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GOVT’S $2.8 BILLION DEBT

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PS MoFT ,Dentana

Finance says DCGA borrowed only $340 million in 2023, sustainable level at 19%, well below 35% threshold

The National Government’s total outstanding debt had settled at $2,810.7 million at the end of December 2023. 

The government’s level of debt is sustainable as it accounts for only 19 percent of the country’s GDP, compared to the IMF recommended threshold of 35 percent of GDP. 

This is according a report released during a press statement earlier this week by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

The Ministry of Finance & Treasury also revealed that government’s new borrowings in 2023, was only $340 million. 

The $340 million was mainly sourced from the domestic market to fund priority development and infrastructure projects during the year that aimed to improve the quality of living for all Solomon Islanders.  This also include support to the 2023 commitment.

Like all governments, key priorities are the economic recovery efforts in building the nation’s economic resilience by focusing on policies that will promote the country’s economic recovery across all sectors and avoid a further deterioration of the economy.

The Ministry revealed that these domestic facilities are at highly concessionary rates and on longer terms, which augur well with existing public financial management environment which include consistency with the Public Financial Management Act, 2013.

The Ministry also clarify today that the SIG on behalf of the projects, had also drawdown funds from external sources to implement priority national infrastructure projects aimed at growing the economy and improving the people’s livelihoods in the country. The funding’s of most development projects were initially signed with the Asian Development, World Bank (IDA), the IFAD and Exim Bank of China PRC prior to 2023.

Some of these loans were signed in 2019 and are still been disbursed to-date. These loans were already factored in the Ministry’s Annual Borrowing Limit, and therefore, are not counted as New Borrowings.  The SIG on behalf of these projects, withdrew about $450 million from these external sources in 2023. These loans and drawdowns include projects under the World Bank Road and Aviation Project or SIRAP, and under the ADB Land and Marine Time Projects.

The Ministry of Finance and Treasury therefore clarified that with the fully drawn new borrowings of $340 million in 2023, and the drawdowns of existing commitments of $450 million resulted in the rise in the overall SIG debt stock by approximately $790 million in 2023.

In summary, the stock of government’s debt is at a “Moderate and Sustainable Levels”. To ensure that debt levels remain at a sustainable and affordable level, the SI Government is committed to ensure that any new debts are incurred incrementally, and in a steady and predictable manner and only for major economic development projects, and consistent with the Solomon Islands legal framework.

–GCU PRESS

Pastor and 8 men in Savo terror case to take plea this Friday

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

The pastor and eight men who reportedly went to Savo Island and threatened people and damaged properties are expected to give their pleas before court this Friday.

On Friday last week Public Solicitors (PSO) assured court of allocating lawyers for four defendants who were yet without legal representation.

The other four defendants, Thomas Fenli, 37, Jacob Gore, 47, David Bane, 35, and Patterson Lugasia, 38, are represented by Bobby Harunari.

Mr Harunari updated court he had received disclosures from prosecution and will apply for bail for all his clients on 9th of April, Tuesday, as he will be leaving for his home village for election.

Prosecution was absent in last week’s court hearing.

Court suspended the matter to April 12 for possible plea. PSO to confirm the legal representatives for the remaining four defendants, Charles Bane, 72, Junior Rollin, 27, Albert Ramo, 21 and Rolland Fiu, 41.

Court extended the remand warrant for all defendants.

The nine accused namely, Pastor Bernard Bana,34, Charles Bane,72, David Bane,35, Junior Rollin,27, Thomas Fenli,37, Albert Ramo,21, Rolland Fiu,41, Patterson Iugasia, 38, and Jacob Gore,47, are all jointly charged with Criminal Trespass and Malicious Damage.

Mr Rollin faces an extra charge of being in possession of a firearm.

Allegations said leading up to the incident, Pr Bana had locked up church properties which had been presented to the Bazo SSEC church on Savo by sister churches on Honiara.

