AUSTRALIA has been recorded as the country that has the most nationals visiting Solomon Islands in the first quarter of this year.

Government Statistician Douglas Kimi revealed this while releasing the visitors statistics produced by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO) recently.

The travels were being recorded from visitors by country of residence, visitors by month, tourists, visitors by purpose of visit, visitors by age group, visitors by occupation and visitor by carrier.

“Australia continue to dominate the ranks of international arrivals to the Solomon Islands with 34.9 percent,” Mr Kimi said.

“The second largest group of visitors were from Other Asia with 15.1 percent, followed by Fiji 7.2 percent, Other Pacific 6.5 percent, Papua New Guinea 6.2 percent, New Zealand 5.7 percent and the United States of America with 5.1 percent.”

On visitor arrivals by month, Kimi said the month of March recorded the highest number of arrivals in the first quarter of 2018 with 2,360 visitors. “This was followed by month of January with a total of 2,081 visitors and February the least with 1,855 visitors.

On tourist, Kimi said 1,941 tourists arrived in the first quarter of 2018 and they spent an average of 15.5 days in the country.

“Australian residents still made up the highest proportion of tourists with 38.7 per cent for the quarter and stayed in the country for an average of 11 days. Residents from Other Asians made up the next largest group of tourists 11.5 percent, followed by United States of America 8.6 percent, Other Pacific 6.3 percent, China 5.3 percent, while Papua New Guinea, Japan and Other Europe with 4.2 percent.”

Kimi added that the most common reason for visitors visiting the country during the quarter was for other reason with 28.3 percent followed by visiting for holiday or vacation 27.0 percent, Business and Conference 26.1 percent, visiting friends and relatives 14.7 percent and transit & stop over with 3.8 percent.

“The distribution of visitor arrivals by broad age groups for first quarter 2018 showed that 77.1 percent of visitors were in the 25 years to 64 years age range.

“The youngest age group, 0 -14 years, represented 4.5 percent of the arrivals while the oldest age group, 65 years and over made up 7.1 per cent of total visitor arrivals. The remaining 4.6 percent were visitors who did not state their age. Male visitors represented more than half of the total visitor’s arrivals with 70.9 percent and female visitors made up 29.1 percent of arrivals in the quarter,” Kimi stated.

He added that visitor by Occupation showed that the “Professional and technical” category made up the largest percentage of occupations with 30.8 percent during the quarter. This was followed by visitors who stated their occupation was from the other occupation group 29.9 percent, administration & managerial positions 14.1 percent, no work 9.2 and production and related workers with 5.3 percent.

“The most popular carriers during the quarter were Solomon Airlines who carried 43.6 percent of total visitors, followed by Air Niugini with 29.5 percent and Virgin Australia 18 percent,” Kimi said.

–SINSO PRESS

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

THE Governor of Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI), Denton Rarawa last month during the launch of CBSI’s 2017 annual report called for a reform to transform.

Rarawa in his speech said 2018 is a special year for the country as we will be celebrating 40 years of Independence in July.

He said this reflection enables us to look back on our journey, our successes and failures.

“What do we want to achieve in the next 40 years? What kind of country do we want Solomon Islands to be in 40 – 50 years from now? What type of living standards do we want our people to enjoy in the future?” he questioned.

He said as this year is the final year for the current parliament and the Government before the national general elections, Solomon Islands is at an important crossroad in the country’s history.

He said people will soon have the opportunity to choose new leaders that will take the country forward into the future. He said Solomon Islanders have the opportunity to change how things are done in the country.

Meanwhile Rarawa said it is widely known that growth and development in the country have been far from inclusive.

“Let me give you some examples.  After harvesting and exporting 37 million cubic metres of our logs, 1.2 million tons of our tuna, 1 million tons of copra and 1.1 million tons of palm oil that earned us $32 billion in the last 40 years; many of our villages and communities are yet to enjoy the “social and economic livelihood for all” articulated in our national strategic vision statement.”

Rarawa said many of our people still do not have access to safe drinking water, access to affordable energy supplies, proper sanitation, proper schools and well-stocked clinics, all weather roads, airports and regular shipping services.

He said in order for the country to develop and progress, we must build buffers and be resilient to disasters.

He said the economy needs to grow, on average between 5-7 percent annually.

“This is the challenge facing our country going forward.  To prepare our country for the next 40 years, we must reform the structure of our economy.”

Rarawa also called for effective leadership as development partners are ready to assist the country but Solomon Islanders must take the lead in the transformation process.

Rarawa in his talk last month was based on the theme ‘Reform to transform’.

CBSI for this year’s 40th Independence celebrations will be issuing a new $40 note and a coloured $2 coin.

These currencies are expected to be released soon.

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

 HONIARA City Council (HCC) Law Enforcers yesterday demolished betel nut market stalls at Rove.

The demolition came about after a notice issued by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID) for the removal of these stalls so that local contractors can be able to do their job.

