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Maepioh rebuts criticisms over West’s investment body

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY ALFRED PAGEPITU & BARNABAS MANEBONA

THE Western province government has come under strong attack over lack of transparency in the progress of the province’s investment corporation (WPIC).

Premier Wayne Maepioh has however downplayed this, saying that financial statements for the WPIC are ready for audit.

Non-executive member Ramrakha Talasasa, MPA for Nusatupe ward, accuses Maepioh’s government of taking control of the WPIC. In doing so, Mr Talasasa alleges that the body has been allowed to become impotent.

Speaking in last week’s first assembly on the 2017-18 supplementary budget, Talasasa said WPIC is an entity that is owned by the province and has a board which includes members of the assembly.

“This composition provides the assembly the right to know where in terms of investment we are, or what the liquidity rations of the WPIC are.” But, he said, this is not the case.

“No report has been tabled in the assembly in the last four years, and no one seems to know how or where all the investment funds paid to WPIC have gone to.

“Is there enough cash flow to pay for the expected liabilities of WPIC? What is the return on investment in the last eight years?” he asks.

He questions whether the body has any investment opportunities at all, challenging the assembly to come up with options with which WPIC can be helped to realise its potential.

“How can the assembly assist in ensuring a public corporation such as WPIC realises its potential to diversify and expand and at the same time, be accountable for and transparent in its dealings?”

Premier Maepioh, speaking to Island Sun yesterday, says the province is waiting for the legal ordinance regarding WPIC, which is still with the Attorney General.

He said they are currently on the final touches of the WPIC ordinance to make it be governed properly.

They are also looking at the financial statements under preparation as they are looking forward to conduct the audit as soon as possible for the Assembly to look into.

“All the revised areas governing the body of WPIC are captured on the ordinance as we have already passed it. But there was a finding that the AG’s Chamber said needs good vetting through proper linking with other relevant acts to not breach with other acts in which it should be ready around May,” said Maepioh

“Currently it is on the process and is almost complete. When the ordinance is complete then we will give it back to the Assembly for blessing so that it becomes a legal entity governed by ordinance.”

Maepioh elaborated that in the absence of the ordinance, the authority is only mandated by policy with no ordinance governing as a backup of legal power.

Meanwhile, Maepioh also clarified that there is only one investment for WPIC and no other. And that is the investment at Noro for the rental of housings rented by Solomon Tuna.

“When they rent for these houses, they also ask for their repairs as well over which most of the money collected from the houses are only used back for maintenance.

“In terms of efficiency, we are trying to get to our new development plans but all our rentals seem to be only rotating for maintenance and so only little is saved to support our contribution to the province every month.

“Though we only have a short time now before elections, WPIC is one of the priorities that we want to put to a standard being approved by the people.”

Provinces denied $70

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Former Premier of Malaita Province, Hon Peter Channel Ramohia.

Malaita Premier decries national government’s funding cuts

By Alfred Sasako

THE nation’s nine Provincial Governments stand to forego $70 million in Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) funding for 2017 and again this year, Malaita Premier Peter Ramohia revealed yesterday.

Premier Ramohia warned, “we may be witnessing the start of the natural death of PCDF, one of SIG’s most successful programmes/mechanisms.”

He told Island Sun yesterday the $70 million loss is made up of $30 million, which the national government had approved but failed to release last year and $40 million being slashed from the current financial year’s allocation.

“Many rural projects being prepared for funding on Malaita, for example, would be shelved because of the funding cuts. These projects include those we had to hold off from 2017 because we received no funding at all that year,” he said.

He described the funding cut this year as “unjustified”.

“The 2017/18 financial year is gone and we are now in a new financial year 2018/2019. Therefore legally provincial governments do not expect to receive this money anymore,” he said on social media on the weekend.

“SIG also drastically cut the PCDF allocation in the current 2018/19 financial year budget by 80 percent from $50million down to $10million. This is a huge unjustified $40million cut.

“In reality this is a huge loss of $70million in PCDF in both 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years. This simply shows the DCCG and SIDCCG have not prioritised (the) PCDF.

“The PCDF is a ring fenced mechanism which started back in 2007 and in the 10 years up to 2017, more than 1,040 solid community felt-need infrastructure projects in the health, education, water and sanitation, administration buildings, staff accommodations, Jacobs ladders, fisheries centres, coconut crushing mills and sports fields have been completed in all 9 provinces at cost of about $189million creating jobs and benefiting more than 5, 200 people.

“The PCDF is the only successful government programme,” Premier Ramohia said.

The Premier said the failure by the national government to release the $30million approved in 2017/18 coupled with the unjustified huge cut of $40million in the 2018/19 budget shows the SIG is not prioritising PCDF anymore and we may be witnessing the start of the natural death of one of SIG’s most successful programmes/mechanisms (PCDF).

