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Sinking in the wrong place

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Bikoi 1 wrecking on the reefs near Tulaghi townships undersea water supply pipelines now for months. PHOTO by MANEBONA BARNABAS.

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

BIKOI 1 is sinking near Tulaghi town’s undersea water supply pipeline, and there is nothing coming from authorities raising concerns from locals.

There’s fear over the impacts of the ship’s sinking on the environment, oil spills, and damage to the nearby water supply pipes.

The Premier of the Central province Hon Patrick Vasuni has given a strong call for its removal, saying his government will soon claim fee for its overdue anchorage.

“We are yet on track trying to query who the owner of the ship is to ask for its removal because it is raising concern that it might only be left there to be neglected now,” said the Premier.

“Our province is no ship dumping site so we are now asking the owner of the ship to remove it if it has no purpose in the province.”

According to Silent World Officers in Tulaghi, the ship was supposed to go up the slipway for maintenance but because of non-payment of fees it was anchored instead at the Sasape sea area further behind Tulaghi Island.

Locals living near Sasape speaking to this paper said that the ship’s rope had broken off allowing sea currents to wreck the ship where it is submerged now.

Speaking with the Acting Director of Solomon Islands Maritime Safety Authority (SIMSA) Captain Tim Harris, he assured that he will speak with the Director of Operations to see how they can address the issue.

“I will see what we can do about this particular issue but it is the owner’s responsibility to get the ship out of dangerous situations,” said the SIMSA Acting Director.

Owning Bikoi 1 during the past was Bikoi Shipping Company, but it is said that they had gone into bankruptcy meaning the ship is now owned by someone else.

Further enquiries to who is really the owner of the ship is still under investigation as Island Sun is striving to get to the bottom of this issue.

Hou confirms nomination for PM

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Hon Rick Hou

BY BEN BILUA

MEMBER of Parliament for Small Malaita, Honourable Rick Hou, has confirmed his nomination to become the new Prime Minister of Solomon Islands.

In an interview with this paper, Hou said his nominators include; Caretaker Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare, Hon Peter Shanel, Hon Stanley Sofu and Hon Freda Tuki along with the former DCCG government.

“I’m yet to be elected as Prime Minister as the election is seven days away.

“For the moment, I can confirm that those who are left with DCCG have endorsed my candidacy,” he said.

Hou explained that the new government is a coalition of five parties; Kandere Party, United Democratic Party, People Allies Party, Democratic Allies Party and SI People’s First Party.

He told this paper that the government camp is yet to discuss other portfolios like the deputy Prime Minister and ministerial portfolios.

Hou said coalition leaders have decided that distribution of portfolios will be made when the right time calls.

Meanwhile, he condemned Alfred Sasako’s article which imparted wrong information regarding the government portfolio distribution, saying the article needs to be corrected.

When asked about the priorities of the new government, Hou said party members are now working on the priorities that the new government will prioritise in the next 10 months.

“I’m confident to say that one of the top priority of the new government is to stabilise the current fiscal situation the country is facing at the moment by consolidating the budget and inject confidence into the economy,” he said.

Hou stressed that the outline of the new government’s priorities will be made after the new Prime Minister is elected and officially enthroned.

Police aware of corruption allegations raised by Sogavare

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Commissioner of Royal-Solomon Island Police Force Matthew Varley

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

POLICE Commissioner Matthew Varley says they have taken note of corruption allegations echoed on the floor of parliament during the motion of no confidence debate earlier this week.

However, Varley reminds everyone that those allegations need to be produced to the police with evidence.

“At this point of time we aware of those allegations from the first hand reporting from parliament as you have.

“But obviously we would ask that the ministries and authorities to bring forward those allegations to the police with evidence so that we can review them.

“Obviously this is very controversial area and I don’t want make comment on what politicians do or don’t say on the floor of parliament.

“But should people have evidence or allegation of corruption brings them forward to the police and we will evaluate and review them and where evidence exists we will take actions,” he said.

Varley said they still have many cases of corruption in their radar and are continuing on with their work behind the scene.

Chan wants nothing to do with politics

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Sir Thomas Chan

BY CAROL-ANNE SULEGA

PRESIDENT of the United Democratic Party (UDP) Sir Thomas Chan, says he refuses to have anything to do with the current political situation.