This reportedly did not go down well with the Bazo community.

This disagreement eventually led to Bana leaving Bazo for Honiara in January this year.

Two weeks later Bana’s wife returned to Bazo to collect their belongings.

It is alleged while she was packing up their belongings, a man (who would later become the complainant in this case) approached the pastor’s wife and told her to leave the church properties alone.

The wife reported this to her husband (Bana) upon return and he responded by telling her to inform the Bazo community and the man who had approached her to prepare $10,000 as compensation for him (Bana).

On Thursday, February 22 Bana and the other eight defendants met near the Yacht club sea front where Bana paid a sea fare of $700 and they crossed to Bazo Village, Savo at 5pm.

Allegations continue that they first shored at Koromilo village where they unloaded seven cartons of beer and headed to Mora village.

They arrived around 6pm in the evening and walked straight to Bazo village, to the complainant’s house.

The complainant and his family were in their kitchen having dinner when defendant David Bane came and spoke with him. One of the defendants threw a punch at the complainant but missed.

One of the defendants grabbed the complainant’s shirt while another defendant who was armed with an axe moved in to attack the complainant. However, the complainant freed himself and escaped.

Rollin gave chase with his home-made pistol but could not catch him, so he returned and threatened one of the villagers with the weapon, it is alleged.

The defendants then turned on the complainant’s house and properties and damaged it.

The total amount of the damaged properties is reportedly $10,470. These include the damaged solar watts, large bucket, pieces of iron roofing, pots, cups, plates, spoon, luggage basket, dwelling house and kitchen house.

Allegations added that on February 23 the defendants to 16 pieces of roofing iron and a tank belonging to the Bazo church and sold them to some people from nearby Lokanipeo village.

Bazo community reported the matter to the police.

On Saturday, February 24 the defendants were about to board a boat back to Honiara when the Police Response Team arrived and apprehended all the defendants and escorted them to Tulagi police station.

Next day they were escorted to Honiara and have been remanded in the custody since.

Police Prosecution Department appears for the Crown whilst Bobby Harunari of PSO acts for four defendants.

Sentencing for former POB teller moved for Monday next week

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

Sentencing for former POB officer Shuyee Eli Yan has been suspended for Monday next week.

The sentencing was initially scheduled for 8th of April, however, the presiding magistrate had not finalised the judgement.

Shuyee pleaded guilty last month to 16 charges; four forgery counts and 12 larceny by servant counts.

Allegations had said the offences occurred between June 28, 2021 and August 26, 2022, when Yan worked for POB.

Prosecution said Yan had stolen a large amount of money from Saibuloa Landowners Association’s account by transferring through interest banking to the accounts of other POB customers or users.

The allegations said those customers would then withdraw the money from their account and give the money to Yan.

The prosecution said she received a total of $299,500 after giving commissions to the customers who had helped her in her activity.

The $299,500 was never recovered.

Prosecution also said Yan forged a document namely Application to Release Dormant Account Status of the Dangi Tughu account that contained the forged signatures of the three signatories of the Dangi Tughu account.

Yan also reportedly forged a letter titled Authorization to Transferring of Funds from Dangi Tughu account to Saibuloa Landowners Association account that contains forged signatories of Dangi Tughu account.

She also forged a POB withdrawal slip of $25,000 under the Dangi Tughu account that contained forged signatures of the two signatories of the Dangi Tughu account.

Vernon Taupongi of Public Prosecution appears for the Crown and PSO appears for the accused.

Vernon Taupongi of Office of Public Prosecution appears for Crown and PSO appears for the accused.

