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2018 Budget credible, fully-funded & balanced: Manele

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Jeremiah Manele

By Gary Haitgeva

FROM the Development Planning and Aid Coordination view point, the 2018 Budget has much on the line for the implementation of government key policies including the development budget and is as the Finance Minister described it to be.

These were summed up from the Minister for Development Planning and Aid Coordination, Jeremiah Manele when contributing to the debate of the 2018 Appropriation Bill in Parliament yesterday.

Following its Second Reading, the Hograno/Kia-Havulei Member of Parliament presented his contribution, elaborating specifically on the Development Budget 2018, which he described to be credible, fully funded and balanced, fiscally responsible and grounded with fiscal discipline and measures.

Mr Manele said the budget presented by the Minister of Finance, Manasseh Sogavare on Monday is committed to implementing the Solomon Islands Democratic Coalition for Change Government (SIDCCG)’s Policy Strategy and Translation documents, launched in February this year.

He said the budget also demonstrates the government’s commitment to implementing its policies and mandate set out in the SIDCCG Policy Statement, Priorities, Strategic Actions and Outcomes that articulate key policy directives which will empower Solomon Islanders with access to opportunities that would improve their social and economy livelihood.

He then supported earlier statements from the Finance Minister who emphasised that the government through its budget recognises the key to growth and progress of the people of Solomon Islands lies within suitable economic development.

Therefore, he said a return to economic growth and continued sustainable and inclusive economic and social development in the economic and social well-being of all Solomon Islanders, and this is also noted in the budget.

“The government recognises the importance of ensuring benefits of growth are shared by all, and especially with those in the provinces and rural areas.

“We need to reinvigorate the economy and regain the growth momentum. It is only through sustainable growth that we can generate the resources to ensure a reasonable standard of living for our people,” the Manele stressed.

Manele said though faced with challenges, as a government, everyone must always be ready to act smartly, quickly and be flexible, to bring fresh and strategic thinking and also to evolve responses as appropriate and needed.

He said it is his strong believe that all leaders and those involved in the process of implementations and fulfilment of programmes within the Budget have the same ambitions.

“We all want progress and we all want to improve the social and economic livelihood of all our people.

“And we all know that it’s always challenging. But I believe that with determination, drive, right attitude and strong will, achieving our ambitions are possible,” Manele expressed.

He then stressed that everyone impacted by the budget both direct and indirect, need to raise ambitions if there is strong edge to spur economic growth for the country’s economy and its people.

He added that there is also need to make the right investments that are critical for the country to be competitive and conducive for investment and growth.

“At the end of the day, our aspirations for our people is to improve their social and economic livelihood.

“And let’s be bold in this endeavour and together we will remake history for ourselves, our children and all future generations,” the Manele concluded.

Police officer guilty for traffic related offences

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

A suspended police superintendent has pleaded guilty to five charges of traffic related offences before the Principal Magistrate Augustine Aulanga on Tuesday.

The police superintendent was charged in relation to a vehicle accident which occurred on March 1 at the Kukum road Florence Young School junction.

He was charged with charges of careless driving, presence of alcohol in a person’s blood, driving unlicensed motor vehicle and other two charges of traffic related offence.

Police said when they did a breathalyser test on the accused he had a high percentage of alcohol in his blood.

Police said that around 2.45am on that morning the defendant was driving up the Florence young junction road and suddenly drove off the road and hit an electric post.

Police traffic officers were called to the scene and confirmed that the accused was drunk. He was arrested and charged for the incident.

After the accused pleaded guilty the court then adjourns the case for sentencing today.

Engineering firm holding contractor ransom over $6m tourism project

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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PS for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Andrew Nihopara.

By Alfred Sasako

AN engineering firm in Honiara is allegedly holding a contractor to ransom over a $6 million-plus tourism project in Gizo, Western province.

And the contractor was told last week that he would have to complete the project without government funding as there was nothing in this year’s budget for the completion of the Tourism Office in Gizo.

“What happened was our company won the contract to build the Tourism Office in Gizo in 2015. But the engineering firm had never provided us a detailed construction plan for the project.

“Amazingly, the firm was paid about half a million dollars for the concept plan it produced and vowed not to provide the detailed construction plan for the building unless the Ministry of Culture and Tourism paid additional money,” a spokesman for the construction firm told Island Sun.

“You can say the plan we were given was incomplete. We had to do a whole lot of changes.

“It is also amazing that the money was paid without engineers from the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID) checking the concept plan.

“We had to revise the whole construction plan including reclaiming two metres from the sea at our own costs,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the funds the company won in the contract had all been used up in paying for additional materials, including new footings for the building.

The spokesman said the company submitted a variation payment claim last year but it had been told there was no money left in the vote for the project.

“All these things have really slowed down our work. But we are doing our best, albeit slowly. Last week the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Andrew Nihopara told ‘to complete the project with my own money because the Ministry no longer had a budget for the project’.

“I just told him that we would endeavour to complete the building. It will be slow, but we will do our best,” the spokesman said.

