naval ships) in protecting the waters.

“This for them (Auki and Lata Police) to help play a critical role in protecting the marine time domain,” said Brazier.

Four people wounded in fatal stabbing incident on Bellona airlifted to Honiara

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Australian Defence Force personnel carry one of the victims from the helicopter after landing onboard the HMAS Adelaide.

THE four people wounded during a fatal stabbing incident on Bellona Island in the Rennell and Bellona province Friday last week have been airlifted by Australian Defence Force helicopters on Saturday morning to the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara.

A young girl died during the incident in West Bellona. The suspect is believed to be a mentally ill man, and is under police custody for further dealings.

Supervising Assistant Commissioner (AC), Provincial, Chief Superintendent Evelyn Thugea says, “The airlift of the seriously wounded four people by helicopters was possible following an urgent request from the RSIPF to the Australian Defence Force to assist get the wounded quickly for medical attention at the NRH.”

The helicopters used in the emergency airlift are from the HMAS Adelaide which is currently visiting Honiara along with HMAS Toowoomba.

AC Thugea says, “The victims were transported by Fire and Rescue Services and NRH ambulances from the Point Cruz main wharf on arrival.

“They are undergoing treatment at the Hospital. The victims include three males and a female. Their conditions have been described as stable.”

“I would like to thank the Australian Defence for quick response to assist Royal Solomon Island Police Force to airlift the wounded victims to Honiara for medical attention.

“I appeal to relatives of the deceased and injured persons not to take the law into their own hands but assist our investigators with information that will help with the investigation.”

A team of police investigators from Honiara are now on Bellona to investigate the fatal incident.

AC Thugea adds; “The suspect in relation to this wounding incident is currently under police custody for further dealings.”

The RSIPF extends its condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased at their great loss.

Australian Defence personnel assist wounded victim.
A RSIPF Fire and Rescue ambulance rushes two of victims to the NRH.
ADF personnel assist one of the victims from the helicopter after landing onboard the HMAS Adelaide.
Australian Defence Force personnel carry one of the victims from the
helicopter after landing onboard the HMAS Adelaide.

–POLICE MEDIA

Solomon Islands faces ongoing passport shortages

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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PS for MCILI Riley Mesepitu.

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

PS for MCILI Riley Mesepitu.

THE demand for ordinary Solomon Islands e-passport is increasing.

Currently there are 5200 e-passport books in stock but this will not be enough to meet the current demand.

Speaking before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week, Permanent Secretary (PS) Ministry of Commerce, Immigration and Labor (MCIL), Riley Mesepitu says 5,200 will not cater for the demand of travelling citizens of Solomon Islands till 2019.

Mesepitu was making this comment when he brought before the Special Select Committee a request of $900,000 to cater for an additional 1000 copies of e-passport books.

He said since the Government of Solomon Islands had signed an agreement with a supplier in Malaysia, the Ministry have been experiencing blank passport shortages.

“The major reason being that we have not been allocated adequate budget for this very important item under the recurrent budget.”

Mesepitu said for instance in 2017 they applied for additional funding from 2017 supplementary budget while early this year, they have to vie money from other divisional heads within the Ministry to meet the increasing demand while waiting for the budget proper 2018 and this time again through the Supplementary budget 2018.

“And this is another application because we are still encountering this problem and the pressure.”

He said this year they are anticipating an increase towards the end of the year and it will continue to increase.

He said there are a number of reasons that will see the demand of e-passports especially the renewal of expired passports and the applications for new passports that kept flooding their department.

Meanwhile Mesepitu also said this is a revenue earning activity for the government, thus it should be prioritised.

On the whole, he said more than SBD$10m should be generated on passports alone annually as revenue for the government.

This is considering the increase of the price of passport from $400 to $1000.

However the Solomon Islands e-passport can only be used on departure and on arrival at Honiara International airport.

Currently the Solomon Islands e-passport system is not yet compatible with other border systems.

Renbel Premier calls for calm

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Premier Collin Singamoana

By Barnabas Manebona

Premier Collin Singamoana

THE Premier of the Rennell and Bellona province has called for ‘calm and cooperation with police’ from the people of Bellona following last week’s gruesome machete attack which has left one dead and four seriously injured.

Premier Collin Singamoana says the tragic incident has shocked people of Bellona and Rennell, and is regarded as ‘very rare’, with people on the island still trying to come to terms with what had happened.

