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Health applies new security measures at medical store

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BY NED GAGAHE

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services is enhancing security with the recent installation of CCTV cameras at National Medical Stores.

This move is part of new resolutions implemented by the ministry last week to mitigate the risks of unauthorized removal of medicine.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Paul Popora Bosawai revealed that he had recently ordered the dismissal of several health officers in the provinces suspected of stealing medicine.

The Minister also stated that a staff member suspected of theft has been reassigned from the National Medical Stores and is now under further supervision at the ministry.

Mr Bosawai also disclosed that, as of last week, the office space for National Medical Store staff is now separate from the National Medical Store warehouse. Previously, staff and medical goods were housed in the same location.

The Minister informed Parliament that there is now restricted entry and access to the National Medical Store, along with the provision of staff lockers to prevent personal bags from entering the main warehouse.

“National Medical Stores has tightened its security protocols with 24/7 security at the facility,” said Bosawai.

“We have restricted entry and access to the National Medical Store and provided staff lockers to prevent personal bags from entering the main warehouse. As of early last week, we have installed CCTVs both inside and outside the warehouse to monitor potential risks of theft.”

The Minister also stated that CCTV installation will be extended to the National Referral Hospital.

“At the National Referral Hospital, we are implementing structural measures to minimize access to the pharmacy’s stores. Additional measures will soon separate drug storage areas in the hospital wards from staff lodges and changing areas. Similar to the installation of CCTVs at the National Medical Store, we will extend this security upgrade to the NRH Pharmacy stores,” Bosawai said.

“The Ministry is developing policies and standard operating procedures to restrict inappropriate access and prescribing rights at the NRH, as well as at Provincial Hospitals, with plans to extend these measures to all health facilities,” the Minister added.

Petition strike-out by MP Waneoroa to be heard on September 16

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

The election petition on Member of Parliament for North Malaita Daniel Suilea Waneoroa has adjourned for September 16 for hearing of the application to strike out the petition.

On August 11 mention was for the court to check with the parties in relation to court directions on the previous hearing, whether the counsel’s compliance with the court directions.

The petitioner Jimmy Lusibaea filed a total of four grounds against the respondent Waneoroa (two of which is bribery, one tampering and one unlawful voting).

And for second respondent the electoral commission which represented by Attorney General Chamber, Lusibaea filed two allegations against them first, for pampering of voters lists and second petitioner claimed presiding officer give ballots papers to cash multiple votes during the election.

The respondent lawyer filed an application to strike out all the grounds against Waneoroa.

Respondent lawyer claimed the allegations filed by the petitioner is frivolous and vexatious as it cannot sustain the case at trial.

Daniel Suilea Waneoroa is the newly elected Member of Parliament for North Malaita Constituency.

L& L Lawyers represent Daniel Suilea Waneoroa first respondent and Attorney General Chamber represent second respondent and Taupongi Law Practice represents the Petitioner Jimmy Lusibaea.

Minister Bosawai apologises for medicine shortage, pledges to act

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BY NED GAGAHE

Minister of Health and Medical Services has apologised citizens who has been victimized by this medicine and consumable supply shortage and pledges to fix the medicine shortage crisis.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday Minister Paul Popora Bosawai stated that he will work hard to ensure the medicine supply shortage returns to normalcy.

“Before I conclude I wish to give us an illustration to think about before I took office and when I took office, let’s think about the water supply system the tank is empty and all the pipelines have leakages and therefore, I am fixing the leakages before I refill the tank so that you get the good flow rate and as well as the volume at all our health facilities.

“So, just recently, I have ordered the immediate terminations of some of our staffs that steal medicine from our provinces and I will continue to ensure to fix all the leakages of the supply chain of our medicine and then I think we will fix this issue.

“I as the minister with wish to sincerely apologized to our people across Solomon Islands who have been victimised of this medicine and consumable supply shortage.

“I will work hard to ensure we have a normalcy of supply by ensuring to fix the leakages and then financing to refill the tank.”

Meanwhile, the Minister called on everyone to be responsible.

“I call on every person responsible along the supply chain that are outside my Ministry’s jurisdiction to treat payments of medicine as an emergency and please act responsibly as you must know that you are part of serving lives,” Bosawai said.

Court strikes out petition case against MP Freda

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

The High Court has struck out the election petition case against the Member of Parliament for Temotu Vatud Constituency Freda Tuki Soriacomua.

The ruling was delivered on September 11 by Judge Augustine Sylver Aulanga in High Court.

In delivering the ruling, court dismissed the four allegations of bribery that the petitioner Angella Doris Tahani filed against Tuki.

Maito’o Hauirae who represented Tuki told the Island Sun outside of the court room that the respondent grounds to strike out the election petition are; the petition was served to the respondent Tuki inside the National Parliament building which breached the Parliamentary Privilege.

