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Thank you my Rennell/Bellona people: PM

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Renbel premier welcoming the PM at the ceremonial grounds

PRIME Minister Rick Houenipwela has acknowledged the dignity and pride of the people of Rennell/Bellona province whom have dedicated their invaluable service to Solomon Islands.

The Prime Minister in his speech to mark the 25th Second Appointed Day Silver Jubilee celebrations in Tigoa, Rennell Island, has thanked and congratulated the working population and the people of Renbel province for their valuable contributions to the country.

“Please allow me to acknowledge, and at the same time, congratulate our working population in this wonderful part of our country, who have worked tirelessly with dignity and pride, with commitment and resilience, and with noble dedication, in the building of this country and province to make it what it is today,” Houenipwela said.

He said despite difficulties and challenges faced throughout the years he also acknowledged the provincial workers for their priceless contributions.

“I thank the administrators, financial managers, planners, nurses, police, teachers, other public officers, community workers, business people and their organisations, church and community leaders, local politicians, NGOs and all stakeholders for their contributions in developing this province and the country as a whole,” he said.

The Prime Minister assured the people of Renbel province that despite the challenges the people face as a country; his Government remain committed and will continue to support Rennell/Bellona province.

“The National Government, through its various Ministries and Agencies, will continue to work with the provincial government in supporting you to achieve the development aspirations of your provincial government and its good people,” he said.

He said the national government will continue to provide resources and technical assistance to cater for the province’s human resource needs, financial needs, socio-economic aspirations and guidance in making policy decisions and encouraging active participation and cooperation with our people to ensure that development does take place in this province.

“The journey ahead is challenging but we must work together and make sacrifices to ensure we chart the future we want for our next generation,” he said.

–OPMC PRESS

SI students get first hand info on Taiwan educational opportunities

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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(Left to right) CWB and NTU officials with Professor Chen (fourth from right)standing next to SINU official and Met Director, Mr Hiriasia.

BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

(Left to right) CWB and NTU officials with Professor Chen (fourth from right)standing next to SINU official and Met Director, Mr Hiriasia.

TAIWAN’S resources and quality serves as the top reason as to why international students choose to undertake studies in the country home to an estimated 24 million people.

The sentiment was expressed by Professor Yue-Gau Chen of National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Department of Geosciences who on July 19 delivered a presentation to Taiwan Scholarship recipients at the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) lecture theatre.

He told the students that there are a great number of international students who have studied and are studying in Taiwan.

Chen added that among 10 reasons why foreign students favour Taiwan as a suitable place to study, academic resources and quality, diverse culture and reasonable and affordable tuition settles as the top three reasons.

Moreover, he explained that Taiwan has a total of 155 universities in four categories, namely; national universities, private universities, national technological universities and colleges and private technological universities and colleges.

The professor also took the opportunity to introduce his university to the students, the National Taiwan University, regarded as a prestigious university that is also celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.

Professor Chen emphasised that the university’s four missions are; to create new knowledge through research, cultivate talents from teaching, contribute to society through service and combine theory and practice through entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, Chen also spoke about the work Taiwan is doing with Solomon Islands under the MOU on meteorology cooperation.

Under the MOU, Taiwan and Solomon Islands signed in April 2017, both countries through the National Taiwan University, Central Weather Bureau and MECDM’s Meteorology department are currently working together to install weather stations, improve seismic network, and provide training to Solomon Islands Met staff under the common goal of mitigating natural hazards.

Professor Chen was accompanied by fellow NTU delegation members, Central Weather Bureau (CWB) officials and Director of MECDM’s Meteorology Department, Mr David Hiba Hiriasia.

Financial mechanisms important for forest TEV transfer

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

ACCORDING to a UNDP report, the rapid economic assessment of the Total Economic Value (TEV) of forest in Solomon Islands indicates that forests are highly valuable with an annual economic value of SBD 16.7 billion.

However, the “Valuation of Environmental Service from Forest Ecosystem” study report stressed that most of this is estimated economic value is not translated into revenue as they are intangible.

UNDP stated that what makes it difficult to translate the economic value of forests into revenue for forest owners is the existence of the problem of free riding.