“But most importantly, at this moment the case is with the police and immediate family members and relatives of the victims I urge you please do not take the law into your own hand and allow police to take it from here and let the law of our country take its course.”

Singamoana, on behalf of the Renbel provincial government, conveys his condolences to the families and relatives of the victims.

According to police media, the attack took place on Friday last week, and has left one young girl dead and four others seriously injured.

The injured victims have been flown by chopper to Honiara and are now receiving treatment thanks to joint operation between the RSIPF and the Australian Defence.

The accused is also in police custody, and police have assured that they are dealing with the case.

Supervising Assistant Commissioner (AC), Provincial, Chief Superintendent Evelyn Thugea says, “I appeal to relatives of the deceased and injured persons not to take the law into their own hands but assist our investigators with information that will help with the investigation.”

A team of police investigators from Honiara are now on Bellona to investigate the fatal incident.

Pick-pocketing at central market bus-stop uncontrollable

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Old bus-stop in front of Honiara central market. Photo from SIBC Online.

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

THERE was confusion, chasing, yelling and fighting everywhere along the Central Market bus-stop last week Friday evening for more than four hours caused by pick-pocketing.

This huge nuisance experienced daily is worsening being too much now from understanding of citizens seeing even children being younger than their teenage years involving in it.

There seem to be no law or Officers working properly to ensure the safety of citizens from usual thugs commonly known as ‘Beligas’ in the country’s capital over which serious urge is on the table for responsible authorities to address such criminals of this nation that are causing too much nuisance for its general public.

“That evening was one of the worst times at the Central Market bus stop. I mean what was going on or that was experienced?” said a surprised local Henry Tivania among witnesses expressing the scenario of Friday evening as ‘lunatically unimaginable’.

“When people were struggling to get on board public buses to return to their respective homes after a hard day’s effort, here came these unprofitable thieves adding problems by trying to steal in between people going as far as even entering the public transports to do their stealing practice inside.

“While others shouted at another thief inside a public bus, another would be punched near another public transport and so which was too much of a scenario raising the question too in what are such people doing in Honiara. Or what is their purpose of living in the country’s capital.”

According to the general public, there should be strict law by the Honiara City Council (HCC) to do away with such practices as Officers should always be manning the streets for such people rather than just usually chasing harmless betel-nut vendors who are trying to earn a living.

“We struggle joining the workforce of this country to earn a day’s living as well as trying to make our environment a better place however at times now being common, we become victimised by lazy people who ruin us with their nuisance ways of stealing and creating problems for other people,” said locals within Honiara.

Pick-pocketing (Beliga) practise is not only witnessed daily at the Central Market but all over Honiara City’s corners too in which citizens strongly point that their safety should be a priority under the laws on this nation.

Not only that but how will the world view Solomon Islands if foreigners too apart from locals continue to experience such abnormal practices in the heart of its capital town which is a fact that will cause hiccup to this country’s development from many angles.

SINU cannot accommodate all school leavers, tertiary education sector needs expansion

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

ACCORDING to SINU’s (Solomon Islands National University) acting Vice Chancellor, Dr Prem Rai, there is a need to expand the tertiary education sector in Solomon Islands.

He stressed that all high school leavers cannot come to SINU given the reality that the university cannot accommodate or cope with so many students.

Rai explained that right now, SINU has seven and a half thousand full time students which is the maximum they can actually take in with the resources they have.

On top of that, he said they also have about 1,500 students enrolled in the flexible learning distance education programme.

Rai expressed that the university is promoting distance education for young people who cannot get a scholarship to study overseas or enroll at SINU.

“So don’t lose hope. For those who cannot get into the university or those who cannot get a scholarship to go overseas, you can still pursue education through distance flexible learning,” he said.

The acting Vice Chancellor also mentioned that they are promoting this program.

He emphasised that there is a need for the expansion of the tertiary education sector in Solomon Islands to cater for the high number of school leavers in the country.

“There is a need to expand the tertiary education sector. So all high school leavers can be able to pursue tertiary education which gives the skills and knowledge to emerge as a confident human being, a confident citizen,” said Rai.

Choiseul province demands apology from MEHRD over staff’s unruly actions

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

THE ministry of education (MEHRD) is being asked to issue a public apology after one of its staff caused a ‘shameful’ ruckus in Taro, Choiseul province.