Premier Ramohia said such an unprecedented action by SIG was done on purpose.

“What they are doing is to force Members of the Provincial Assemblies (MPAs) to work under the CDF programme, which Members of Parliament control,” he said.

Premier Ramohia said the nine provincial governments “are quite surprised by the attitude of former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, now the Minister of Finance and Treasury.

“At one point, when he was still the Prime Minister, Mr Sogavare was talking about increasing the PCDF funding level to $100 million a year. Now it is the opposite that is happening.”

Junior tennis comp on Easter weekend

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Ian Honila stressing a point during junior training session last year at the Multipurpose tennis court.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

Ian Honila stressing a point during junior training session last year at the Multipurpose tennis court.

SOLOMON Islands Tennis Association (SITA) will be organising a competition for the local juniors this Easter weekend at the Multipurpose tennis court.

The competition will be played on two days – Saturday and Monday where will see its conclusion.

SITA Development Officer Ian Honila confirmed that the competition will open on Saturday and will be closed with the presentation on Monday.

Honila said they are looking at hosting more than 50 participants who will compete in the round robin and the singles elimination.

Participants will compete across five categories namely under-8, under-10, under-12, under 14 and under-16 and according to their designated stages which include red Stage, orange stage, green Stage and the development group stages.

Honila explained those competing in the under-8 and under-10 categories will play round robin matches while those ones in the under-12, under 14 and under-16 will compete in the singles elimination.

Registration fee stands at $20 per participants and Honila stated that the competition will be conducted on an individual event basis.

“We’re looking at 50 plus kids to be part of our two-day event.

“Prizes will consist of medals from Gold, Silver and Bronze, and most improved player which is also a medal.”

Honila expressed that the competition will also be used to select potential representatives for this year’s West Pacific Regional Qualifiers.

“Yes, we will use this tournament as one of our selection criteria for the upcoming West Pacific Regional Competition (WPRC).”

The West Pacific Regional Qualifiers is a competition sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and organized by the Oceania Tennis Federation (OTF).

The Qualifiers will be held from April 30 to May 5 at the Oceania Regional Tennis Center at Lautoka and will be attended by young competitors from Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Norfolk Islands and host nation Fiji.

The competition features round robin play to determine entry into the main draw and play-offs for places in each of the under 12, 14 and 16 age categories.

Top players emerging from the qualifiers will be chosen to represent the West Pacific team, who will compete at the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships (POJC), which will be held from July 23 to August 1 in Fiji, against teams from the East and North Pacific regions.

The POJC is the region’s flagship elite junior tennis event.

SIPA futsal league April 3

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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G-Camp FC Eddie Konde tries to go past Royals Charles during their opening match of the SIFF Futsal Championship yesterday. G-Camp won 12-4.

By Taromane Martin

THE SIPA National Futsal League is rescheduled to kick off early next month after the competition was postponed last week.

The national futsal league was originally scheduled for March 22 but was moved to April 3 due to slow responses from teams for registrations according to Solomon Islands Football Federation Futsal Development Officer, Jerry Sam.

Sam said the postponement was because of the team’s slow response in getting their teams registered for the competition.

“We decided to move the competition for Monday because all the teams were slow to respond to our call for them to register,” Mr Sam said.

“We cannot start the competition when half complete. This is the national futsal league and therefore must be handled properly.

“If all the team managements had responded earlier we would have kicked started the league last week,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Futsal Development Officer is calling on all mangers of the 12 participating teams to attend a technical meeting Monday next week to finalise the draws.

“I want to call on all team managers to attend a very important meeting Monday next week so we can do the draws and then finalise the fixtures for the competition,” he said.

The 12 confirmed teams are:

  1. Marist Futsal Club
  2. Kossa Futsal Club
  3. Vania Futsal Club
  4. Koloale Futsal Club
  5. G Camp Futsal Club
  6. Mataks Futsal Club
  7. National U-17 Futsal Team
  8. Guntimak Futsal Club
  9. Real Kakamora Futsal Club
  10. Henderson Futsal Club
  11. Cool Line Futsal Club
  12. Indo-Solo Futsal Club

Warriors secures double

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Vanuatu imported player Kensi Tagis

Marist goal scoring woes continues

By Taromane Martin

Vanuatu imported player Kensi Tagis celebrating his goal during the grand final yesterday against Marist. Solomon Worriors won 3-0.

REIGNING Telekom Soccer League champions Solomon Warriors FC has defeated Marist FC 3-1 in the grand final of the TSL Championship to complete their season with another double.