Additionally, most of the economic activities such as agriculture, fishery, tourism and water supply are stated as not WTP (Willingness to Pay) for the forests ecosystem services.

The report points out that this is why it is important that financial mechanisms are established to ensure that a significant portion of the forests TEV are transferred to the landowners and forest managers.

“This will incentivize the forest owners and managers to undertake forest sustainable management (SFM),” said the report.

UNDP further expressed that there are various schemes and corresponding financial instruments that can be used to unlock the economic value of forests and transfer the revenue to forests managers as incentives.

As stated, these include REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) scheme and carbon prices, payments for ecosystem services (PES), value chain addition for products such as nuts and medicine and improved marketing.

Rennell & Bellona celebrate Silver Jubilee with PM Hou

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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PM being led by traditional warrior dancers upon arrival.

PRIME Minister Rick Houenipwela has graced the 2nd Appointed Day celebrations in Tigoa, Rennell/Bellona province.

The Prime Minister and his delegation travelled on Friday and spent two nights with the people of Rennell Island before returning on Sunday morning.

Premier of Rennell/Bellona province Collin Singamoana spoke highly of the Prime Minister for accepting his people’s invitation despite the Parliament session.

He acknowledged that the presence of the Prime Minister has graced the celebrations and the people of Rennell/Bellona are very happy to host him.

PM Hou delivering his speech during the occasion.

Member of Parliament for Rennell/Bellona province Dr Kaituu Tautai Agikimua also shared the same sentiments when acknowledging the presence of the Prime Minister.

People travelled to Tigoa from all around the island to see their Prime Minister including some from as far as Bellona.

“Thank you for accepting our invitation despite your busy schedules,” Kaituu said.

This is the first time in quite a long time for a Prime Minister to visit the province.

PM Hou, Minister Kaituú and Renbel premier watching the entertainments.

The Prime Minister when addressing the occasion conveyed his warm greetings to all the people of Rennell/Bellona on behalf of the Government and people of Solomon Islands.

“For me personally, it is indeed a great honour and privilege for me and my delegation, to be here with you today, to celebrate your Silver Jubilee and the Second-Appointed Day of Rennell/Bellona province,” he said.

PM Hou also took the opportunity to visit the World Heritage site, Lake Tegano.

He spent one night at Tegano where he travelled the lake and met some of the people and communities.

Communities around the area acknowledged the presence of the Prime Minister and to take time to visit the tourism hub; the largest lake in the insular Pacific.

The Prime Minister is fascinated about the many tourism potentials and investments Lake Tegano has to offer to the people of Rennell/Bellona province.

The Prime Minister and his delegation returned to Honiara on Sunday morning.

–OPMC PRESS

PM being led by traditional warrior dancers upon arrival.

Police still search for culprits behind dumping of chemicals in Tuvaruhu

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Commissioner of Royal-Solomon Island Police Force Matthew Varley

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

THE RSIPF will continues its investigation on the illegal dumping of harmful chemicals at the Tuvaruhu community, the Police Commissioner says.

Police Commissioner Matthew Varley said in a press conference last week that investigation on the chemicals dumped at Tuvaruhu is underway.

“The investigation into the cause of the dumping of the chemicals is still continuing and the chemicals themselves safely removed from the site and stored in a secured location.”

Varley explained they will develop a plan as part of police’s process for disposing the chemicals safely but currently they are being locked, stored, sealed and removed from the school and community compound.

“My understanding is all the risks of the environmental hazards had been removed and no further risk to the community and I understand Solomon Water has also checked in relation to water supply and is all clear,” he said.

“So our officers did a remarkable job working under some difficult condition to fix and remove the chemical safely but the investigation itself into the dumping is still going on.”

With help from the Ministry of Environment, Police Fire Rescue, Ministry of Health and Solomon Water, Varley said they have given safe message for community and school to continue as normal.

“When we were arrive to remove the chemicals we were able to check and remove some part of the soil and take them away, so there was no further spillage or contamination left in the area,” Varley said.

25 different types of chemicals were found dumped near the Tuvaruhu school three weeks ago.

Some of them are quite toxic in relation to human health, some serious acid and other industrial chemicals.