‘We do not feel the impact’ despite billions of dollars in rural development funds

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Mavis Podokolo
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Western province constituency map. No. 49 is West New Georgia/ Vona Vona Constituency. 42 – Gizo-Kolombangara, 43 – Marovo, 44 – North New Georgia, 45 – North Vella la Vella, 46 – Ranongga-Simbo, 48 – South Vella la Vella, 50 – South New Georgia-Rendova-Tetepare. Photo supplied

As Solomon Islanders go to the polls next month to elect our 12th national parliament since Independence, it is disheartening, after all the billions of dollars that have been poured into the hands of our members of parliaments in the name of rural development, to witness women and children in our rural areas still grappling with limited access to healthcare and education.

Traveling through the lagoons of Western Province we spoke to many Solomon Islanders who expressed their disappointment with the CDF or Constituency Development Funds that national MPs are tasked with distributing, in theory for the benefit of all their constituents.

Samson Boti of Vona Vona Lagoon, told us: “We do not feel the impact of this fund, it appears only those who support the MP gets assistance.”

At its inception the Constituency Development Fund was originally designed to provide faster and more targeted access to funding for development in rural communities than could be delivered by the country’s slow-moving donor funded development infrastructure. It was thought that as their Member of Parliament, MPs would know best what their community needed and the network to deliver it.

But a recent expedition to Western Province to investigate the impact of the CDF in the West New Georgia Vona Vona Constituency, we found scant evidence of its efficacy.

Looking back through history, development fund assistance has been around for quite a while, it was initially launched in the 1980s as the Small Islands Community and Provinces Special Assistance (SICOPSA) grant, where direct funding was channelled to individual members of Parliament to cater to constituency needs.

Subsequently formalised as the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), its objectives were to empower marginalised groups with financial resources for income-generating ventures, foster socio-economic development among individuals, families, and community-based organisations to alleviate rural poverty, and mitigate unemployment through meaningful income-generating projects.

However, it has become obvious that the CDF as the scheme is commonly called by Solomon Islanders, has become a political weapon used by members of Parliament when seeking support or punishing those who did not vote for them. And in some cases a mechanism to enrich themselves and their family.

Alex Viqa, 84, of Rarumana, in the Vona Vona Lagoon observed that in the 12 years his current Member of Parliament for West New Georgia Vonavona has been in office his community had not received any support from the MP or his constituency office.

“Despite promises to assist in housing, healthcare, and education, none of these pledges have been fulfilled,” Mr Viqa told us.

While the impact of the CDF on the ground has remained very low, each year, on paper constituencies have received equitable allocations through the annual budget of the national government. In just a decade the amount provided to each MP for distribution has substantially increased—from approximately $2.1 million per constituency to as much as $6.8 million in recent years.

Despite a cumulative CDF allocation exceeding SB$3 billion over the last decade, rural areas have little to show for these funds and are still grappling with development challenges, lacking essential services and basic infrastructure to move forward in any meaningful way.

This raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of the current governance, administration, and implementation processes governing the CDF mechanism. The story is not the same for every province but similar in their particular needs.

Amidst the growing frustration and anger against MPs for the distribution of the CDF, an attempt was made to reform the act that governed the funds, the intention was to remove control over the funds from the MPs or at least improve accountability.

And the Constituency Development Bill 2023 was tabled and passed in National Parliament in December.

Whilst there may be attempts to redirect management and control of the funds to the ministries responsible for various sectors, the final payment made to MPs in November 2023 was made directly to the members of parliament.

This beats the purpose of what the government had announced it would do by confining Members of Parliament to their role as lawmakers, while providing an oversight to the implementation of the CDF programme.

A government press release at the time quotes, “Under the new CDF Act 2023, most of the responsibilities in the implementation of the CDF program has been delegated to public servants, constituency committees and the people.”

The people of this constituency are not blinded by the talk.

Malin Mitau a 62-year-old Pastor of Koqu Aqoroana congregation Rarumana Circuit, Kohigo Islands says, “This money we know nothing about it but I believe if properly managed many will  benefit from it, but there is no transparency on how they dealt with this money.

“We only know about the CIVIC education and health information because they often came over and visited us.

“And we think if these people can visit us regularly why is it so hard for our representatives to come and here our voices.”

