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No English and Pidgin proves headache for HCC

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Milton Ragaruma
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BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

FOREIGNERS working in restaurants who do not speak English and pidgin fluently is proving a major setback for the Honiara City Council (HCC) joint inspection.

Chief Health Inspector for HCC Mr George Titulu said the matter has become an obstacle for HCC in terms of working to meet deadlines of compiling of restaurants’ reports each day.

He said if foreign restaurant vendors at least learn basics of these two languages, it will help in accelerating HCC‘s inspection on per restaurant within the capital.

Titulu adds in this case they underwent an approach by having a translator available during and when assessing restaurants to help give out straight forward and accurate information.

This approach has helped HCC to at least target restaurants each day.

Moreover he adds ineffective communication issues will also go as far as affecting the working employees of restaurants and will cause conflict.

He also stressed that ineffective communication is identified as one contributing factor for restaurants’ lack of compliance to HCC’s food regulations.

“However it is vital everybody use English to communicate so that we can all on the same page when it comes to fulfilling city’s regulation,” said Titulu.

Marist names 23-man train on squad

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Milton Ragaruma
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Timothy Bakale of Marist FC tries to keep the ball in play during their mid week TSL clash with Real Kakamora FC yesterday. Marist won 4-1...Photo Taromane Martin

By Taromane Martin

OCEANIA Champions’ League Group D hosts Marist Football Club has released a 23-man training squad yesterday.

The club released the 23 man squad via their social media page saying the train-on squad will be trimmed to the final 18 players for the 2018 OFC Champions league.

Marist FC is joined in group D which will be hosted at Lawson Taman by Team Wellington (New Zealand), AS Magenta (New Caledonia) and the Qualifier runner-up.

After bowing out of the group stages of the competition last season, Marist FC will be looking for an improved outing this time round and experienced Henry Fa’arodo who is expected to lead the team believes the Telekom S-League runners up will step up to the occasion.

“It is an opportunity for the team to test the strength of other nations at club level,” he said.

The OFC Champions league group D will kick off February 24 at the Lawson Tama Stadium.

Marist FC will play Team Wellington FC of New Zealand in their first match at Lawson Tama on February 24. Their second match is against AS Magenta (February 27) while the final will be against the Qualifier Runner-up on March 2.

The 23-man training squad are as follows:

GOAL-KEEPERS

Anthony TALO, Zantas KABINI, Harold NAUANIA

DEFENDERS

Michael BOSO, Joachim WAROI, Natanela MOSESE, John AETA, Robert LAUA, Koriak UPAIGA , John ROFETA

MIDFIELDERS

Henry FA’ARODO, Jeffery BULE, Timothy BAKALE, Thomas AMASIA, Thomas TALOGA, Fredrick DOLA, Alwin RAY, Joel BAKALIKI, Joachim KAIRI, Davidson TOME, Atkin KAUA

FORWARDS

Mathias Ian, Abaraham Iniga

Coach: Jerry Allan

Complete TSL champs series fixtures released

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Milton Ragaruma
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Marist FC team captain Jeffery Bule (right) competes with a Real Kakamora FC players during their TSL match yesterday. Marist won 2-0…Photo Benz Newman.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

SOLOMON Islands Football Federation (SIFF) has released the complete fixtures for the upcoming Telekom S-League (TSL) championship series which will kick off tomorrow afternoon at Lawson Tama.

Kicking off 2pm Saturday afternoon is Solomon Warriors taking on Real Kakamora while at 4pm sees Marist going against Guadalcanal.

The round one continues on Sunday with KOSSA playing Western United at 2pm before the final first leg round between Henderson Eels and Malaita Kings kicks off at 4pm.

The second leg of the first round returns to Lawson Tama on Wednesday next week with Marist and Guadalcanal battling out the 2pm fixture. At 4pm will be Warriors taking Real Kakamora.

On Thursday sees KOSSA and Western United at 2pm while Eels and Kingz has been scheduled for a 4pm kick off.

The results of the stage one results determine who makes it into the semifinals.

The semifinals will be held on Sunday February 4 and winner of the Warriors-Kakamora fixture will play the winner of the KOSSA-Western contest in the first semis set for 1pm.

At 3pm will see the winner of the Marist-Guadalcanal fixture taking on the winner of the Eels-Kingz encounter.

The finals will take place on Wedneday February 6 starting off with the third and fourth play-off at 1pm while the grandfinal will take place at 3pm.