Chan strongly emphasised in a phone conversation with Island Sun last night when queried about the current political situation and the Opposition camp at the Honiara Hotel.

UDP is the main political party that makes up the Democratic Coalition for Change Government (DCCG).

Honourable Snyder Rini and Hon Danny Phillip have not formally resigned as members of the UDP.

This was confirmed to the paper last night by the Registrar of the Political Parties Commission, Calvin Ziru.

Since they have not formally resigned from UDP, the duo remain key leaders of the party following the resignation of the caretaker Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare and others from UDP.

Chan told Island Sun last night that at this time, he refuses to comment on anything with regards to the political situation because he chooses not to be judgemental of the politicians’ decisions.

“I will comment at a later time when I see is fit and when it comes to national interest and the welfare of the people of Solomon Islands and the future of our children,” Sir Thomas said.

Prosecution eyes appealing Sae’s acquittal

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Director of Public Procecution Mr Ronald Bei Talasasa

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

Director of Public Prosecution Ronald Bei Talasasa has declared prosecution will review the judgment on the case against the now-exonerated Edmond Sae.

The court’s judgment had found Mr Sae not guilty on the murder of former Police Commissioner Sir Frederick Soaki in 2003 at the Auki Motel in Auki, Malaita.

Responding to criticisms on the social media network, Talasasa said that he has no comment but the decision as it stands has to be respected.

“The courts must be respected and allow the processes of law be fully exhausted.

“I did not expect the acquittal therefore I will review the judgement and determine in the next 2 weeks whether or not, to appeal the verdict.”

Talasasa said that he will also meet with the family to explain the verdict and the process from hereon.

Justice John Brown had acquitted the former fugitive due to the inconsistencies of crown witness’s evidences testified in court during the months of trial.

Sae was faced with one count of escaping from police custody, two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and two counts of purchasing, acquiring and possession of firearm and ammunition without licence.

He was accused of gunning Sir Frederick on February 10, 2003 at the Auki Motel in Auki, Malaita.

Prosecution said Sir Fredrick was attending a workshop with other participants at Auki on the demobilisation programme for special constables.

The workshop was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office.

Prosecution said Sae, after escaping from police custody, avoided police arrest for more than 10 years.

With much police effort, Sae was re-arrested in October 2015 and was brought to Honiara to face court.

Prosecution said one of the murder charges and the attempted murder relates to an allegation on April 30, 2003 at the Auki Police Station, where a man in custody was shot dead and another injured.

Prosecution said he committed those offences shortly after he escaped from police custody, after his initial arrest for the murder of Sir Fredrick.

The defence case was that the identification of the gunman to have been Sae has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt while the Crown case was that three people recognised the gunman to be Sae and that on the evidence of others, a circumstantial case has been made out sufficient for the court to be satisfied to the requisite degree.

Justice Brown, in his ruling, said the evidences of the crown witnesses as to recognising Sae are unreliable, and their evidences had left him in real doubt about their veracity.

Justice Brown said from witnesses evidence there was no direct evidence to connect Sae with possession of a 9mm pistol at the time of the shooting and whilst the other witnesses (four police officers ) with him that afternoon, none specially describe a pistol which may be inferred to be a 9mm weapon.

Though he is acquitted of Soaki’s murder, Sae is sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter charge in relation to the death of an inmate, Saeni Orea, at Auki Police Station during which Sae used a machine gun in the shoot-out on April 30, 2003.

Why we split

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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MP for Small Malaita Hon. Rick Hou is being nominated to run for PM onbehalf of the DCC Group

PM candidate Hou reveals reasons for switching camp, hints SI is in financial trouble

BY BEN BILUA

THE seven members of parliament (MPs) who moved from the opposition camp to the Government side this week have given three reasons for divorcing alliance with their former group.

MP for Small Malaita, Hon Rick Hou, who is also the government’s choice candidate for prime-ministership, tells Island Sun the original Opposition group defected simply for three reasons.

Firstly, is ‘to stabilise the government as the government continues to face political instability over the past years’.

Hou explains that the government has been very unstable though it had numerical strength because it had been filled with leaders who ‘cause the instability’.

“From our Party perspective, we want to stabilise the government because there have been two occasions where the government faced no-confidence motion.

“We decided and believe that our move will instil some stability to the government,” he said.

Secondly, Hou says his group was not confident on how the proposed allocation of portfolios was made by the Honiara Hotel Camp.