The second grounds for strike out is that the petitioner came to court with unclean hands, as the person who made the sworn statement for the petitioner, his text messages issued to court shows he kept on asking money from the respondent Tuki, which means petitioner came to court with bad motive or unclean hands.

And the final grounds, the petitioner did not specify the section of the electoral act.

Freda was re-elected on April 17 for Vatud constituency and later on she sworn in as the Minister for Ministry for Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs.

Tuki return for the second term as the Minster for Ministry of Women, Youth and Children and Family Affairs.

Tuki is one of the election petition cases that is strike out in High Court.

Maito’o Hauirae of Peter Teddy Law Practice represent the respondent Freda Tuki Soriacomua and DBL Lawyer represent petitioner Angella Doris Tahani.

National consultation needed for Pacific Policing Initiative: PM Manele

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BY NED GAGAHE

Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has highlighted the importance of conducting a “national consultation” on the Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI) to deepen understanding of its core pillars and strengthened national ownership.

The PPI, a major regional effort aimed at boosting collective peace and security across the Pacific Islands, is backed by Australia.

The Australian government has committed around AUD $400 million over the next five years to support the initiative, which includes developing new Policing Centers of Excellence in the region.

This initiative is designed to align with the Pacific Islands Forum’s peace and security goals outlined in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and builds on recent experiences with the Solomon Islands International Assistance Force (SIAF).

“At the Forum Retreat, we endorsed the initiative in principle, as was the decision of the cabinet. However, the consensus was that while the leaders endorsed the initiative, we still need to undertake national consultations,” said Prime Minister Manele.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the national consultations are essential as the country reviews its national security and border strategies.

These consultations will help identify gaps and determine how the PPI can be integrated into the country’s strategic framework.

“We will conduct further analysis to determine the best approach for engaging with the PPI during the development of the implementation arrangements as requested by leaders,” he added.

Additionally, Prime Minister Manele noted that during the Forum, the MSG Leaders discussed the 2015 MSG Framework for establishing an MSG Police Unit, which aligns with one of the proposed pillars of the Pacific Policing Initiative.

Auki Passport office thrives

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BY SAMIE WAIKORI

Just 25 days after the opening of Auki passport office during the Malaita 2nd Appointed Day celebration last month, the first batch of 24 Malaitans have already received their passports.  The second batch consisted of 28 applicants who expect to receive their passports next week.

A great beginning for the newly established office, as it indicates thrives for this much needed service in Malaita province.

And with these 52 passports, the Auki Inland Revenue has collected an approximate SBD51,000 from the service, which is another contribution into the national coffer.

Thus, this is just the beginning and Auki passport office expects well more than applicants received so far, over the coming weeks and months.

Premier Elijah Asilaua, PS Eric George, Senior Immigration officer in Auki, Mr Selwyn Ramoni and his staff, Mr Micah Aaisango joined the first batch of recipients with their passports in a photo session.

The photo session aimed to highlight landmark accomplishment of the undertaking in the partnership between national government through Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration and the people and provincial government of Malaita.

“Since the establishment of the passport office, Malaitans expressed gratitude to both the provincial and national government for this great undertaking.

“One of the common sentiments shared by people coming to office is the service is cheap here rather than going to Honiara which is expensive and also causes economic pressure on relatives,” Ramoni said.

He said this is however one of the aims to establish passport office in Auki.

Ramoni also said that while supplement services such as police and medical clearance, ID photos and declarations are offer in Auki, the service is much cheaper for people.

He said although the office is just a month into service, demand for the service is high as they are receiving piles of applicants after the first and second batches of applicants.

Provincial Secretary of Malaita province Mr Eric George acknowledged GNUT through the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration for seeing it fit to decentralize this needed service to Malaita province.

He said Malaita provincial government will continue to work in close cooperation with the national government on other areas of development on the service for the province.

Premier Elijah Asilaua also expressed gratitude on behalf of his government to GNUT and MCILI for this milestone undertaking which is now materialize for Malaitans.

“I am so happy to see the achievement made by Auki passport office so far, and more to come as my government are working on supplementary support to the service.

“My advice is the passport is now at our doorstep and I urge Malaitans, who may have need of the service to make great use of it,” he said.

VISA SERVICE FOR MALAITA

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BY SAMIE WAIKORI

The Immigration Division under the Ministry of Commerce (MCILI) will soon provide visa system service at the passport office in Auki, Malaita province.

This is the second phase of the newly established passport service in Auki, as MCILI is behind a plan to introduce this additional immigration service to the passport office.

Senior Immigration Officer, who is in charge of Auki passport office, Mr Selwyn Ramoni announced the plan yesterday as MCILI is working on it.

“Later on, we will go into visa system. The service will provide access of vise at the passport office in Auki. We are working on it and when ready the service will be offered,” he said.