See entire fixtures below:

 

MATCH SCHEDULES

Match No Day Date Time Team A v Team B Venue
Round 1
1 Saturday 27/01/2018 2:00pm Solomon Warriors Real Kakamora L/Tama
2 Saturday 27/01/2018 4:00pm Marist FC Guadalcanal L/Tama
3 Sunday 28/01/2018 2:00pm KOSSA Western United L/Tama
4 Sunday 28/01/2018 4:00pm Henderson Eels Malaita Kingz L/Tama
Round 2
5 Wednesday 31/01/2018 2:00pm FC Guadalcanal Marist L/Tama
6 Wednesday 31/01/2018 4:00pm Real Kakamora Solomon Warriors L/Tama
7 Thursday 1/02/2018 2:00pm Malaita Kingz Henderson Eels L/Tama
8 Thursday 1/02/2018 4:00pm Western United KOSSA L/Tama
Semi Finals
9 Sunday 4/02/2018 1:00pm Winner Draw 1 Winner of Draw 3 L/Tama
10 Sunday 4/01/2018 3:00pm Winner of Draw 2 Winner of Draw 4 L/Tama
Finals
11 Wednesday 6/02/2018 12:00n Third/Fourth Place Final L/Tama
12 Wednesday 6/02/2018 3:00pm Grand Final L/Tama

 

 

Warriors ready for TSL champs

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Solomon Warriors FC players celebrate one of their goals against KOSSA.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

CHAMPIONS Solomon Warriors are in perfect shape ahead of the Telekom S-League (TSL) championship that will kick off in Honiara tomorrow afternoon.

Warriors head coach Moses Toata told SunSPORTS yesterday they are in good shape since started training three weeks ago.

“The team is in good shape. We have been in training for the last three weeks after the Christmas break. I have all my players here except for Jason Thomas who is still in Vanuatu.”

The TSL championship is a knock out competition and features each team playing a two-match series in each round.

Warriors have been scheduled to take on league standing’s bottom-placed Real Kakamora in the first match set down for 2pm at Lawson Tama tomorrow afternoon.

Given the fact the Warriors finished as the top-placed team in the league standing does not guarantee easy walk-over for Toata and his boys in the two-legged encounter against Real Kakamora.

Toata admitted that the long break changed a lot of things for his team but insists on remaining focus since the TSL championship is a knock-out competition.

On that note, Toata claims that their win in the league competition does not hold any comfort zone for them heading into the immediate challenge facing them in the championship series opener come Saturday afternoon.

“We are in no comfort zone given our victory in the league competition. The championship is a different competition from the league and the break changed a lot of things. The long break may come as good for players’ recovery but sometimes players are too slow to get into the competition mode. I hope that’s not the case. I watched them at training and they are ready for anything,” the former national left winger said.

Toata explained that he is really looking forward to the contest against Real Kakamora and they have prepared for it.

“I’m actually looking forward for Saturday. It’s a knockout game and Real Kakamora can cause upset. It’s possible. But we are prepared for the game.”

Following the 2pm clash between Warriors and Real Kakamora, up next at 4pm is Marist V Guadalcanal.

Matches continue on Sunday with KOSSA FC taking on Western United FC at 2pm followed by Henderson Eels taking on Malaita Kingz FC at 4pm.

Members of the public are urged to come out in numbers to Lawson Tama and cheer for their teams.

Super sub Micah gets a goal as Auckland City regain lead in New Zealand league

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Milton Ragaruma
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Micah Lea’alafa in control of the ball against Eastern Suburbs on Wednesday night

BY ROMULUS HUTA

A goal by Solomon Islands international Michael Lea’alafa helped New Zealand Champions Auckland City regained its lead in the ISPS Handa Premiership.

Lea’alafa was introduced as sub after halftime and added the second goal in the 71st minute in the ISPS Handa Premiership mid-week fixture 2-0 win against Eastern Suburbs.

Emiliano Tade added the first goal by smashing home a wonderful free-kick beyond Louis Caunter on 20 minutes in a repeat of his effort against Canterbury United in Christchurch on Sunday.

Coach Ramon Tribulietx was a very happy man after watching his side notch back-to-back wins over two sides in the top four.

“It was a game of two halves and very hard on both teams and it was a big effort playing on Sunday and with a short turnaround. Our boys were a bit tired second half and our performance was a bit disjointed.

“The battle was very good and we created good chances to score – one in each half – but thats football, but overall a great effort from us.

“It was a more defensive display in the second half and we were very competitive and I’m very happy with that,” he said.

Tribulietx complimented Tade on yet another fine finish from a free-kick and Lea’alafa’s finish on the counter.

“Their keeper was positioned a little bit centrally and Tade is very smart in those situations and he’s done that before. It was a very good goal.

“For the second we’ve had the counter attack and they were going for the equaliser and committed a lot of players forward but on the counter we knew we could hurt them. Micah is a great asset for us and he’s done well for us,” he said.

“We have a lot of tired players but we have an extra day to recover and we have a very good squad of players.

“These two games were going to be very tough and now the Wanderers game some have played two lots of 90 minutes.

“We’ll make sure we’ve got a competitive team out there next Sunday,” he said.