Neither Mr Nihopara nor the engineering firm could be contacted for comments last night.

West on $33m budget

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

GIZO

WESTERN province Assembly is expecting to approve its budget of $32.9 million today.

Provincial finance minister Mr Lester Sa’omasi says 61 percent of it is allocated for recurrent programmes and 39 percent will be for capital projects.

He said most provincial divisions have resubmitted proposals based on last year’s plans, while only a handful have opted for new programmes for this year – aimed at improved and achievable performances.

“Provincial Assembly had again been allocated with the highest portion of $4.8m but that was after their original bid was trimmed for obvious reason.

“The acme bench mark was also used to reduce the provincial administrating allocation to $3m, a reduced of 33 percent.”

Sa’omasi however says two allocations have been labelled as inadequate, which he believes will pose a problem for the next government. He advises that if faced with this challenge, the next government should mobilise its local resources.

He adds that the office of the Premier’s allocation stands at $2.3m.

Tourism standard set to be improved with MCT initiative

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

THE standard of quality room service in the country’s tourism outlets is set to be improved with an initiative by the ministry of culture and tourism (MCT).

Solomon Islands’ newly approved and introduced Tourism Accommodation Minimum Standards and Classification system is the first of its kind in the country.

MCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Andrew Nihopara said this at the ministry’s Minimum Standards and Classification Training programme at Heritage Park Hotel on Tuesday.

He stressed the need for the system and how it will contribute to tourism growth in the country.

Nihopara said Solomon Islands tourism industry currently holds a record of about 188 accommodation facilities in total that are registered with the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau.

He added that this figures as a total of 1854 rooms with a further 3,685 beds inventory nationwide.

However, the Permanent Secretary said that when it comes to room quality, only 17 percent of room inventory is determined as “market ready” while the remaining 83 percent are rated below the required standard of quality.

In relation, he said that this situation sought the ministry’s attention to address the quality aspect of their room inventory through a classification system, hence they see it as a platform that will enable them to not only classify the various accommodations throughout the country into specific relevant categories but also to develop a set of minimum standards for each.

Nihopara further spoke of the latter and emphasised how the tourism accommodation minimum standards and classification system will bring in a huge impact to the country’s tourism industry.

“Having this classification system with relevant minimum standards will provide the guideline for upgrading of the existing accommodations in order to meet visitor expectations, enhance our competiveness and also secure confidence by tourism wholesalers to include more rooms in holiday packages.

“Once implemented, the impact will include increased number of high quality rooms, enhancing the competitiveness of our destination, increasing confidence to sell the Solomon Islands in the markets and will hugely enhance our ability to meet visitor expectations and guarantee satisfaction,” he said.

Former MID PS case set for closing submission

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

THE case against the former permanent secretary for Ministry of Infrastructure Development is listed for closing submission today.

Trial into the case has been completed and is in its closing stage.

Henry Aife Murray and his wife Rose were charged for corruption related offences.

The Murrays were charged in relation to an allegation relating to a series of offences alleged between 2014 to 2017 in relation to multiple payments of motor vehicle hire charges to a company that police alleged was registered to Mr Murray and his wife.

The value of those payments is estimated to the excess of 1.1 million dollars and as a result of that they both face a range of serious charges.

Prosecution alleged that those payments were allegedly made through cheques and electronic funds transfers; were deposited into their ANZ account in the name of Krash Transport and Marketing.

Lazarus Kwaiga of L & L lawyers is representing both defendants

Don’t panic, just yet

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0
Former Prime Minister Francis Billy Hilly (LEFT) and former Governor General, Sir Nathaniel Waena

Senior statesman assures government still has 1 month to escape constitutional crisis

By Alfred Sasako

THE veil over whether the nation is facing a constitutional crisis over spending of public funds has been lifted, thanks to former Prime Minister Francis Billy Hilly.

Sir Francis is one of three senior statesmen Island Sun consulted yesterday on the matter. The others are former Governor General, Sir Nathaniel Waena and former Prime Minister, Sir Ezekiel Alebua, the only living Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister who is a member of the Privy Council in London.

Sir Francis said based on section 103 of the National Constitution, the government has until the end of April to be placed in such a situation.

Section 103 (1) says, “If the Appropriation Act in respect of any financial year has not come into operation by the beginning of that financial year, Parliament by resolution may empower the Minister of Finance to authorise the issue of moneys from the Consolidated Fund for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the public services at a level not exceeding the level of these services in the previous financial year, until the expiration of four months from the beginning of that financial year or the coming into operation of the Appropriation Act, whichever is the earlier.”

Sir Francis said “The question one can ask is why the new Prime Minister did not accept his predecessor’s budget, which would have avoided all the unnecessary confusion. I shared the same view that the government had just three months in order to pass its Budget until I looked up the Constitution.”

There should not be any panic, he said.

The other two statesmen were adamant the nation is in a constitutional crisis.

“It does not matter really whether or not we are in a constitutional crisis. The government will continue to spend public money regardless of whether Parliament approved it or not,” Sir Ezekiel said.

