BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

June 22, 2018, marks a memorable day for past and present officers of the Public Solicitors Office (PSO) and public servants who gathered to bid outgoing Public Solicitor, Mr Douglas Hou farewell at the Star Harbour Restaurant.

Among the few speakers who took to the floor to speak of the work Mr Hou has carried out during his time as PS, was PSO representative and DPS, Mr George Gray.

Representing the office and staff in Honiara, Gizo, Auki and Kira Kira, he spoke about the life of Hou as a long time serving public solicitor, mentor and teacher of the law.

Gray explained that for the last 25 years, Hou contributed enormously to the people and government of Solomon Islands in the area of government legal services.

“Mr Hou has served the government and the people of Solomon Islands since 1993. He began his career as a lawyer in the Ombudsman office in 1995. Out of 25 years of service, Mr Hou has served the Public Solicitor’s Office a total of 23 years”

“Mr Hou first joined the Public Solicitor’s Office on March 1995 and worked up to the end of 1998 when he resigned. From 1999 to 2000, Mr Hou joined the private bar. In 2001, he returned to the PSO where he remains up to the present time. Today, we all gather to farewell Mr Hou whose tenure as the “Public Solicitor” will finally come to an end on the 30^th June 2018”, he said.

Gray emphasised that with such a background, it is safe to say that Hou exemplifies the epitome of a true and long dedicated son of the Public Solicitor’s Office.

He added he is probably the longest serving lawyer to serve in the PSO which undeniably reflects someone who has the passion to serve his people and the government of Solomon Islands.

On that note, Gray mentioned that in this day and age, it is difficult to find local lawyers like Hou for many have come but left in search of greener pastures only after a short term at the PSO.

“Thank you Mr Douglas Hou for your long and dedicated service with the PSO,” he said.

Speaking of the work experience he and other PSO officers have had under the leadership of Mr Hou, Mr Gray expressed that they can affirm that Mr Hou is a great leader, a capable administrator, an exceptional mentor and a teacher of the law.

“He loves to listen to our queries and questions on legal issues and is freely open to discussions with us lawyers. Indeed this is an important aspect of legal practice that we will miss with Mr Hou,” he said.

Guests present at the occasion included the likes of Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, (MJLA) Hon Derrick Manuari, Under Secretary of MJLA, agency heads and reps, PSO advisor, Mr Howard Lawry, PSO staff and officers.

The occasion kicked off with speeches from Hon Manuari, PSO representative and DPS, Mr George Gray, provincial PSO branch representatives from Auki and Kira Kira and PSO advisor, Mr Howard Lawry.

Presentation of gifts was done by Hon Manuari, followed by a farewell speech from Mr Hou who later cut the farewell cake before PSO officers performed the farewell song for Mr Hou.

BY GEORGE MANFORD

AUKI

THE people in ward 12 in Lau Baelelea constituency in north east Malaita will soon benefit from their Manaoba mini-hospital project at Manaoba Island.

A visit to the project at Manaoba on Friday last week by Island Sun in Auki confirmed that the project is in its completion stages.

Member for ward 12 and minister for local governance and community development, Fred Wai, said the mini hospital project is his long term priority plan for his people in ward 12 in Lau Baelelea constituency.

“It is my dream for my people to introduce such initiatives as such difficulties experienced in the past due to transportation to other clinics and other area health centers for medical attentions.

“Since I came into power in 2015 as ward member for ward 12, we struggled with this project to capitalise funds towards this project and now we are reaching the final stages of this project.

“This is the first ever project implemented for the people of Manaoba and the surrounding communities where it shows green light to my people.

“Within these five months in office for the Malaita provincial assembly to dissolve I believe the Mini hospital will be completed and hopefully it will be officially handed over soon to my people in Ward 12.”

The mini hospital will serve every community within ward 12 and surrounding communities regarding health services.

At the moment the final touches of the newly built building is yet to be done with few materials are needed for the finishing stages including paints, louvre glasses and frames and timbers for inner walling of the building.

This project is funded under the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) under the Malaita provincial government for respective wards in Malaita province.

Wai calls on the responsible authority to step in with assistance “as we struggle to implement this project to save the life of our people”.