The victory lifted Auckland City FC into top spot with a narrow one points lead over defending champions Team Wellington and vanquished rivals Eastern Suburbs AFC with six rounds left to play.

The win handed their third derby victory over Eastern Suburbs AFC since they rejoined the the New Zealand domestic top flight last season.

Auckland City FC face their third game in a week when they meet Hamilton Wanderers at Links Avenue in Tauranga in front of the Sky Sport cameras next Sunday.

SIRUF set for milestone hosting

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Milton Ragaruma
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By Taromane Martin

THE Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF) says they will be hosting a national 7s tournament in Fiji in March for Solomon Island descendants.

A statement from SIRUF CEO Mr Gerald Oiaka said this will be the first time for the federation to host a national 7s event outside of the country.

Mr Oiaka said the purpose of hosting this tournament is more on building relationships with Solomon descendants in Fiji through playing the game of rugby.

The CEO also confirmed that the country’s national 7s team will be attending this one day competition as they prepare to also attend the Marist 7s competition in Fiji which will also kick off in March.

He adds that as part of their vision in building ties in Fiji, SIRUF will be inviting a team over for the Solomon SPO 7s which will be made an international tournament this year.

“The National Senior squad will be going to Fiji on March 12 to participate in the SOLTUNA 7s which will be hosted in Fiji for the Solomon decedents,” Mr Oiaka said.

“This will be the first time for SIRUF to host a National Tournament outside of the Country. The tournament will be sponsored by SOLTUNA Company and is a one day tournament set for 17th of March, 2018.

“The purpose of the tournament is more on building our relationships with our Solomon descendants through playing rugby.

“Last year, friends of Malaita help to bring over five Solomon descendants who are connected to Kwaio. Rugby helps them connect to their tribe’s men and women who they have never seen before.

“They were able to visit their families in Kwaá village in West Kwaio. From the Soltuna 7s, they will be able to select their team to come over for the Solomon SPO 7s in July.

“The Solomon SPO 7s will be an Intentional 7s tournament that we will expect teams from overseas to come and compete with our teams,” he said.

“SIRUF expect 12 teams to participate in the SPO 7s tournament. After the Soltuna 7s, the National 7s team will remain to participate in the annual Marist 7s tournament on the 23rd and 24th of March, 2018.

“The team will return on the 27th March for the National 7s Tournament on the 31st March and 2nd of April, 2018.

“The Marist 7s Tournament usually have a total of 64 teams from Fiji and interested clubs outside of Fiji participate,” he adds.

Injury fear concernsToata

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Milton Ragaruma
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Solomon Warriors Head Coach Moses Toata.

TSL Champs and OFC Champions League too close to each other

BY ROMULUS HUTA

INJURY fears are hovering over champions Solomon Warriors as they are about to participate in two tough competitions that are being held too close to each other this month and earlier next month respectively.

The two competitions are the TSL championship series and the OFC Champions League.

The TSL championship series will begin tomorrow and will conclude with the finals on Wednesday February 6.

Five days after the conclusion of the TSL championship series, Warriors will kick off their Group B OFC Champions League campaign in Tahiti on Monday February 11 against Erakor Golden Star of Vanuatu.

The closeness of the dates of the two competitions comes as a great concern for Moses Toata and his boys.

Warriors were drawn in Group B of the OFC Champions League against Erakor Golden Star (Vanuatu), AS Dragon (Tahiti) and AS Lossi (New Caledonia) and their matches will be played in Pape’ete, Tahiti from February 11 to 17.

Toata said the TSL championship series should have been held earlier, atleast three weeks apart from the kick off of the OFC Champions League despite the fact that the local competition might come as good warm-up ahead of their competitive regional assignment.

“Injuries are my biggest concern given the dates of the two competitions is too close to each other. It might be good if we have at least three weeks between the two competitions.”

Toata explained that if some of their players sustain injury during the TSL championship series then they might not be able to recover well in time for the champions league kick off.

Toata admitted that they have started training three weeks ago for both competitions and one of their strikers Kensi Tangis of Vanuatu is still nursing a minor injury.

Toata hopes Tangis fully recovers before the tournament in Tahiti.

However, the reds coach said he is looking forward to a good outing in both competitions and the aim is to finish on top.

“Our training sessions are going on well. The boys are ready to take on any team.”

Meanwhile, Warriors will open their TSL championship series campaign heading into the round one first leg against Real Kakamora 2pm tomorrow at Lawson Tama Stadium.

Cyclone alert

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Police are warning people to be cautious during the current bad weather.

Tropical low pressure may develop south of Renbel

BY JARED KOLI

A tropical low pressure system may develop in the northern Coral Sea, south of Rennell and Bellona islands making conditions ripe for the formation of a cyclone, it is predicted.