Police hot on Lau Valley death case

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

POLICE Commissioner Matthew Varley has assured family members of a woman who died in Lau Valley in late June this year that police are actively investigating the case.

The assurance was made in a media conference at the Rove Police Head Quarter last week.

Varley said such case is complex, and that it has been brought to police attention recently.

He said the deceased was from North Malaita and that on June 28 she was rushed to hospital with a number of serious injuries.

He said since last week NCID have been conducting series of investigation, gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses in relation to the circumstances around the woman’s death.

“The investigation is still ongoing and one of the challenges we face in this case is there was no post-mortem pathology at that time to establish precise causes of the death but we are working with doctors and relatives,” he said.

Mr Varley said their concern, there has been a lot of discontent among some member of the family and community which brought to resolution at the central police station last week.

Senior police officers, chiefs, leaders and members of the family are met at the Central police station for several hours and conducted a negotiation and consultation to work through claims of compensation and traditional issues around death of a woman.

The negotiation on behalf of the community was led with panel of chiefs and in particularly chief Robert Satu from the fishing village, Mr Varley explained.

Police Commissioner Mr Varley said Chief Satu’s senior community leaders did an outstanding job working with the families and relatives and police to come up with some resolution to allow police investigation to take its course.

Mr Varley said now everyone one understand police role to carry full investigation into the death of that woman.

“The reason for my message is to appeal to anyone who has information on the death of this woman at Lau Valley, if you had not spoken to police yet come forward and continue to provide your information to our detective from the NCID.”

“You can contact NCID directly or come to the local police station and we can facilitate that arrangement,” he said.

“To the communities, families and friends please allow police investigation to take its course,” Mr Varley said.

“Indeed our investigation team will continue to provide ongoing updates and information to the family of the decease person,” he adds.

City Mayor accused

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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HONIARA City Council (HCC) Mayor, Mr Andrew Mua, has been accused over issues relating to the Panatina Ward (Ward 12) by-election.

Unhappy Ward members hit back at Mua claiming the Mayor is trying to blind the public over the delay in holding a by-election for their Ward.

The Panatina Ward has been without a Councillor since the passing away of late Richard Safue in 2016. There was no replacement and since then numerous calls have been made on the Council to facilitate a by-election.

Ward members said their right to be represented in the Council has been “robbed” for too long. Others claim they have been left out of important services delivered by the Council.

Earlier, when responding to a call, Mayor Mua said there will be no by-election for the Ward as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which is responsible for funding a by-election for the Ward has not provided the Council funding to cater for this.

He said the MHA has suggested to the Council to use the $150,000 it provided as service grant to run the by-election and that the money will be replaced, but the Council was advised not to divert the money to any use other than for the Council’s service.

Over the weekend a former City Council worker, who requested anonymity, said it appears Mua tried to hide the truth from Ward members.

He said facilitating a by-election for the Ward is the responsibility of the Council and the MHA is only responsible for funding fresh elections.

He said the Council’s Finance Division has allocated funds for the by-election in 2016 when the Council completed it registration and nominations but was halted by Mua. There were no reasons provided.

He said he supports calls from Ward members for a by-election saying Panatina Ward, in East Honiara, is one of the biggest Wards inside Honiara City.

He said it is the right of Ward members to be represented in the Council and to benefit from the Council’s funding support.

He said for the last two year and six months, in terms of funding, Panatina Ward missed out about $1.1 million in a form of Christmas fund, independence fund, social culture fund, advisory fund and quarterly grant.

Fugui says good governance first before anti-corruption law

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Former MP for Central Honiara, Moffat Fugui

By Mike Puia

MEMBER of Parliament for Central Honiara, Mr Moffatt Fugui, says good governance system should be in place first before the introduction of the Anti-Corruption Bill (ACB).

Fugui made these comments when contributing to the second reading of the ACB in Parliament last week.

He said government systems must be cleared first before the ACB is introduced as doing the other way is like “putting the cart before the horse”.

Fugui said without the presence of good governance systems at the first place, the ACB will create more problems than it could solve.

He said the ACB is not meant for Solomon Islands saying it’s a foreign law that is meant for other jurisdictions.