He also calls on the people in ward12 to “continue with their working together especially in community development in our especially with our heartfelt needs”.

BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

PUBLIC servants like yourself are hard to come by and the government of Solomon Islands will surely miss the determination, dedication, commitment and hard work you have continuously displayed during your service.

This is according to the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Derrick Manuari who was speaking at a farewell function hosted by Public Solicitor’s Office (PSO) on June 22 for outgoing Public Solicitor, Mr Douglas Hou.

He stated that the day not only signifies the departure of a long time serving public solicitor but also celebrates and honors the services and contributions of a distinguished gentleman, role model public servant, an inspirational leader and an outstanding citizen.

“Mr Hou, I on behalf of the government and people of Solomon Islands hereby salute you and sincerely thank you for your dedication and services rendered,” said Manuari.

Moreover, he expressed that although he is new to the ministry, feedback received from those who served under Hou’s leadership speak of him as an individual who is hardworking, honest and accountable with a demonstrated heart for his duties and responsibilities.

Manuari mentioned that amidst hectic demands and complications of managing PSO with inadequate resources, Hou’s character of professionalism and enthusiasm has surely kept the office in continuity to deliver on its mandate.

The Member of Parliament for West Makira stated that he is certain that many of his staff and colleagues from other legal agencies throughout the government will cherish and appreciate the experience they have had of learning and working alongside someone with such high caliber.

“Your career in the public service has been nothing short of inspirational, your work ethics have been nothing short of motivational; your demeanor at work has been nothing short of professional and I am sure that in whatever you are going to do, your performance will be sensational,” he said.

Manuari in closing remarks wished Hou and his family best wishes in future aspirations as he opens a new chapter in life.

“I would like to close my remarks with the words from Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ,” he said.

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

THE ANZ Go Money school fee paying was launched at the Tuvaruhu School over the weekend.

This initiative is designed, developed and tested as a digital solution to address the many challenges related to fees payment in terms of assisting parents, reduce some of the costs and time previously associated with paying school fees.

Speaking at the official launching ceremony, Julie Haro of the ANZ banking group and go money agent group Premier said the launching is an achievement for the school, knowing that only 29 schools are part of the project for Solomon Islands.

“I would like to encourage the school to embrace the system to enable students and parents to make life easier in terms of accessible education for all,” she said.

Haro said Tuvaruhu School has been identified as one of the 29 schools for the community, and the nation at large and it can only happen with stronger partnership and large collaboration to harness the existing system to embrace the system to give the child a right to education.

She adds by thanking the Honiara Council Education Authority for the foresight to embrace the system and technology for the passion and support to ensure that it adds value to each Solomon Islands with regards to educational aspiration.

Ellison Mane Chief Education Office of HCC on behalf of HCC Education Authority said this initiative is in line with the financial policy of HCC and it will assist them (HCC) address the management of schools funds particularly the school fees and other contributions paid by parents.

“It will also assist parents who have access to ANZ GO MONEY mobile banking at their homes and work places which will save costs and time in terms of travel, food and accommodation in Honiara given the geographical nature to our Islands.

“This initiative will also reduce the risk of their hard earned income meant for their children’s school fee being lost either through theft or other use that can deprive the education of their children,” he said.

THE Solomon Islands first ever poverty mapping based on the 2012/13 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) and the 2009 Population and Housing Census assessment report will be launched today.

The Minister responsible for the Ministry of Finance & Treasury (MoFT) Manasseh Sogavare will launch the report in the presence of government officials, the Government of Australia, World Bank, other development partners, NGO’s, civil society and media representatives, at the Honiara Hotel.

The maps and assessment report were developed in a joint exercise by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO), the World Bank and the Australian Government through its DFAT’s Aid Programme in Honiara.

This is the first assessment of poverty maps in the country that focusses at ward level poverty estimates which is an important statistical lower geographical indicator for assessing poverty incidence not only at the national and provincial levels but this time at the ward level.

The report provide findings of poverty across the country with latest poverty maps provide disaggregated poverty estimates to better understand the geographical variations in poverty incidence/rate.

The poverty map is an essential planning tool that provides powerful visuals to identify poor areas with greater accuracy.