Roadworks in the western side of the city was supposed to start from HCC roundabout in Central Honiara to White River in the western side of Honiara.

The demolition notice issued on June 6, 2018 highlighted that the road at Rove is currently disturbed with potholes due to no proper drainage outlet to the sea to contain the waste/storm water runoffs during heavy rain.

The notice said that the contractor cannot address the drainage problem until appropriate measures are taken to improve the drainage system.

The notice also said that consent was given by FTE holders of the said property for the drainage work at Rove seaside.

However the demolition yesterday was said to put up a protest from another person who also claimed title to the said land at Rove where the demolition exercise took place.

He claimed that there was no consent given by him for the removal of the market stalls on his property.

More than 50 vendors were understood to have been removed as part of the demolition exercise.

HCC on the other hand stood its ground on the powers vested upon them through the HCC laws to carry out such exercise.

THERE has been complaints raised that some retired police officers are still residing in police houses, a cause of frustration to current serving officers without accommodation.

One such frustrated officer, who is still without accommodation, said some officers who have retired as far back as 2015 and even before that are still occupying police houses – not bothering to leave, and blocking living space for serving officers.

The officer who requests anonymity said it is frustrating that this injustice is allowed to continue under the watch of a knowing management.

The officer calls on the responsible people within the RSIPF to quickly deal with these retired occupants as they are denying the rights of serving officers who are in need of accommodation.

The officer said if their benefits are not settled then RSIPF management should settle their issues and ask them to leave the houses.

“Retired officers should leave police houses in timely manner rather occupying and continue creating problem to serving officers who are struggling to be accommodated,” the officer said.

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

THE Australian Defence department will continue to support the Royal Solomon Islands Force Police Maritime.

Police Commissioner Matthew Varley said this recently when responding to questions raised on the issue of the new patrol boat that will arrive at the end of 2019 that the Australian Defence will continue to support in terms of operational cost and maintaining of police patrol boats.

Mr Varley said the RSIPF with the Solomon Islands Government will also support but the Australian defence programme is still continuing, adding that it is a very generous donation from the Australian Government.

He said the purchase of the new patrol boat will boost the capability of the police maritime.

Varley also said that the new patrol boat will be arriving at the end of 2019 and it will be the replacement of the Patrol Boat Lata.

He said that prior to the arrival of the new patrol boat, maritime officers will undergo training and there will also be upgrading of current facilities.

This year Patrol Boat Auki is due for an overhaul and will be going over to the Australia.

Cost of the repairs and maintenance will be met by the Australian government under the Australian Defence programme, Varley said.

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

THE World War II record in the National Archives of the Solomon Islands (NASI) has been inscribed in the Memory of the World for Asia and Pacific (MOWCAP) Register.

Solomon Islands gained recognition for its WWII history after being nominated to MOWCAP in 2016 and receiving the award during the 8th General Meeting in Gwangju City, Republic of Korea which was held from May 28 – June 1 this year.

Government Archivist Mrs Margaret Inifiri said NASI was nominated because of its rich heritage and significance, not only nationally but universally as well.

She said the WWII records are the administrative records created during the time of the war and after the war.

Mrs Inifiri said such the documents are of huge significance to the Solomon Islands, the Pacific region, Japan, the United States and British colonial history and the world generally.

She said NASI’s nomination was submitted to the MOWCAP Secretariat in 2016.

Training was provided by UNESCO for nominators, where they were assisted and guided by MOWCAP experts so that their nominations follow a prescribed format.

E-copies of nomination were submitted to the Secretariat as they have biennial intakes.

Nomination then goes before the Register Sub-committee which undertakes initial in-depth research and assessment of the nominations.

The RSC makes recommendations, referrals or rejection and to the nominations.

NASI’s nomination was recommendation for inscription to the Memory of the World for Asia and Pacific Register to be voted on during the MOWCAP General Meeting.

Amongst 10 nominations that were voted during the recent General Meeting, two were from the Pacific, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu and the rest from Asia.

By having the WWII Records inscribed, it means that UNESCO has said that these documents are significant to the world.

Inscription gives one the right to use the MOWCAP (UNESCO) logo when it is directly associated with the inscribed documents—example, in an exhibition.

Inscription to the register is also useful if you are applying for funds associated with the care and accessibility of the inscribed collection.

The documents remain NASI ownership.

However, MOWCAP will take opportunities to highlight the inscription so that the world is aware of the significant documents held at NASI—example news item, face book page, Instagram and website.

The documents will be permanently on the MOWCAP register.

The only reason to remove them from the register would be if MOWCAP became aware the description, preservation and access to the inscribed documents were not consistent with the information provided on the nomination form.

A NEW count of 11,593 international visitors arrived in Solomon Islands in the first quarter of this year.

Government Statistician Douglas Kimi revealed this while releasing the official statistics produced by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO) recently.

Mr Kimi said though the record hit the figure, there was a fall of 28.5 percent noted compared to the fourth (last) quarter of 2017.