“Constitutionally, the government should not because any funds spent without approval by Parliament is unconstitutional and illegal,” he said.

Former Governor General Sir Nathaniel said there was no doubt in his mind that the nation is facing a constitutional crisis.

“Once Parliament does not approve the 2018 National Budget by Thursday [today], we are in a constitutional crisis. There really isn’t much room to move,” he said.

But former Prime Minister Sir Francis said the government has one month on its hands to sort out the budget.

World TB Day finally marks a promising shift

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Stakeholder representatives in a group photo.

BY Tanny.E.Vahi

THE commemoration of the World TB Day has raised public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis (TB) and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.

With the theme; “Leaders Lets Work Together For a TB Free Solomon Islands”, it was commemorated at the SIBC leaf hut with participants from different various health departments attending it.

The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.

The theme World TB Day 2018 – Leaders Lets Work Together For a TB Free Solomon Islands focuses on building commitment to end TB, not only at the political level with Heads of State and Ministers of Health, but at all levels from Mayors, Governors, parliamentarians and community leaders, to people affected with TB, civil society advocates, health workers, doctors or nurses, NGOs and other partners. All can be leaders of efforts to end TB in their own work or terrain.

Stakeholder representatives in a group photo.

Last year, WHO reported that 10.4 million people fell ill with TB and there were 1.8 million TB deaths in 2016, making it the top infectious killer worldwide. This disease is deeply rooted in populations where human rights and dignity are limited. While anyone can contract TB, the disease thrives among people living in poverty, communities and groups that are marginalized, and other vulnerable populations.

These include: migrants, ethnic minorities, miners and others working and living in risk-prone settings, the elderly, marginalised women and children in many settings etc. Factors such as malnutrition, poor housing and sanitation, compounded by other risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol use and diabetes, affect vulnerability to TB and access to care.

Furthermore, this access is often hindered by catastrophic costs associated with illness, seeking and staying in care, and lack of social protection, resulting in a vicious cycle of poverty and ill-health. The transmission of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) adds great urgency to these concerns.

In their speeches advocators from the ministry of health organisations and ministries, based on the theme, highlights concerns by this public health problem to increase the efforts to make the goal of universal access to TB prevention and care achievable through meaningful involvement in and support to the interventions planned In the TB national strategic plan, most of them operationalised in the Global Fund New Funding model project that was approved after successful submission by the Solomon Islands in 2014 and again in 2017. This will help cut further the transmission chain of the disease while reducing human suffering and adverse economic consequences of the diseases.

In the final and keynote address for the celebration, Nemia Bainivalu Under Secretary, Health Improvement highlights the challenges of the programme

“Despite the successes, the TB programme still faces with some challenges: Inadequate case detection activities, limited Community-Based Directly Observed Treatment, short-course (CB-DOTs), inadequate TB/HIV services and inadequate quality assurance,” he said.

He also noted that the programme needs to intensify the case detection effort to find others.

“We need to find, treat and cure them thereby cutting the chain of transmission of the diseases in the communities and at the same time reducing human suffering and adverse economic consequences of the disease,” he added.

Isabel to host first Phoga festival

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

AFTER Isabel province hosts its second Kodili Festival Arts at Buala Township this June 2018, a new programme called the Phoga festival will be launched.

Hosted by the Maringe Highlands of Isabel province, the festival will be held at Tirotonna Village in July.

Festival coordinator Norman Advent said the festival would be held from July 3-8.

It was initiated by the youth leaders following a meeting at Tirotonna Village in July 2016.

He said the objective of the Phoga Festival is to promote heritage, culture and spiritual values, allow creativity and innovation for youths, encourage leadership and integrity and access to relevant information on issues affecting youth.

Mr Advent said the Phoga Festival also aims at encouraging healthy lifestyle for youths, helping to appreciate our sovereignty and unite youths in sports and recreational activities.

A range of activities; demonstration of traditional food preparation, local arts and crafts, cultural dancing, awareness talks and sporting activities are being planned for the festival.

Kodili festival will be held on June 25-29, 2018.

Novel diagnostic tool for TB finalised

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

A diagnosis approach on Tuberculosis (TB) based on the universal use in the country of a novel diagnostic tool is being finalised.

According to the Undersecretary for Health Improvement under the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) Dr Nemia Bainivalu, he said the diagnostic tool allows a rapid diagnosis of TB and drug resistance in few hours.

“In this regard, MHMS is mindful of the need of research to find out the optimal operational and implementation approaches to use newly introduced technologies, strategies and interventions hence the development of a national TB Operational Research Plan,” said Mr Bainivalu.

“MHMS, the National Tuberculosis Programme and their partners are expecting that this campaign will result in increased demand for TB services by the population after informing people about the availability of TB services for free all over the country.

“This includes additional domestic and donor funding and new partners mobilised to address TB in their work especially community representatives and members.”

MHMS celebrated World Tuberculosis (TB) Day yesterday at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) Leaf Hut that is annually marked on March 24.

The Theme for World TB Day celebrated was “Wanted: Leaders for a TB-free world”.

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