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Strengthening HRUA is priority: Pongi

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY ROMULUS HUTA

THE new Honiara Rugby Union Association (HRUA) president-elect Derek Pongi says one of his immediate priorities is to strengthen the association to move forward with its programs.

Pongi was voted in during a special general meeting on Monday to lead the association for the remainder of this current HRUA term which is expected to lapse toward the end of this year.

In an interview with SunSPORTS yesterday, Pongi said his immediate priorities are to strengthen HRUA in its affairs and work on improving the relationship with the national governing rugby body, Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF), maintain good working relationship with affiliated clubs and other stakeholders to further develop rugby in Honiara.

Pongi said developing rugby in Honiara to newer heights is what his leadership will be about.

“First and foremost, I will be organising a meeting with my executive this week and hopefully invite the club as well to hear from them and collect ideas on ways to improve rugby in Honiara.

“The meeting is basically to hear from the clubs collectively and put in place our plans forward. HRUA is here because of the clubs and its players and this must not be forgotten.

“In any development plans HRUA wishes to implement, the clubs’ inputs are seen as vital toward this important process. The clubs know better on situations running on the ground regarding rugby development.

“We will also work closely with SIRUF to help steer us in our development plans for this year.

“For most part of this upcoming remaining months, HRUA executive is expected to carry out competitions for affiliated clubs which is going to be interesting and exciting, and I hope this will get rugby fans in Honiara get what they have been expecting since the beginning of this year,” Pongi highlighted.

Pongi emphasised that rugby over the years have always forgot to in cooperate spiritual aspects into its affairs.

This is one of the ways to move forward, according to the Islanders club owner.

In the meantime, Pongi called on all the eight HRUA-affiliated clubs to come forward to pay up their affiliation fees for this year.

The affiliation fee is $100 per club per year and this is apart from the competition registration fees.

The affiliation fee is to legitimise clubs’ membership to HRUA.

Pongi assured that his reign at HRUA is only for the remainder of this current term.

“Once this term lapse, then I will make way for a new executive to come in and lead Honiara rugby forward in the New Year.

“But before I leave, while still at the helm, I will try my best as possible to move things forward for the betterment of rugby in Honiara.

“The ride in the months ahead is expected to be challenging and we have to struggle inorder to achieve our aims and objectives.

“There might be some disagreements expected to come toward our leadership at HRUA but the thing is to face them and try solving them in an amicable manner because the main aim is to move rugby in Honiara forward,” Pongi explained.

New President for HRUA

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0
Derek Pongi is the new President of Honiara Rugby Union Association.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

Derek Pongi is the new President of Honiara Rugby Union Association.

A new President was voted in on Monday to lead Honiara Rugby Union Association (HRUA) for the reminder of the year.

Derek Pongi, who is also the owner of Islanders Rugby Club, was voted in during the association’s special annual general meeting held at Coral Sea Resort in Honiara.

During the voting process, Pongi polled five votes ahead of fellow contestant Corey Chapman of Henderson HammerHeads who received three votes in the second round, after both candidates were equal by four votes each in the first round.

Apart from that, two new executive members were also voted in during the sitting.

They are Golden Kiloko and Patterson Vakavai.

President-elect Pongi will replace former president Carlwyn Tengemoana who resigned earlier this month.

Tengemoana tendered his resignation on May 4 amidst his recent ongoing dispute over rugby-related matters with the national governing rugby union body, Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF).

Upon receiving his immediate resignation notice, the remaining executive members of HRUA had a series of meetings over the past weeks before opening up a 14 days’ notice for a special Annual General Meeting beginning on May 13 was put up by placing priority on the presidential election as required under the HRUA constitution where an election was finally held on Monday.

Pongi’s reign will only be for the remainder of this year before his tenure lapses, making way for another Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held to elect new office bearers to lead HRUA from the beginning of 2019 and beyond.

The meeting on Monday was attended by all eight HRUA affiliates namely Avaiki, Matangiki, Luapel, Diesel Services, Realas, Henderson HammerHeads, Islanders and TIA Warriors.

Meanwhile, clubs have taken the opportunity to congratulate Pongi upon his election.

Posting on their official facebook page, Henderson HammerHeads congratulated the new president-elect and have strongly vowed to work with him.