Ramoni said this is an additional service to the current passport service in Auki. The vise system will encourage investors to come and invest in Malaita.

He added that through the investment, opportunities will be created for Malaitans to engage in employment and businesses to support local economy.

Ramoni said Malaita province is looking forward for more development in the province and service is needed to administer immigration needs associate with the developments.

He reiterated that the Immigration Division under MCILI is behind the plan, and as long as things are ready vise service will offer in Auki.

Ruling on strike-out of MP Tagini’s petition Sept 11

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

Ruling on the application to strike out the petition case against MP Baegu/Asifola Makario Tagini is expected September 11.

Court heard the deliberations on the strike-out application on Wednesday this week.

Tagini’s lawyer had applied for court to strike out 13 bribery allegations against Tagini, saying they were frivolous and vexatious.

Tagini was elected as MP for Baegu/Asifola Constituency on April 17 and later appointed as the Minister for Forestry and Research.

Lilly Ramo represents the Petitioner Celsus Talifilu and L&L Lawyers represents Tagini.

Court remands 31-yo man accused of indecent acts on daughter

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

The Magistrate court has remanded a 31-year-old man accused of performing indecent acts on his biological daughter.

The incidents reportedly occurred in October 2021 in one of the settlements around Honiara but the complainant did not report them until July this year following an assault by the accused.

The complainant who is now 14 years old was 11 when the alleged indecent acts were committed on her by the accused.

On July 18 this year the matter was reported to police and August 6 the accused was charged and bailed to appear before the court on August 21.

But, the accused failed to attend and the matter was adjourned for September 4 with summons by the court on the accused.

Again the accused failed to attend when the matter was mentioned in court on Wednesday this week (Sept 4) therefore court placed him on remand.

The case was adjourned for mention on September 18.

Police investigations are continuing.

Allegations say on October 15, 2021 the complainant was sleeping when the accused came and laid beside her, touching her body in an indecent manner.

The victim woke up and shouted, and the accused apologised and told her not to tell anyone, promising the complainant that he would not do it again.

On October 16, 2021, however the accused reportedly assaulted the complainant during which he removed her shirt leaving her topless.

The accused, with a knife in hand, threatened the complainant not to tell anyone about what had happened the previous day and told her to put on a shirt.

Later that day, when the complainant was sleeping, the accused went over and cradled her in his arms and committed the act of searching for lice on her head.

The victim woke and froze, reportedly too scared to do anything.

The accused then reportedly began touching her indecently.

The accused told her to allow him to touch her body indecently, promising her that he would buy her a smartphone.

The complainant did not accept what the accused was doing to her that she reportedly stood up crying and went outside the house.

The complainant did not report anything to anybody.

In July this year, the accused allegedly assaulted the complainant.

Following this, the complainant decided to report her father so she went and reported to her aunt, who in turn reported the matter to police on July 18.

Office of Public Prosecution appears for the Crown.

Court remands 31-yo man accused of indecent acts on daughter

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Admin
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BY ROMINAH FAKA

The Magistrate court has remanded a 31-year-old man accused of performing indecent acts on his biological daughter.

The incidents reportedly occurred in October 2021 in one of the settlements around Honiara but the complainant did not report them until July this year following an assault by the accused.

The complainant who is now 14 years old was 11 when the alleged indecent acts were committed on her by the accused.

On July 18 this year the matter was reported to police and August 6 the accused was charged and bailed to appear before the court on August 21.

But, the accused failed to attend and the matter was adjourned for September 4 with summons by the court on the accused.

Again the accused failed to attend when the matter was mentioned in court on Wednesday this week (Sept 4) therefore court placed him on remand.

The case was adjourned for mention on September 18.

Police investigations are continuing.

Allegations say on October 15, 2021 the complainant was sleeping when the accused came and laid beside her, touching her body in an indecent manner.

The victim woke up and shouted, and the accused apologised and told her not to tell anyone, promising the complainant that he would not do it again.

On October 16, 2021, however the accused reportedly assaulted the complainant during which he removed her shirt leaving her topless.

The accused, with a knife in hand, threatened the complainant not to tell anyone about what had happened the previous day and told her to put on a shirt.

Later that day, when the complainant was sleeping, the accused went over and cradled her in his arms and committed the act of searching for lice on her head.

The victim woke and froze, reportedly too scared to do anything.

The accused then reportedly began touching her indecently.

The accused told her to allow him to touch her body indecently, promising her that he would buy her a smartphone.

The complainant did not accept what the accused was doing to her that she reportedly stood up crying and went outside the house.

The complainant did not report anything to anybody.

In July this year, the accused allegedly assaulted the complainant.

Following this, the complainant decided to report her father so she went and reported to her aunt, who in turn reported the matter to police on July 18.

Office of Public Prosecution appears for the Crown.

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