First half goals from Jerry Donga and Kensy Tangis saw Solomon Warriors leading Marist 2-0 at the break before Marist defender Michael Boso, back from injury, pulled a goal back for Marist in 69 minutes into the second half.

Davidson Tome came close to levelling the game for Marist but saw his shot on goal rebounding off the cross bar and out for a Warriors goal kick.

Gagame Feni sealed the win for Warriors 85 minutes into the second half after missing four chances earlier for his side.

Head Coach Moses Toata was pleased with the win saying his players really showed their determination to win the final yesterday and can now regard his team as the competition champions.

“First of all I want to thank Marist for a wonderful game today. We came for the match full of confidence today because we really prepared for it,” Coach Toata said.

“I’m pleased with their performance and they showed today they were determined to win. Not only that but the fact we created a lot of chances is good.

“At the moment I can call our team the TSL champions because we only lost the title once and I think this is one of the motivations for the boys.

“We regard ourselves as the champions of this competition and therefore we always try to win the championships. I look forward for next season, if this team is still together, to try and keep our record intact,” Toata said

His counterpart Jerry Allen admitted it was not their game but was pleased with the way his young players stepped up to the occasion.

“Unfortunately it was not our day. As you can see I had to play the young boys today and I’m satisfied with their performance,” Coach Allen said.

“It is good they experience this level and for most of them this is their first time to be in a final at this level.

“I’m not really worried about the result. I rested most of my experienced players today because they have minor injuries.

“We had to take precautionary measures to protect them because if they had played and something serious happen to them then we’ll have no one to play for us,” he said.

Allen admitted finishing is still their problem heading into next month’s quarterfinal clash with Nalkutan FC of Vanuatu but will address it come the new TSL season.

SIRC Auki branch holds AGM

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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THe newly elected board committee of the Auki Red Cross branch with some of the SIRC staffs.

BY GEORGE MANFORD

AUKI

THe newly elected board committee of the Auki Red Cross branch with some of the SIRC staffs.

THE Red Cross branch in Auki has held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the women’s centre conference room on Wednesday.

The AGM attracted more than 40 volunteers attending the AGM, both new and old.

During the AGM meeting, Solomon Islands Red Cross (SIRC) secretary general Mr Clement Manuri said SIRC is pushing hard to organise activities and programmes through its branches throughout the provinces.

“Our aim is to strengthen our branches through its operations and programmes with activities which will be carried out by RC volunteers to our communities.

“We need a strong and active branch.

“One of our priorities is to improve our infrastructures in our provinces throughout the country as well.”

He thanked the Auki Red Cross branch officer and the volunteers for their commitments throughout last year during its activities and awareness programmes.

He urges the volunteers to maintain their commitments and dedication with Red Cross voluntarily during hazards.

Rex Leafasia Auki Red Cross branch officer (BO) acknowledges and salutes other stakeholders for their partnership and working together for the past year, 2017.

He appeal to all stakeholders to maintain their partnership with the Red Cross in its operational programmes to any disaster strike.

He also thanked the presence of the Malaita provincial government and the Police for seeing the importance of Red Cross in Malaita province.

Attending the meeting was Deputy provincial secretary of Malaita province Robert Wale and the Malaita provincial police commander Timothy Apaesi.

I want to serve this nation the best I can: Ora

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Newly graduated officer, Ms Kym Sussanne Ora with some members of her family.
Newly graduated officer, Ms Kym Sussanne Ora with some members of her family.

“I’ve always wanted to be a police officer ever since I was a kid, having grown up in a policing family,” says newly graduated Police Constable 27-year-old, Kym Sussanne Ora.

Growing up and seeing her father, who is a former police commander so dedicated and passionate about his job, Kym was inspired and motivated to fulfil her dream to becoming a police officer.

Getting married with four kids did not stop her. Police Constable Kym Sussanne Ora comes from Shortland Islands in the Western Province.

She joined the RSIPF recruit course on November 6, 2017 and endured the five months training which ended with her graduation yesterday.

“Coming through these 20 weeks of hard training is challenging. I was elected to be the head girl of the recruits and having to look after 69 adults was a very challenging task. But the training helped to mould me and my colleagues to be physically fit and qualified officers,” says Ora.

“The course was wonderful and inspiring. It has taught me to become a better citizen and a professional police officer. I believe that by going through these challenges, I am equipped with the right tools to face the frontline policing duties.

“I am proud to become a newly sworn police officer and I want to go out there and serve this nation with the best I can in any department that I will be assigned to. I want to become a good prosecutor like my late brother, Inspector Galvin Ora.

“I want to encourage the youth of our country to join the RSIPF to serve our nation in maintaining peace and security of this country. It will be challenging and tough but I have proved that it is worth trying. It is a very interesting and great career to take up with pride. You will never know until you joined the force.”

