BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

RENNELL and Bellona member of parliament Dr Tautai Kaituu has been questioned over his media statement against mining companies in Rennell.

Speaking to Island Sun, Rennell and Bellona Premier Collin Singamoana says it is questionable why the MP has decided to speak out against mining companies in the province on the eve of the 2019 national general elections.

“The timing of the MP raises questions because he has been quiet this whole time, and when in his last few months in office then he decides to speak out on an issue which he knows will touch on the people’s emotions. I don’t buy it.”

Singamoana asks MP Kaituu where he had been when the province and people were fighting against mining in the province.

He further queries why the MP is speaking as if he is powerless to lead the fight against mining.

“How can you be sitting in the house which holds the highest power in the country and talk as if you cannot do anything about it. You are simply not doing enough.”

Singamoana says the very people who introduced the miners into Rennell were those from the MP’s ward 3, even then, Kaituu did not act to prevent the miners’ entrance.

He believes that Kaituu, in his capacity as MP and minister of the crown, could have done more than fight mining through the social media.

MP Tautai Kaituu had taken to social media last week to voice his concerns on the mining operations on Rennell.

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

POLICE investigation into the case against accused, Luke Kemakeha, is still pending.

Prosecution told court yesterday that police investigators in Tulagi are yet to collect the medical report of the victim involved, photograph and sketch plan of the crime scene.

The prosecutor told the court that since the investigators need to travel out from Tulagi they are yet to collect the outstanding evidence and disclose before serving to the defence lawyer.

Principal Magistrate Tearo Beneteti however insists that the accused has been remanded in custody since February this year and adjourning the case due to incomplete investigation is unnecessary.

The magistrate said if police had charged the accused why are they delaying in providing necessary documents in relation to the case because keeping people in custody pending investigation is violating their rights.

Ms Beneteti then adjourned the case to May 8 to allow prosecution time to collect all necessary documents of the case and also for a possible plea to be entered.

Kemakeha is charged with one count of unlawful attempt to strike with knife, one count of causing grievous harm and one count of assault causing actual bodily harm.

This is in relation to incidents which occurred in Ngella, Central Island Province.

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

AXIOM’S application to have the joint venture company of the Japanese Government and Sumitomo (SMM Solomon Limited) punished for contempt of court is back in the High Court this week (Tuesday).

In a Press Statement yesterday, Axiom alleges that the Japanese joint venture was behind two letters to the editor published in national newspapers under false names.

The false claims were designed to mislead local landowners and the readers of the newspapers.

Sumitomo says the letters were written on a Sumitomo computer by one of its long standing employees who created and used email accounts in false names to send the letters (which were also written in false names) to the newspapers for publication.

However, Sumitomo denies any involvement saying the employee acted without the knowledge or involvement of Sumitomo management.

Axiom on the hand says Sumitomo must have been behind the letters. As a result, Axiom says Sumitomo breached Court orders in force at the time the letters were written.

The orders were to stop Sumitomo from interfering ‘by its employees’ in any way in Axiom’s lawful business activities in Solomon Islands.

Axiom is seeking access to electronic documents that Google Inc in the USA has produced to the High Court.

Those documents concern the Gmail accounts that were set up by the Sumitomo employee in false names and were used to send the misleading letters to the newspapers.

Axiom has also asked the Court for orders that Sumitomo disclose further documents and seeks documents from Solomon Telekom concerning the emails. The High Court will also decide whether Solomon Telekom must produce its records to the Court.

“Axiom KB is jointly owned by the Isabel people and Axiom,” Axiom CEO Mr Ryan Mount said.

“We will vigorously protect our interests against any unethical behaviour. We will now pursue the opening of electronic data of the Gmail accounts created by Sumitomo’s employee. It is important to have all the evidence so the Court can decide whether Sumitomo was in contempt of the High Court.”

In all of this, one must ask the question, if the Japanese Government and Sumitomo joint venture company have nothing to hide then why do they challenge in court Axiom’s request to have access to the false email accounts created by their employee?

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

HONIARA City Council plans to launch an operation to cull the increasing number of stray dogs in the streets of Honiara, it is reported.

Mr George Titiulu, chief inspector officer of the HCC, in an exclusive interview with this paper said the HCC taskforce is preparing to first notify all pet owners and the public before lunging into the culling stage.

He urges pet owners to register their pets and to keep them confined within their homes, so as not to be caught in the cull exercise.

Stray dogs are a nuisance for many, in terms of noise, spreading of litter along the streets, disturbance along Honiara’s road and pathways, and also pose health risks to the residents of Honiara.

Titiulu uttered this initiative will be carried out according to the dog ordinance of the council and the international law on animal rights.

He said this campaign would help the task force achieve its aims when undertaking the operation.

Titiulu said in carrying out this campaign they will be using media.

He adds for now are they focusing on combating stray dogs but later on they will work with other animals as well.

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

PRINCIPAL Magistrate Tearo Beneteti has committed a murder case to the High Court for trial.

This is the case against Christopher Lalo, alleged to have murdered a man last year.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and the defence lawyer requested for a short form preliminary inquiry to be conducted on the case.

The prosecution then submitted the preliminary inquiry papers to the court and after looking through the document the Magistrate has ruled that prosecution has sufficient evidence to stand trial in the High court.

She then made directions that the accused will be called in the High Court on April 27.

BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

AN ordinance to ensure that fish sellers at the Central Market are not deceiving customers with false scale readings is in the making.

Honiara City Council Mayor, Mr Andrew Mua, speaking to Island Sun yesterday, said in light of fish sale at the market, there are people who are selling fish using scales that do not provide the correct scale reading thus the real cost of the seafood.

In relation, Mua said that if you weigh fish on different scales, you can see that the price will vary which results in some customers purchasing fish at a far higher price than expected.

He stated that once the ordinance is established and regulated, they will provide scales for fish sellers of Central Market.

“Concerning fish sale at the market, we are currently working on securing a number of scales so that Town Council can provide scales for those selling fish at Central Market,” said Mua.

He emphasised that this should help reduce the practice of using scales with false readings and should anybody be caught still engaged in the ordeal, they will be charged with theft under the ordinance.

By Mike Puia

Gizo

WESTERN provincial leaders took the chance to refresh their ideas on how to move the province forward after their look and learn visit to Singapore.

The provincial delegation was led by the Premier, Wayne Maepio. Premier Maepio was accompanied by his deputy, the provincial secretary and treasurer, the minister for commerce and minister for finance and an energy consultant.

Provincial secretary, Jeffery Wickham said their visit was mainly to learn about Singapore’s energy sector.

Mr Wickham said the energy sector is an area the province is keen to explore as it is interested to be involved in fuel distribution in the province.

During the visit, he said they had meetings with people who are involved in Singapore’s petroleum refinery and distribution.

Wickham said during the visit they also looked at other areas of interest to the province including housing, investment, tourism and agro-forestry.

On housing, the province is interested to rent out houses in its land across the province for rent at affordable rates. Currently, the province only builds houses in its land in Noro.

On investment, the province is interested to develop programmes that would attract big investors than waiting for investors to go to the province.

Wickham said tourism is another key area they also looked at during the visit.

He said the province looks to promote the people private partnership arrangement as a way to boost the sector.

For agro-forestry, Wickham revealed the province intends to go into tree replanting. There is already an intention to turn Vagunu oil palm plantation into a tree-replanting site.

Wickham said the province would set up entities to take care of each of the areas the province identifies and wants to develop.

He said everything they learnt during the trip would be included in a report to be presented to the provincial executive.