POLICE in the Guadalcanal Province are calling on people residing alongside rivers, streams, creeks and coastal areas in the province to take the necessary precaution at all times following the death of man believed to have been killed by a crocodile in the Tangarare area in West Guadalcanal on January 15, 2018.

It is alleged a 20-year-old male was attacked by a crocodile at Hove River in the Tangarare area after his body was found next day (January 16) at the same river by relatives.

Acting Provincial Police Commander (PPC), Guadalcanal Province, Superintendent Nixson Manetoga says, “We have sent our officers to Tangarare to get more information on the death and formally request community leaders for police to hunt and kill any crocodiles in the area.

“In the meantime, I appeal to members of the communities in the province residing alongside rivers, streams, creeks and coastal to always take precaution and look out for these dangerous reptiles at all times.”

–POLICE MEDIA

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

A meeting between the Solomon Islands Safer City for Girls and Australian delegation revealed that most public places in the capital (Honiara) are unsafe for girls.

This is because most public places are without street lights, securities, increased criminal activities like alcohol consumption and illegal selling of alcohol to name a few.

A concerned outspoken girl expressed yesterday the unsafe environments within the capital has made us live with fear and threats.

“If we continue to have public places unsafe it will affect the way we learn and interact with others,” she said.

Hence responsible authorities, Ministries and Non–governmental are called on to find ways to address this growing issue

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

BRINGING the rule of law closer to people remains a priority for the national judiciary.

Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer remind lawyers during the opening of the Legal year to do all they can to achieve and improve on the most worthy of goals both centrally and out in the Districts and Provinces.

He highlighted that adequate infrastructure continues to be an issue and sticks out like sore thumb every now and again with limited office space, supporting facilities and equipment.

These are the People’s Courts and apart from the delivery of judicial services the people deserve to come to court to have their disputes resolved in a peaceful, safe, secure and comfortable environment, Sir Albert said.

“We cannot continue to rely on donor assistance and it is high time the Government gets down to business in ensuring it courts in the country are properly accommodated with adequate buildings, facilities and equipment,” Sir Albert added.

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

CHIEF Justice Sir Albert Palmer has raised concerns over the delay made to review the terms and conditions of Judges and Magistrates.

Speaking during the legal year opening yesterday, Sir Albert said that since 2015 there has not been any review made on their terms and conditions – and this is unacceptable.

He said under the current Constitutional Regulations, reviews are to be conducted on a yearly basis.

The last review was done in 2015. It is now two years and nothing has been done, Sir Albert said.

He said in 2015 he called for the establishment of an independent body similar to the Members of Parliament Entitlement commission and that is yet to be done.

“The current process of having our terms and conditions reviewed by the Minister of Constitutional Affairs is simply inadequate, if there has been commitment it is lacklustre at best,” Sir Albert said.

Sir Albert said having attractive salaries and terms and conditions of employment enables us to recruit senior and experienced lawyers from the cream of the legal profession.

Currently it is difficult to attract well qualified and experienced legal officers onto the Bench both in the High Court and the Magistrates Court.

He also said that adequate remuneration is connected to strengthening judicial independence.

BY BEN BILUA

THE Honiara City Council is progressing well in the enforcement of the city’s bus route ordinance.

In an interview with this paper, Chair of HCC’s bus route ordinance enforcement taskforce, Councilor Eddie Ngava confirmed that the enforcement of the law is slowly progressing.

“We received good turnout of buses coming to pay their licenses over the past few days and this indicates that things are slowly progressing,” he said.

Ngava stressed that the inclusion of Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Traffic Department) in the enforcement part of the law adds strength for HCC to fully achieve the objective of the law.

He said HCC and RSIPF have put together a special operation yesterday to convince buses to comply with the law.

“We welcomed the inclusion of our Traffic Police to assist us regulate this law.

“We manage to pull in few buses yesterday and this is a brilliant team work between HCC and RSIPF in making sure the demand of Honiara residents for convenience bus service are met,” Ngava said.

He told this paper that the law was drafted and endorsed in retort to the cries of Honiara residences and that HCC is optimistic that the law must execute the demands.

Ngava reiterated that the bus route ordinance is not new but it tries to revive the old bus destinations that used to be in late 90s.

He acknowledged the bus owners for their cooperation in complying with the law.

By Mike Puia

THE popular Tavanipupu private island resort in Marau on Guadalcanal’s eastern tip is now a new port for cruise ships.

The first cruise ship that has confirmed to call in at the island resort, in November, is Seabourn.

This fine resort is known for playing host to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Princess Kate, during their visit to the country in 2012.

The Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) has received initial confirmation from seven cruise ships that have booked to visit this country this year.

SIVB’s Senior Marketing Officer, Ellison Kyere, said they expect the number of cruise ships to increase when they received confirmation from other cruise ship agents.

Based on initial confirmation, Kyere revealed the number of cruise ships coming to the country has seen a drop this year.

He said the significant thing year is the fact a new port (Tavanipupu) has been added.

The first two cruise ship to arrive in Honiara, in February, is the Ocean Dreams and Caledonian Sky. Silver Discoverer, Pacific Eden and L’Austral are other cruise ships that will also visit the country.