However, he added that compared to the same quarter a year ago, an increase of 15.6 percent was recorded.

He said visitors made up 54 percent of arrivals for 2018 first quarter while 45 percent of arrivals were accounted for returning residents and the remaining 1 percent were for intending residents.

“Visitor arrivals for the first quarter decreased by 11.6 percent to 6,296 visitors, compared to the fourth quarter 2017 figure of 7,122 visitors.

“There was a 29.0 percent increase in visitor arrivals from first quarter 2017 to first quarter 2018,” he stated.

–SINSO PRESS

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

THE Royal Solomon Islands Police Force will be commissioning three RSIPF officers for UN deployment to Sudan today.

This is the third deployment of RSIPF officers to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur, Sudan.

According to the Police Media unit a parade will be held at the Rove Police Headquarter today for the official commissioning of the officers.

The RSIPF has been deployed to the UN Missions since 2016, and that programme has been very successful since 2016.

Last year the former Prime Minister during his address to the United Nations General Assembly said that Solomon Islands is a country recipient of regional assistance through RAMSI, and the officers from the RSPIF is a way of contributing back into the global community for the assistance received.

And again the sending of another three officers this year speaks well of the professionalism RSIPF officers perform their duties in Darfur.

Minister and Government representatives will be attending the ceremony today.

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

PRIME Minister Rick Houenipwela has urged intending female candidates of Malaita to join and work closely with political parties.

He said this statement in relation to the Malaita Women’s empowerment and Development policy 2018 to 2022 policy outcome 5 – equal participation of men and women in leadership roles and decision making.

“If you (women of Malaita) want to be voted into parliament I encourage you to join in with any existing political parties in the country and work closely with men.

“And if it happens that you are not eligible due to having less voters voted you, you can still be with the political parties in terms of giving directions to the party policy because these are the policies members of Parliament always based their sentiments from.”

On the same issue, MP for East Malaita and Opposition Leader Manasseh Maelanga said that political party is the first place where aspiring women can first articulate with men and they (men) can support women to represent their people.

“I urge you to join political parties from there we will support you and will encourage other men and women to go for you when it comes to election period,” he said.

This policy outcome was discussed in yesterday’s dialogue because there is less representation of women in the political spheres, both national and provincial.

By Alfred Sasako

KERUVAL Tribe – one of three tribal groups on Russell Islands – has dismissed claims by rival group, Sevev Land Trust Board it has taken ownership of FTEs on Russell Islands, announcing it will challenge the claim in court.

Keruval Tribe will be challenging the claim in court, outspoken Russell Islands’ tribal chief, Silas Selo said yesterday.

This follows an announcement of the takeover by Sevev Land Trust Board Chairman, Leslie Norris, this week, claiming the Office of the Registrar has re-entered his tribal group in the register.

Mr Norris said Russell Islands is now out of bound for LSL, Lavukal Trust Board or their agents, warning anyone who disregards the warning risks charges of criminal trespass once they set foot on Russell Islands.

“This means that Lever Solomon Ltd no longer has any legal claims to the Russell Islands Estates. Any attempts by LSL to enter Russell Islands without the consent or permission of the Sevev Land Trust Board would be considered illegal and amount to criminal trespass,” Norris said.

But outspoken tribal chief on Russell Islands, Silas Selo, has hit back, saying the whole thing was “fraud”.

“First, the so-called registration of the FTEs was done under duress because it was done in 2000, the height of the ethnic tension.

“Secondly, Sevev Land Trust Board never owns a single FTE on Russell Islands. And that’s the truth. You can search the books on registration of FTEs and you will not find even a single FTE registered under the Sevev tribe,” Mr Selo told Island Sun yesterday.

“Sevev is not a tribe and that is why they do not own even a single FTE on Russell. The only tribal groups that own FTEs are Keruval and Lavukal, no one else,” Selo said.

In a letter to the Lever Solomons Ltd management, the Office of the Registrar of Titles said Re-entry of Sevev Land Trust Board (Incorporated) has been entered on 13 FTEs Register.

These FTEs are: 165-002-121, 165-002-123,177-003-2 177-003-3, 177-003-6, 177-004-2, 177-004-3, 177-005-1, 177-006-1, 177-006-3, 177-006-4, 178-001-1 and 178-002-1

But, Selo said this is not quite correct because a number of court cases are still pending.

“In fact there should have been 15 FTEs, but it is public knowledge that an individual who is working on behalf of Sevev Land Trust Board has sold two of these to someone as repayment of a loan,” Selo said.

“It would seem they have jumped the gun. Let me put them on notice that I will challenge their claim in court.”

Selo also produced a Company Haus extract, which shows a company called Solomon Pearl Ltd owning 70 percent and Sevev Land Trust Board (Incorporated) owning 30 percent.

“This shows this Sevev thing is owned and driven by one man, not the Sevev people,” he said.

Company Haus said yesterday Solomon Pearl Ltd was no longer in operation as it was removed from the register on November 1, 2015.