“From the Hammerheads President, committee and club members, congrats to newly-elected HRUA President Derek Pongi.

“Henderson HammerHeads Rugby Club is in support of you and your executives. And we are looking forward to work together to develop rugby in Honiara.”

On similar note, TIA Warriors Team Manager Brian Taupiri said: “Congratulations Derek Pongi the newly elected president of HRUA, on behalf of TIA Rugby Club, we pledge our support behind you and will work with you and your executive in developing rugby in our country.”

See below is the executive line-up of HRUA.

President: Derek Pongi

Vice-President: James Billy

Secretary: Nollan Teika

Treasurer: Joe Au Ramosaea

Members: Golden Kiloko and Patterson Vakavai

Ward officers highlight non-compliance of procurement processes as a challenge

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0
Chairperson for Ward 7 Mr. Nelson Wane sharing points that their group had discussed during group work session

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

Chairperson for Ward 7 Mr. Nelson Wane sharing points that their group had discussed during group work session

PARTICIPANTS to a recent planning and budgeting training on Savo Island has commended the Central Provincial Government for this initiative.

In appreciating the expanded terms of references for the WDCs, Mr John Lopling, Chairman for Ward 9, highlighted during the training that it is good to have wide representation by all sectors within the community in the WDC. He said that this inclusive and participatory planning, together with the MPA, will ensure fairness, inclusiveness and transparency in decision making and development planning at the ward level.

Also. Mr Thomas Tome, Chairperson for Ward 2, expressed similar sentiments and thanked the Central Provincial Government for introducing the Participatory Planning Framework to members of the WDC. Mr Tome emphasised the need for Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) to work closely with their WDC members and ensure everybody participates fully in all development decision making within the wards. He urged MPAs to use the WDGs to implement projects in accordance with the Annual Work Plans of the Wards rather than on personal or other interests.

Meanwhile, Marvin Parina, Chairperson for Ward 1, when discussing the procurement processes, highlighted that there are some projects at the wards that are not completed and this was attributed to failures by contractors, lack of community involvement, and non-compliance to procurement procedures and principles by Provincial staff and MPAs.

Chairperson for Ward 7, Mr Nelson Wane, also re-iterated non-compliance as a contributing factor to failure of many donor funded projects at the community and ward levels. He also highlighted the probabilities of personal interests, misuse of public funds and low or lack of community contribution as other factors contributing to failures of projects.

Wane further stated that communication is also a challenge at community and ward level as sometimes the communities were not aware of projects until the contractors deliver loads of hardware materials at their villages or communities. The communities or wards were not properly and officially informed at all as there were no public advertisements or no information on how the project was awarded to the selected contractor.

All the chairpersons who participated in the training generally felt that there is a greater need for compliance to the procurement principles and procedures for projects to be successfully completed. They urged the Provincial Government and donors to continuously monitor the progress of project implementation and use of funds by the contractors if we want to see more projects completed at the wards.

The Participatory Planning & Budgeting Training for Ward Development Committee Members for Central province was hailed a success with 30 participants including four female ward treasurers. The Central Provincial Government has allocated $3,000 per ward which will be channeled through the WDCs for this purpose.

The Planning Division of the Central provincial government organised the training and pledged that it will continue to provide technical assistance to the WDC’s to ensure and secure genuine participation of the committees in the Provincial planning process.

The two days training, was facilitated by the Provincial Planning Coordinator, Mr John Rapemora, and the Provincial Capacity Development Advisor, Mr Adrian Toni, and was officially opened and closed by the Premier of Central Province, Patrick Vasuni.

Former PM stresses govt policies must come from people

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

SIR Allen Kemakeza, the Managing Director and owner of Sunset Resort in Savo, on the invitation to share few remarks with the participants of a recent workshop held on Savo, thanked the Central Provincial Government for choosing the resort to host this important training.

Sir Allen took the chance to remind the Ward Development Chairpersons and Treasurers of their roles as partners of the Central Provincial Government in rolling out the participatory planning process.

He highlighted that WDC members represent the people in their respective communities and wards in the planning process.

Thus they must perform to the expectations of the Central Provincial Government and to the expectations of the people they represent.