It is also a powerful way to identify and monitor small areas of particular affluence and poverty across the country.

Government Statistician Douglas Kimi said, “For the first time in our development history, we are able to formally identify small areas or wards below the national and provincial geographical levels to see, first hand, the magnitude and distribution of poverty incidences not seen before across and within the whole province.”

He said that the analysis at ward level is of high quality, innovative and a first of its kind for Solomon Islands. “It is another huge statistical and analytical milestone.”

The detailed maps and ward level poverty estimates in the Solomon Islands are created by combining information, for the first time, from the 2012/13 Solomon Islands Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) with data from the 2009 Solomon Islands Population and Housing Census.

He said the HIES is a valuable source of data as it includes comprehensive questions on households’ consumption and expenditure which was used to estimate poverty rates at the national and provincial level.

“This work goes further and complements the earlier poverty report of 2016 poverty by estimating poverty rates at the ward level and not just the national and provincial levels.”

Kimi said the study focuses on two key poverty measures which include; the headcount poverty rate (the proportion of the population living below the poverty line), and the number of poor.

He said estimates of these measures are derived from each of the 183 wards in the Solomon Islands and maps are drawn to illustrate the results.

“The study also derives and reports small-area estimates of the average level of consumption per adult equivalent, the poverty gap index (the average proportionate shortfall from the poverty line averaged over the whole population), the poverty severity index (where those with the biggest poverty gaps are weighted highest), and the Gini index of inequality in the level of consumption.

“In addition to predicted values for these poverty statistics, measures of precision are also calculated. In this study, the precision of the ward-level estimates from the survey-to-census imputation, is similar to the precision of the survey estimates at the provincial level.

“The results show a wide range in the prevalence of poverty across the Solomon Islands. The estimated ward-level headcount poverty rates range from zero to 59 percent, with the highest poverty rates in southern parts of Guadalcanal and eastern parts of Makira.

“The estimates also reveal a great deal of within-province heterogeneity in poverty rates, which may partly reflect the difficult topography and other barriers limiting the spread of benefits from economic development,” Kimi said.

–SINSO PRESS

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

TWENTY-FOUR social health workers from the Ministry of Health and NGOs are now equipped with facilitation skills after successfully completing a training on community WASH engagement last week.

From June 11—20, the Environmental Health Division of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services conducted a training course on facilitation skills for community WASH engagement.

The training workshop ended with 24 participants ready to implement new skills on facilitation at their respective workplace after undergone series of training.

The training course was held at the Short Workshop in Mission (SWIM) training centre at Henderson; it convened participants from the Environmental Health Division and Health Promotion Division from all provinces and NGO community workers.

Such training package was organised by the Environmental Health Division of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services with funding support from the European Union.

The course was aimed to train community facilitators in the skills to implement the new Community Engagement approach to rural water, sanitation and hygiene.

The approach involves participatory workshops for communities before and after construction of water systems to involve them in planning and making decisions on their water systems.

Trainees also learned how to use a manual to guide their work in running the workshops.

During the course trainees developed new skills in running community workshops example, how to help the community form a strong WASH Committee, including an equal number of men and women.

Trainees also contribute to designing the water system (siting of tap stands) and protecting the environment and establish a system for regular maintenance of the water system.

Throughout the training, participants develop a system for raising funds to pay for spare parts and repairs and develop new hygiene practices – washing hands with soap, covering water and food, etc.

During the second week participants worked in teams, went to three different villages in Guadalcanal Province —Gilutae, Ngalimera, and Valeato – where they tried out these skills in running practice workshops.

The three villages are currently being supported in water system development by the Rural Development Programme (RDP) who assisted with these workshops.

The three village workshops were well attended with an estimation of 25 participants at each workshop.

Respond from the villagers, they said the topics were well received and villagers expressed strong appreciation for such new learning.

Trainers for the two-week course are, from the Environmental Health Division staff Jennimer Ngoli, Methoda Ifuimae, Paul Muller, Margaret Toata, and Marcel Gapu.

Representative from the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is Mr Robert Zutu from ADRA trainer and Community Engagement advisor Ross Kidd.