BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

VORUVORU Zone at Northwest Choiseul celebrated Palm Sunday yesterday at their Catholic Mission Station.

According to Mr Nerio Ulemiki the media coordinator for Christ the King Parish reporting, the liturgy started with enactment of Jesus entry into Jerusalem while the blessing and issuing of palm leaves to the parishioners and the Holy Mass was presided over by Fr Henry Paroiop the Parish Priest.

“Christ the King Parish have set up all its programs for the Holy Week including parish tours throughout the parish,” said Mr Ulemiki.

BY BARNABAS MANRBONA

A team of 40 Seventh Day Adventists from Taro Station made a successful weekend visitation tour to Voruvoru Community at Northwest Choiseul between the 23rd and 25th of this month.

The team led by Reverend Minister George Bekele and Personal Ministry Leader Simmy Vazarabatu was comprised of church elders, pastors, youths, men, Dorcas, nurses and pathfinders camping at Voruvoru Primary School compound.

Mr Nerio Ulemiki the media coordinator for Christ the King Parish reporting said an open-air service was held on Friday night at the Mission Station in which various activities like sing-along, health awareness talk by professionals in the team, slide shows and open air preaching by the Minister George Bekele took place.

“On Saturday, the team made charitable visits to orphans, the sick, disabled and the elderly in which they prayed and presented gifts to them being 44 in total,” said Mr Ulemiki.

“Night program continued and ended successfully on Saturday Night with thanks from both the Voruvoru Community and the team because the visitation was historical due to the fact that it was the first time for a SDA group to visit Voruvoru and open interaction with Catholics in the area.”

The SDA team travelled back to Taro Station on Sunday morning.

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

A political party plays an important role in government stability on which in the context of Solomon Islands, it is still on a learning curve.

In this particular function, Democratic Alliance Party’s (DAP) Parliamentary Wing Leader Hon Jeremiah Manele said in more mature democracies, the stability of political parties has a direct positive effect on government stability.

“This is very important because without government stability, the country would rarely achieve its development goals,” said Mr Manele.

“And a country that does not achieve its development goals would not also be able to make progress and its people will suffer.

“On the flip side if there is party instability or we have a weak party system then there is all the changes that the country will not improve as much as we would like to see.

“I need not to labour this point but this is where a party like SIDAP needs to be properly organized and managed.”

Another important political party function also mentioned is political parties involving in nomination and providing support to candidates in elections. Manele said this allows candidates to run on a party manifesto.

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

THERE are perceptions that are hostile to the important roles of political parties in politics and democracy, according to the Democratic Alliance Party (DAP).

DAP’s Parliamentary Wing Leader Hon Jeremiah Manele, during their political party’s fundraising over the weekend at the Yacht Club, raised two anti-political opinions not as a form of discouragement, but rather to put them on notice that there are issues with political parties that they as a party need to be mindful and reminded of.

In briefing some perceptions that are hostile to the important roles of political parties in politics and democracy, party corruption was one of the issues DAP’s Parliamentary Wing Leader pointed on.

“There is popular discourse in the public space that parties are often involved in corrupt dealings by taking bribes and support from powerful individuals and companies without due declaration,” said Mr Manele.

“This is often seen as an impediment to the ability of political parties to independently implement their political party agendas which in the end, it is often the elites that are benefiting more than the rest.

“In a survey carried out by Transparency International, the public around the world perceive political parties as the institution mostly affected by corruption. This was published by Transparency International (TI) to mark the UN International Anti-Corruption Day sometimes during the past.”

Manele added that similar argument often put forward along the same line is political parties foster contention turning their participants into unthinking followers rather than informing citizens.

“There are people out there who see this important political platform (DAP) in a negative manner,” reminded Manele.

A watershed moment for the Solomon Islands tourism industry, the destination has surpassed the 25,000 international visitor mark for the first time since numbers were first recorded in 1990.

Figures released by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO) show a total of 25,709 international visitors travelled to the Solomon Islands in 2017, a 10.9 percent increase over the 23,192 recorded for 2016.

Australian visitor arrivals continue to dominate, the 10,161 number recorded accounting for 39.52 percent of all arrivals.

New Zealand (1694 arrivals/6.58 percent of total) and the USA (1622 arrivals/6.30 percent of total) came in respective second and third in terms of most important source markets with Fiji (1651 arrivals/6.26 percent of total) and Papua New Guinea (1487 arrivals/5.70 percent of total) in fourth and fifth position, respectively.

The biggest surprise came from mainland Chinese visitation, albeit off a small base which increased by 47.1 percent to reach 1215 (4.7 percent of total).

Acknowledging what he described as a “very hard worked for result”, Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto said the destination still needs to maintain strong focus on growing the leisure market, currently sitting on around 35 percent of overall

“We know our weaknesses and we recognise our challenges and we use these as a strength in terms of our international PR activity and online platform utilisation,” Mr Tuamoto said.

“Our disruptive approach in 2018 will see a shift from our traditional base of wholesale to pursue with vigour the retail space – and we have already seen results of this in 2017 and we will look to enhance this in 2018.

“We are confident, with government and local industry support, this can readily be achieved.

“But we also need to see an increase in the country’s accommodation infrastructure, and particularly in Honiara where we see huge potential from the MICE sector and related business traffic.

“There is a recognised need for more resources and investment to tap into and grow this area of the business.”

New accommodation inventory in 2017 included the Coral Sea Resort & Casino in Honiara and Ginger Beach Resort a short drive from the capital.

Development of the extremely lucrative cruise sector remains a key focal area of the strategy and one which the Ministry of Culture & Tourism and the SIVB have aggressively developed in partnership with Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises.

–SIVB PRESS

BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

AN active trough lies over Solomon Islands and links to ex-tropical cyclone Iris located south of Rennell/Bellona province.

This was stated in Solomon Meteorological Service’s Heavy Warning Number issue which was made at 7pm yesterday.

People living in communities located near hill slopes, large rivers, streams and low lying areas are strongly advised to take safety measures to avoid danger, loss of lives and property as heavy rain can lead to flash floods and landslides.

Motorists are also advised to be extra cautious when travelling on the road and refrain from making any attempts to cross rivers and large streams of unknown depth.

In addition, the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) also issued a Heavy Rain and Flooding What to Do Information Number Four yesterday 10.40am.

NEOC stated that heavy rain is likely to cause flooding in creeks, streams, major rivers and drainages and calls on people living in or close to the above areas to take safety actions seriously.

In the warning issued, NEOC advises that village leaders and families listen to their radio for emergency information, make sure that their neighbors and vulnerable people receive this advice and move to a safe location when required.

Also stated is that people in low lying areas take extra precaution measures thus when evacuated, should only take essential items like radio, mobile phones torch, food, water, torch, knife, important papers and medicine.

Storing drinking water in sealed water bottles in case water supply may be interrupted is also advised.

NEOC adds that children should not be allowed to play in the rain and in flood raising water or near drainage systems.

Further expressed is a call for motorists to take extra care when travelling in wet, slippery and flooded areas, ensure that lights are on when on the road and make sure that they drive at a speed not exceeding 40km per hour.

Mariners are also called to be extra careful when planning to travel out in the sea.

“Avoid travelling at all if you can. When going out in the sea, always inform someone of where about you are going and your expected time of travel. Take extra fuel, puddles, life-jackets, torch-light, spare batteries, water and some food when travelling,” said NEOC.