–POLICE MEDIA

MWYCFA supports gender assessment in agriculture sector

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

THE Ministry of Women Youth Children and Family Affairs is pleased to work in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to support the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) carry out gender assessment in the Agricultural sector.

This was uttered to the paper yesterday by Mrs Pauline Soaki, Director for Women’s Division at the MWYCFA.

She said this is the first ever assessment carried out, and it’s important to the MWYCFA in terms of gender mainstreaming in the Agricultural sector.

“We hope that this research will inform not only MWYCF but other policy makers and decision makers on how we make decisions and we contribute to the Agriculture sector.

“Also we know from anecdotal research or current researches that women are the backbone of society which shows that high percentage of women are producers of Agricultural product but most times their work and struggle are invisible in Agricultural sector,” said Soaki.

She said most times they haven’t been acknowledged or highlighted concerning their tireless efforts.

“Hence it’s important that this research is carried to help highlight women’s contribution in this sector, also the struggles issues they faced daily.

“And as policy makers we can look at the findings and make good decisions and policies to respond to this challenge and gaps that woman faced in this sector,” Soaki said.

In addition she said she believed that this partnership will help us ensure gender consideration and issues in the sector be addressed.

The initiative was implemented through the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

SICCI marks 2018 as crucial year

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Member of the SICCI during its election for new Vice Chair and Board Members held at the Heritage Park Hotel.

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

Member of the SICCI during its election for new Vice Chair and Board Members held at the Heritage Park Hotel.

CHAMBER of Commerce and Industry has calendared 2018 as an important year in its operation – celebrating the country’s 40th Anniversary.

SICCI Chairperson Mr Jay Bartlett said 2018 is an important year for SICCI and its members to celebrate the country’s 40 years of sovereignty.

He said it is important for them because it’s time as a nation to celebrate 40 years and reflect on their journey.

“It’s time to celebrate our sovereign independence but it’s also a time for us to reflect on our journey and think about the path that we are heading,” Bartlett said.

As the country is moving forward, Bartlett said after 40 years he believes SICCI and its members have a big role to play as a voice platform to represent the voiceless.

“After 40 years I believe we need to push even harder in our effort to tackle some of the really core fundamental issues no matter how complex such as land reform or contention such as anti-corruption in the public and private sector.

“It will take courage, it will take strength, it will take an unwavering support from each and every one of you and support for our Chamber movement,” Bartlett said.

SICCI CEO Mr Dennis Meone in his presentation said the Solomon Islands Government remains as its key stakeholder.

He said their continuous collaboration and engagement with the Government is critical to working towards a conducive business environment.

This is where the private sector can grow and jobs are created for our growing population, Mr Meone said.

“SICCI is driven by its vision for the Solomon Islands, its own mission and the values which govern the way it goes about its work,” CEO Meone said.

SICCI 2018-19 business plan and budget in place

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Chairperson for the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) Mr Jay Bartlett during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) recently.

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

Chairperson for the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) Mr Jay Bartlett during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) recently.

COUNTRY’S Chamber of Commerce and Industry has its one-year business plan and budget already in place.

The business plan and budget is focussed on offering training of directors for emerging private sector leaders.

It aims to enable members accelerate their progression into directorship roles.

The revelation is made by Chairperson for the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) Mr Jay Bartlett during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) recently.

Mr Bartlett said, “For 2018-2019 we have our business plan and budget already in place, and two of the initiative I would like to highlight is the Institute of Directors programme.

“This training programme targets emerging private sector leaders that will enable them to accelerate their progression into directorship role.”

Bartlett encourages more females to be part of this significant training.

He said this is a way forward to promote stronger gender balance in private sector leadership and work towards bridging the generational gap in leadership in Solomon Islands.

Another initiative SICCI is looking at is the Regional Trade Delegation.

At the moment Bartlett said they are in dialogue with PNG counterparts in the Chamber, Solomon Islands High Commission and Ministry of Trade and Commerce.

Bartlett said their team looks forward to delivering better networking opportunities, trainings and events for its members.

He also adds that SICCI is looking forward to build stronger relationships and working with elected leaders and government to promote a prosperous Solomon Islands.

Bartlett also announced that Australian Government is their major funder.

He said SICCI is fortunate to receive support from the Australian Government which keeps the Chamber operation rolling.

And this year SICCI and Australia High Commission signed additional funding as new extension of Grant Agreement on Wednesday which total up to SBD$3.2 million, he said.

“I am pleased to announce we signed an extension to the current Grant Agreement to value of approximately SBD$1 million which is in addition to three-year grant agreement worth SBD$2.2M with total value of SBD$3.2M,” Bartlett said.

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