The former Prime Minister reminded all participants again about the saying: “Governments are from the People, for the People and by the People”.

Sir Allen stressed that government policies must come from the people.

“This is the important task of WDC members. They are to participate and inclusively plan and identify projects that represent the true needs of the people and bring it up to the Provincial Government. The people must dictate rural development rather than being dictated at the central level or by agents that can be seen as outsiders. The government is then expected to deliver services for the people. The people are the resource owners thus government is obliged to give back to the people the services they needed to sustain livelihoods and improve standards of living at the ward level in the rural areas,” Sir Allan said.

The training in question is on Participatory Planning & Budgeting for Ward Development Committee Members for Central Province.

30 participants including four female Ward Treasurers attended the training.

Central premier lauds financial training for ward development officers  

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Chairperson for Banika Ward Mr. John Lopling sharing one of the groups’ opinions during the training.

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

CENTRAL Islands provincial government has recently held a training for ward development chair persons and treasurers at Sunset resort in Savo.

In his keynote address to workshop participants, Premier Vasuni said the training was conducted in compliance with a resolution reached by the Cabinet of Solomon Islands in September 2012, for stronger citizen participation in the Provincial Planning Process. The resolution mandated WDC members to coordinate and participate in all development planning processes at the community and ward levels.

Premier Vasuni delivering his opening address during Central Province’s Participatory Planning & Budgeting Training for chairpersons and treasurers for Ward Development Committees.

Premier Vasuni said the recently reviewed Financial Management Ordinance (FMO) and Financial Instructions (FI) emphasised the need for citizens to participate fully in all development decision making processes at the Ward and the Provincial level. He said it is therefore crucial that WDC members are trained and capacitated in order for them to perform at levels expected by the people and the Provincial Government.

This participatory planning process is hoped to make the planning processes at the community and ward level more inclusive and at the same time ensure citizens’ views are captured and reflected on the choice of projects that are considered as their felt needs instead of a centralised decision making, said Vasuni.

Chairperson for Banika Ward Mr. John Lopling sharing one of the groups’ opinions during the training.

The Central Province Premier highlighted his government’s conviction on integrated and inclusive approach to development planning and stressed that any development by government agencies, donor partners or NGO’s within Central Province must be well coordinated and organised with the province and the relevant ward committees. This, he said, is important to avoid duplication of activities and wasting of limited available resources on similar targets.

The Premier informed the participants, who are mostly the Chairpersons and Treasurers of Central Province’s WDC members, that as from next current Financial Year (2018/2019 FY), his government will be gradually devolving the management and accountability of Ward Development Grants (WDG’s) to the Ward Development Committees (WDCs).

Chairperson for Ward 7 Mr. Nelson Wane sharing points that their group had discussed during group work session

“It is therefore important that WDC members are trained on the adopted procurement procedures and methods which must be followed when implementing ward capital development projects.”

He added the training will include monitoring and reporting on the accountability of WDGs in accordance with the prescribed templates which was developed by Central Province’s Treasury Division and approved and adopted by the Provincial Executive in May 2018.

DJ Tikelz & Swizz rocks mystery cruise trip

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY Daniel Kakadi

HUNDREDS of people on-board LC Gulatatae 1 on Saturday last week were part of the Mystery cruise trip and among the guests were some Solomon Islanders who lived in Australia and flew over just to be part of the mystery cruise.

The cruise ship departed Point Cruz at around 5pm on Saturday May 19 in the evening to the mystery destination – which is at the GBR Guadalcanal resort beach.

The trip saw dance entertainments and performances from local artists.

Manahena Events coordinator, Mr Benjamin Karegua said “the cruise is special because two guests on-board were also celebrating their birthdays and with DJ Tikelz and Swiss performing it makes the cruise trip more interesting and special.”

Later that night DJ Tikelz and Swiss performed their style of music which brought all the guests to their feet and enjoyed the music until dawn.

Manahena Event group would like to acknowledge all its hard working staffs and also to the entire guest who were part of the mystery cruise to Guadalcanal resort beach.