He said the parties that he and his fellow defectors represent fear that the proposed allocation of portfolios will achieve nothing in the next 12 months.

“When we sit down and tried to discuss the portfolio allocations we realise something is wrong.

“We did not know how the portfolios are going to be distributed but before we knew, it appears to us that our colleagues already came with a package and our parties are not in that package.

“We were not consulted and our colleagues were very strong with their position.

“They proposed to take the PM position, Deputy Prime Minister Position, Minister of Finance and Ministry of Development Planning.

“This proposed allocation of portfolios demonstrated to us that we are ineffective so there is no point for us joining a government that has such line-up,” Hou said.

Finally, Hou says they believe that their support is crucial to revamping and stabilising the financial situation Solomon Islands is currently facing.

They believe that their new coalition with the DCC government is timely to save the country’s financial woes from worsening.

Hou clarified that their decision to join the government was made in consultation with their political parties, adding, party executives support the decision for the Original Opposition group to team up with the government.

“Some of us come from DAP and we stand by our policies and integrity so we went back to our executive and our executives are totally behind us,” Hou said.

He concludes that the move was decided based on matters their parties think best to stabilise the government and the welfare of the country.

Twenty-six points for Marist

Written by
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

MARIST FC moved four points clear over third placed KOSSA FC after picking three more points from Real Kakamora FC in their mid-week clash yesterday.

First half goals from Mathias Iani and Davidson Tome saw Marist fight back for a 2-1 lead at the break. Papua New Guinea international Koriak Upaiga added their third goal 52 minutes in the second half before Tome sealed the win a minute later with his second of the match.

The win sees Marist FC in second place with 26 points followed by KOSSA FC in third with 22 points and Henderson Eels FC in fourth position with 21 points.

Acting Head Coach Jerry Allen was pleased with the victory but says they will continue to work hard with two big matches still left to play.

“Well done to the boys. I’m really happy with them especially being in this position, fighting for second spot on the table,” Coach Allen said.

“Looking at the table it’s a very close race and with two big matches still left to go it won’t be easy and we have to work hard.

“Every game will be different and I have to continue reminding the boys that we have to continue work hard especially with the race gap so close.

“Real Kakamora FC is a good team but our win definitely will release some pressure now that we now have 26 points,” he said.

Real Kakamora FC Head Coach Batram Suri was honest saying Marist FC deserved to win stressing their club always tries to make it difficult for other clubs during their matches.

“Marist deserved to win the game. We tried our best to move up from the bottom of the table but it’s quite difficult with a team that does not have a lot of good players compared to the other clubs.

“It’s quite hard to expect a victory unless we have luck on our side. Otherwise we tried our best to make it hard for the other teams in all our matches and when I’m with a team I always try to win one more match,” Suri said.

Meanwhile TSL fixtures for this weekend will see Solomon Warriors FC taking on Malaita Kingz FC on Saturday at 2pm followed by Henderson Eels Fc and Western United FC at 4pm.

Matches for Sunday see Marist FC taking on KOSSA FC at 2pm followed by Real Kakamora FC and FC Guadalcanal at 4pm.

Youth@Work aids 22 young would-be entrepreneurs

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Dear Editor,

THIS week in Honiara, twenty two young entrepreneurs from Borderline, Green Valley and Burnscreek received their materials to start their new small-scale businesses enterprise in their communities.

Youth @Work organisation handed the youth’s materials to help them start their own businesses ranging from bicycle repairing, tailoring, furniture making, top-up agents to BBQ and food outlets and farming.

 One of the youths, Greg Olitai, a young man who lives at Green said, “I am grateful that the Youth@Work programme has helped me in terms of providing business training, tools and some spare parts that will help me in improving the work that I am doing and make my business grow successfully and become sustainable.”

 The 22 young people are wished success with their budding business ventures and Youth@Work thanked for the support given to the group.

 Youth@Work is an initiative to tackle youth unemployment in Solomon Islands and to help youth of the Solomon’s find pathways to employment and entrepreneurship

 Youth@Work is facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, in partnership and supported by funding from the Queens Young Leaders Programme (UK), the Australian Government Aid Programme, the Pacific Leadership Programme and Plan International. Implementation is done in partnership with the Solomon Islands Ministry of National Unity, Peace and Reconciliation, the Ministry of Commerce, Industries, Labour and Immigration, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs.