The MEHRD officer, attending the National Education Conference in Taro, was arrested over the weekend and placed in custody by police in Taro.

It is reported that the MEHRD official arrived in Taro on Saturday from Honiara and was clearly intoxicated (drunk).

It was reported that he drove away in the Premier’s vehicle without consent when the vehicle was parked in front of the Choiseul Province Chamber. The Premier and his executive members were said to be having their official meeting at that time.

They only learnt that the vehicle was missing much later. It was reported that they had no idea on who took the vehicle.

They were only able to locate the vehicle after public told them that a drunk man was using the vehicle of the Premier.

The Premier and another member rushed to where the vehicle was reported to be located and removed the MEHRD staff.

They took him with them and handed him over to Taro Police for further investigation.

John Matapaza, MPA, Minister of Lauru affairs when contacted to verify the incident, commented that MEHRD owes a public apology to the Premier, the provincial government, the general public of Taro and the people of Choiseul province for the incident.

He said this is a shameful incident when a senior post holder in the Public Service acted like ‘Rambo’ in their peaceful province, while the Government and people of Lauru are preparing to welcome and host their guests.

Taro is currently host to a national conference by education authorities from around the provinces. The conference’s official opening is today.

‘Prepare for problem’

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0
Inside the Lecture Theatre (Working Progress)

Government’s 2018 Budget austerity measures puts SINU at huge risk

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

Inside the Lecture Theatre (Working Progress)

SOLOMON Islands National University (SINU) requests the national government to seriously consider their $40million submission for contractual payments or prepare to face major problems.

It is understood SINU faces the risk of being landed in court if it does not pay its contractors in time.

According to SINU’s Pro Vice Chancellor during the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing into the 2018 Supplementary Appropriation Bill at Parliament last week with the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (MEHRD) on their Supplementary Budget submission, the ongoing contractual costs for their two projects (The School of Education and Humanity Building Complex project and the school of Natural Resources and Applied Sciences, Research and Teaching Building) for 2018 total to $63M.

And currently, SINU has outstanding payments of $23M with the School of Education and Humanities Building Complex project.

One consequence which is also one of SINU’s big concerns if the national government does not seriously consider SINU’s Supplementary Budget Submission will be the legal implication on SINU for failing to meet its contractual obligation with contractors.

“So far the contractors have been tolerating the delays in payments but SINU Management has been told recently during the site visit to the School of Education and Humanities Building Complex project that their patience is running out. SINU need’s to meet its obligation in the contract,” said SINU’s Pro Vice Chancellor.

“Other consequences will be the problem of not enough classrooms and Office space that continues to exist seeing the enrolment numbers being expected to increase in 2019. Currently, hostels being used as Offices and classrooms create shortage of bed spaces.

“The next is SINU will not be able to achieve the results expected from the 2016-20 Strategic Plans and this is not good for the reputation of the university and the National Government as the only National University in the country.

“Finally there will be further delay on other important development projects that have been already planned and are now deferred due to lack of funding.”

From report, the School of Education and Humanities Building Complex project and the School of Natural Resources and Applied Sciences, Research and Teaching Building are two ongoing projects that SINU started in 2016 as part of its Strategic Plan.

The School of Natural Resources and Applied Sciences, Research and Teaching Building Project is expected to finish this year being at its finishing stage while the School of Education and Humanities Building Complex is expected to finish in the first half of 2019.

Submission for the $40M under the Supplementary Budget is to meet the ongoing contractual payments for these two major projects in particular the School of Education and Humanities Building Complex project.

The enrolment for SINU has increased by 65 percent since 2015 and to complete these two major projects within the expected time frame is very crucial as this is also to address the big problem of classroom space currently faced by these two schools.

SINU currently implements major infrastructure projects as part of the SINU Transitional Development programme which are now carried forward and implemented under the SINU Strategic Plan 2016-20 to support SINU implementing the Transitional Development Programme.

The government has made commitment to allocate funds for the development budget to meet the cost for these development projects.

In 2013 SINU was allocated $75M for the development budget and this amount was reduced to about $50M per year after 2013. Based on the commitment and understanding from the national government, SINU committed to implement some of the key infrastructure projects to meet the goals and developments of its Strategic Plan 2016-2020.

Reduction of the development grant budget raised the problem for SINU in not being able to meet its contractual obligations under these two projects.

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