Fugui said the other piece of legislation the government should introduce forst along the good governance bill is the Traditional leadership Bill (TLB).

He said when the good governance bill and tractional leadership bill are in place it will progress the country in the right direction.

Fugui said this is when the ACB becomes necessary.

He said the good governance bill will map out how this country wanted to run its government.

He said foundational thinking, customs and practices must be frontloaded with good governance.

He said if oversight institutions like the Ombudsman, Leadership Code Commission and the opposition is not capacitated and financed to do its work properly and independently the ACB stand the chance of falling.

Gov’t medical expense

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Solomon Islands National Parliament

Some MPs clock up nearly $500,000 each on overseas health check-up

By Alfred Sasako

IT has been revealed that taxpayers forked out nearly $500,000 in medical and travel costs each time a Member of Parliament travelled to Australia for medical check-up.

The practice was discontinued earlier this year when the Prime Minister’s Office intervened, insiders told Island Sun.

The revelation comes as the Government struggles with drugs shortage at the National Referral Hospital which the Office of the Prime Minister said was due largely to a “management breakdown” and lack of internal coordination by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

“In many cases, there were no prerequisite referrals from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services nor were there confirmation of doctor’s appointment at the St Vincent Hospital in Sydney where these MPs were going for their medical check-ups.

“The paperwork was simply prepared and signed off by the Caucus Office. The Office of the Prime Minister simply returned the paperwork back to Caucus as there were no supporting documentations for such travel,” one insider said.

“In one case, the documents were sent back to the Caucus Office twice, because there were no supporting documentation such as an email from the doctor in Sydney confirming the appointment.

“Usually, the booking would show the cost of up to fifteen days in hotel accommodation in Sydney,” the insider said.

“We managed to bring down the cost to $290,000, although we believe this is still too high,” the insider said.

The insider said that prior to the intervention by the Office of the Prime Minister, the Caucus requisition for MPs’ travels for medical check-ups cost the taxpayers up to $500,000 each time an MP travelled to Sydney,

Island Sun understands the Minister for Infrastructure Development and MP for East Kwaio was the latest to visit St Vincent’s Hospital. He returned to Solomon Islands last week.

Meanwhile it has been revealed on social media discussions this week that apart from the CDF grants of $350 million this year, the Government is keeping quiet about an extra $10 million in discretionary funds from Taiwan.

The discretionary fund is handled by Prime Minister and no one else.

The person who put out the information is former Special Secretary to Prime Minister (SSPM) Andrew Muaki, claiming politicians were responsible for the NRH fiasco.

“My objective is to ensure politicians put to good use the $10Million ROC discretionary fund under PM. Secondly to blame RCDF for the crisis in order to bring home the message that politicians are the root cause of the mess.

“I am not surprised that the PM denied it’s a funding issue. They want to preserve the $10Million ROC fund and the $320Million RCDF for political objectives,” he said.

Club hockey league action continues Sunday

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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School league starts next month

By Taromane Martin

THE 2018 Samlinsan Club Hockey League will continue this Sunday at the King George Six Hockey Field with three more matches.

Solomon Islands Hockey Federation (SIHF) Development Officer Mr Allen Temoa told SunSPORTS the hockey league is expected to finish by the end of the month.

“Only two Sundays is left for the round robin games to be completed. We expect to complete it by the end of this month.

“Three matches are set for this Sunday, two from the men’s and one from the women’s action,” he said.

For the competition table currently leading after four games in women’s competition is Parrots women’s team with 12 points

Don Bosco Club is in second place with seven points after four games played via goal difference while Cobra sits in third place also with seven points.

In the men’s league, currently leading the race after playing six games is Wantoks men’s hockey team with 16 points followed by USP (A) with 10 points and USP (B) hockey team who are in third position with eight points.

Deciding match for second place in the men’s competition will take place after the women’s action at 3pm this Sunday between Wantoks and Parrots.

Men’s deciding match for this Sunday is set for 3:30pm as USP (B) takes on USP (A).

Winner of this match could well cement second position that is if Cobra who is currently fourth with seven points, does not cause an upset over competition leaders Wantoks at 4pm.

Meanwhile the Development Officer says the Samlinsan High School Hockey League is set to resume on the first week of August.

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