 Yours sincerely

 Frank Short

Solomon Islands MP’s allegedly failing the nation

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

SOLOMON Islands ousted Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, revealed this week during a Motion of No Confidence moved against him in Parliament that the 50 Members of Parliament (MPs) together received more than half a billion dollars a year.

Mr Sogavare said that huge amount of money if used wisely should have benefitted the entire nation.

He explained that the $350million received by the 50 MPs each year under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) plus the shipping grant and other funding pushed the amount to more than half a billion.

Mr Sogavare went on to say that the MPs had set a bad precedence by purchasing assets with money funded under certain projects and cited cases were shipping grants had been used to buy land and houses, vehicles and private machines for logging

In a report tabled recently by Transparency Solomon Islands (TSI) which evaluated the impact of CDF funds in the constituencies for previous years, the investigative survey showed very poor results on the use of CDF allocated money.

The CDF funds are given annually to the Solomon Islands Government by Taiwan with ‘no strings attached’ and a failure in the necessity of auditing has seemingly led to the alleged misuse of CDF money cited by Mr Sogavare.

It might be argued that a similar lack of proper accountability over the allocation of shipping grants to MPs has also contributed to the alleged misuse of such grants.

It is my personal view that the ROC Government should put its money into direct aid in creating opportunities throughout the Solomon Islands by establishing and supporting local businesses that would provide employment and incomes for the rural communities.
By contrast the Chinese are doing just that in increasing the PRC’s reach across the smaller Pacific Island states and, while the Solomon Islands Government has most recently demonstrated its support for Taiwan, the reported and constant allegations of the misuse of the money given to MPs by the ROC government should ring alarm bells in Taipei.
It might be that the message has begun to sink in because the proposal to create a manufacturing outlet in Honiara next year that will provide jobs and generate income I take to be a pragmatic move and one with tangible outcomes for the benefit of better relations with Taiwan, as perhaps will be perceived by the communities in the Solomon Islands that are yet to see what has come from the CDF money over many years.
 If the Solomon Islands Government does eventually succeed in creating the long talked of free economic zones then Taiwan might add to its international stature by investing money and technology into such zones, as is successfully being done by Taiwan in Thailand and in India.
I have personal knowledge, too, how Taiwan is aiding the Swaziland Government in better ways than so far evident with cash handouts to MPs in the Solomon Islands.

The alleged misuse of the CDF money and the shipping grants prima facie smacks of corruption and the statement byDerek Kutaisi this week who told the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna the Solomon Islands Government will create a ICAC and the commission would have authority and jurisdiction to investigate and refer for prosecution all corruption cases is welcome news.

Mr Futaiasi said the UN was being requested to share costs with the government for some of the activities in the Solomon’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy.

Yours sincerely

 Frank Short

APTC improves lives of 1,200-plus men & women

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Deputy High Commissioner of Australia Mr Michael Hasset and Caretaker PM Sogavare during the APTC’s 10-year anniversary

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

THE Australia Pacific Technical College (APTC) since its establishment 10 years ago has graduated more than 11,000, of whom 1,274 are Solomon Islanders.

Deputy High Commissioner of Australia Mr Michael Hasset announced this during the celebration of APTC’s 10-year anniversary on Tuesday.

Hasset said, “Since establishment of APTC in 2007, more than 11,000 have graduated from across the pacific, and out of this number a total of 1,274 Solomon Islanders have graduated from APTC.

“Over the years APTC has grown its reputation for setting an international benchmark for quality technical training in the Pacific region.

“Within these 10-year in Solomon Islands for instance, the APTC presence has significantly contributed to development of local Technical and Vocational Education and Training sector.”

Hasset also adds that initially APTC provided scholarship for Solomon Islanders to study only at training institutions in other Pacific countries.

“Over the years, this has shifted to APTC delivering high quality training in-country in collaboration with national training institutions, major training providers and private sectors partners,” Hasset said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said APTC started in Solomon Islands in 2013 and have helped more than 1,200 Solomon Islands women and men improve their employment prospects and productivity at the workplace.

“In fact 80 percent of APTC are Solomon Islands graduates finding employments within six month of their training,” Sogavare said.

“This excellent trade work of APTC graduates employment in communities here in Solomon Islands and Pacific nation speak well of APTC’s quality training that developing skill relevant to labour market demand.”

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