Artist singer SWISS of Samoa putting a very entertainment performance on
the night at the Gaudalcanal resort beach.
Andrew (centre) taking a selfie with SWISS and DJ TIKELZ after he won the
ticket draw to have a selfie with them.
DJ TIKELZ during the cruise night.
A local artist who also performed during the cruise night at Guadalcanal Resort beach.Photos by Daniel Kakadi.
Cruise ship departing from Point Cruz wharf.
Dancers performing during the mystrey cruise night.

Isabel mentors voiced to teach children with culture  

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0
Isabel dancers

BY ELLISON.T.VAHI

LOCAL organisers for the Isabel Cultural Day held at Vura have called on all members in Honiara to maintain and include the island’s culture and tradition into their extracurricular activities.

Local organisers used the cultural trade and cultural night activities at Vura to emphasise that Isabel people are unique due to their culture and tradition.

The event features diverse cultures from all ward participant groups and was a day of festivity for people of Isabel province as they took on each group with fun and joy.

There were laughter and excitement among students and families as each cultural group performed their dances in colours of costumes such as kabilatos, grass skirts, shield, axe, with an extra ordinary typical funny dancers that provide an excitement atmosphere for the audience.

Speaking during the event a participant, Darrin Tule said that Isabel’s culture and tradition is their identity.

“It is our culture and tradition that identifies us as the people of Isabel. He adds it is our culture and tradition that makes us different from other people.”

Meanwhile, the local organisers for the event are asking and urging parents of Isabel who are living in and around Honiara to teach and encourage their children about the culture and tradition whether through formal or informal education.

They also asked educators to insert the Isabel culture and tradition as an extra curriculum for Isabel children.

Meanwhile the local organisers for the event thank the forefathers of Isabel province for laying the foundation of the culture and tradition of Isabel.

Documentary filming on Solomon Islands’ climate change

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

 A documentary about Climate Change in Solomon Islands will be screened at the Honiara City Council library as part of celebrating the World Environment Day.

The screening is set for June 5 starting from 5.30pm-7pm, and is opened for public.

The event is organised by the UNDP Solomon Islands through Solomon Islands Water Sector Adaptation Project (SIWSAP) and the Pacific Environmental Journalist Network.

This is an informal evening with a number of documentaries about Climate Change in Solomon Islands to be filmed.

According to UNDP, the documentaries will present a wide range of global issues with experts from around the world.

UNDP said the feature documentary will be preceded by a collection of short videos that will help public understand the challenges of climate change in Solomon Islands.
Following the celebration of World Environment Day, UNDP stated such event will open opportunities for discussion of the issues in the documentaries and how it relates to Solomon Islanders.
This is a monthly series and the first series of screening will kick off on World Environment Day, June 5.
The first documentary will be “An Inconvenient Sequel,” the updated version of Al Gore’s advocacy efforts that helps us understand the significance of the Paris Climate Accord and the latest footage of how climate change is impacting people all around the world.

WPNFSE says it will support govt

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

By Mike Puia

Gizo

 

THE Western Province Network for Sustainable Environment (WPNFSE) says it stands by to support the Western provincial government.

WPNFSE is a body set up in the province to coordinate non-government organisations in the province.

WPNFSE had a meeting in Gizo on Monday where it agreed on how it will complement the work of the province.

Speaking on behalf of WPNFSE, David Boseto said their group will carry out awareness on the proposed plastic ban the provincial government is proposing to implement in July.

Boseto said the network will render help on waste management and with small waste recycling at home.

He said their group will continue to complement each organisation with equipment and human resources.

One other big event the group will work on is the event to mark this year’s World Environment Day, World Ocean Day and Coral Triangle day.

The event will be held in Gizo next Wednesday.

Women learn their role in the church

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

Auki

A rally was recently held at Takwa Catholic parish for women representatives there.

The rally was organised by Takwa parish where women learnt their role as women or mothers in the church.

Senior catechist, Mr Eddie Kaia said the objective of the rally is to strengthen their faith and their work in the church.

He added that the programme looked at supporting women to build them from their weaknesses both in the community and with parish participation.

Kaia said the rally came under the parish programme which looked not only at women, but other gender groups and church ministerial activities under the parish.

He said there were programmes also for Sunday schools, youths, men’s groups, catechist and other areas under the parish which mainly to strengthen their faith and work in church.

Kaia said women attended the rally were representing 22 Catholic communities in Lau and Mbaelelea under the Takwa parish.

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