The Solomon Islands Meteorological Services (SIMS) has warned that an active trough lies over Solomon Islands.

The likelihood of a tropical cyclone forming in the Coral Sea this week will increase from very low to moderate and high.

SIMS forecasting centre Duty forecaster Slade Ririmae said SIMS is still to locate and track the likely formation of a tropical cyclone, which is in its “early stages”.

Mr Ririmae said if a tropical cyclone does form, it would move east to southeast towards the Solomon Islands and further east towards Vanuatu over the coming days.

“Yes, the chances are high and we are working on to track the likely formation of a cyclone, currently we are collaborating with Australia and Fiji weather bureau to give us update, but there is high confidence of a likely formation of cyclone moving towards us,” Ririmae said.

He said the current wet weather is then expected to intensify for the rest of the long weekend.

SIMS late yesterday evening warned mariners that fresh to strong winds gushing up to 15 to 25knots are expected over the country and moderate west to northwest swells up to 2.5m is expected over waters of Rennell & Bellona, Temotu and waters south of Guadalcanal and Makira provinces within the next 24 hours.

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology yesterday stated that due to the developing monsoon across the northern Coral Sea, the low is forecast to intensify over the next few days.

“The low may develop into a tropical cyclone, well offshore from the Queensland coast, with a moderate chance of development on Saturday and Sunday as the monsoon strengthens. If a tropical cyclone did form, it would move east to southeast, away from the Australian east coast.

Australia weather bureau also stated the tropical low was expected to form well offshore and move east or southeast towards the Solomon Islands and away from the Australian coastline.

Facelift for Honiara as buildings turn 50 years old

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Milton Ragaruma
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Building plan on HCC complex

HONIARA City is expecting a facelift soon. Since the Honiara City Council (HCC) has agreed to a planning scheme and building code, it is now a must that buildings in the Honiara’s Central Business District (CBD) must be of three levels high.

Speaking to Sam Seke of Radio Australia’s Tok Pisin Service, HCC Mayor Andrew Mua said owners must now comply with the current HCC’s planning scheme.

Mr Mua said owners were given notices to demolish their old buildings and to build three storey buildings.

“We have already served some building owners with notices last year and their 6 months-notice will lapse this month”.

“Some shops are already closed and the Council is expecting to see demolition and rebuilding of their buildings soon.”

Mua said HCC will be forced to demolish buildings where owners refuse to cooperate.

“If they don’t want to rebuild then our next option is to forfeit the land and to give it to somebody who will be able to build according to the HCC required standard.”

The Honiara City Mayor said the buildings are more than 50 years old and for some, their owners are now residing overseas. Mua said, council has the power to destroy buildings more than 50 years.

“Under section 7 of the HCC Act, Council can demolish buildings that had been around for 50 years and it is 50 years already.”

Mua said the new facelift in the CBD is important as it reflects the status of Honiara as the capital of a nation.

At the same time, City Mayor Mua revealed that HCC too will have to comply with the standard building code. Referring to the HCC head office, Mua said the council has already approved a building plan for a new complex for the HCC.

“The new complex is a 15 storey building and it will be very expensive so we are looking at going to the banks as the plan is already approved by the Executive.”

Mua said the proposed 15 storey building will be at the current site occupied by HCC as there is enough space to cater for the proposed complex.

The council’s move to upgrade its headquarter and the face of Honiara city is at the right time as the country is preparing for the 2023 Pacific Games.

MOU on Ugi wharf signed

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Milton Ragaruma
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BY SAMIE WAIKORI

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed yesterday on the island of Ugi in-light of a proposed wharf project for the island.

Premier of Makira Ulawa Province (MUP), Hon Standley Siapu said the MOU was signed between staff of MID, representatives from the provincial government and landowners in Ugi.

He said morning yesterday, staffs from MID and two of his senior ministers left Kirakira to Ugi for the signing.

Mr Siapu therefore expressed his gratitude on behalf of the government to landowners and the national government for the achievement.

He see this as a milestone for his people on the island as it will contribute to the development of the province.

Mr Siapu stressed that as the province is striving for improvement, taking stride in various areas of development in the province is what people and the provincial government should have applauded.

He urged the people in Ugi or those who will benefit from the project to take great care of the facility soon to be constructed.

Mr Siapu also appealed to those on the island to work hand-in-hand with both national and provincial governments for any future development of the island.

He pointed out that his government is in full support of any form of development in the province, and they will continue to work together with people to ensure tangible development is achieved.

The premier also urged the people in the province to open up their resources as it is the only way one can allow development to the province.

Mr Siapu reiterated that partnership in development is very important and they must work together to achieve development.

Explaining the status of the project, he said MID already issued the tender for the wharf construction and soon the tender will be awarded to the contractor.

Mr Siapu said as long as the project is awarded, construction on the wharf will then start.

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