BY DOROTHY WICKHAM, MAVIS N PODOKOLO & IRWIN ANGIKI

STREET TOK WITH INDY MAELASIA

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As the nation gears up for the upcoming April National General Elections, the air is thick with anticipation and hope for change. Citizens across the country are voicing their desires for a brighter future and envisioning the alterations they wish to witness once the elections conclude.Let’s hear from these individuals

Peter Tongodou,

Interviewed at Point Cruz, Heritage Park

“Whether there is a change of leadership or not after the election, I want them (candidates) to be fair to everyone. No matter I voted for the candidate or not but if you win the seat, you have to be fair to everyone and everyone must have a share of development.” 

William Nunu

Interviewed at Point Cruz 

“I want to encourage voters to take a critical look and vote wisely so we can see changes, if we still vote the same leadership we might not see changes. In terms of development change I want to see, I want improvement on education. This is important to help people so that they are aware of issues and they can create ideas on how to improve lives. This means more schools, classrooms and scholarships” 

David Mali

Interviewed at Point Cruz

“We must vote good candidate so we can see changes, a change of leadership might be good. As a voter from East Honiara, Health is important area, there is currently no clinics in east Honiara we have to come to central Honiara for medical check so that is one an area that needs improvement”

Rose Wale

Interviewed at Point Cruz, National Art Gallery

“After the election, the development I want to see is the road and the economy. For people like myself who are market vendors, I also want more support in terms of funding to help improve our craft stores. I also hope to see a change of leadership as well”

Elisabeth Laboi

Interviewed at Point Cruz, National Art Gallery

“There is currently a lot of talk about development, so one of the changes I want to see is the development of road in the provinces. I want candidate to work with landowners and communities to allow their land for roads. For people like myself who are market vendors, road is the only access, this is not only for our own good but the good of the community”

PWDSI and CANDO complete 2-day training

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BY MORRIS NAFU

The People With Disabilities Solomon Islands (PWDSI) and the Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations (CANDO) have successfully concluded a two-day training workshop enhancing knowledge of disability access inclusion by using the disability access audit toolkit.

The Accessibility Training Program aims to empower participants with practical skills and knowledge to contribute actively to the project’s objectives as it aims to advocate for and educate on the standards of disability access in all church building facilities and evacuation centres.

The church agencies network disaster operations comprised of all Solomon Islands Church Association (SICA) members, including the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACOM), South Sea Evangelical Church (SSEC), ADRA for the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA), Roman Catholic Church, and United Church of Solomon Islands.

The training was facilitated by Mrs. Ilicapeci Marau and Ruth Senikula, the two facilitators from the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF), in collaboration with the People With Disability Solomon Islands (PWDSI) Mr. Watson Mali.

Program and Aid Office Desk Officer of the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACoM), Lional Dau, expresses that the Access Audit Training has been conceived to ensure a target focus on fostering inclusivity and accessibility within the disaster management framework.

Facilitator Ruth further expressed that access audit training is a pivotal component of building disaster resilience for people with disabilities in the Pacific Project.

The training workshop focuses on practical skills development, such as conducting access audits and composing comprehensive reports, and equips participants with the necessary tools to assess and improve accessibility within church buildings and evacuation centres.

Moreover, the emphasis on collaborative discussions and knowledge sharing fosters a unified approach to accessibility assessments, ensuring a more holistic understanding and implementation of best practices.

The training was concluded with a practical field trip to CANDO project sites in Kolina 1 and Kolina 2, which provides participants with real-world exposure to accessibility challenges and solutions, reinforcing the importance of retrofitting church facilities to accommodate individuals with disabilities during emergencies and disasters.

Overall, this initiative serves as a significant step towards building disaster resilience for people with disabilities in the Pacific region and underscores the importance of community-driven efforts to promote inclusivity and accessibility across all sectors.

Trial for ‘conspiracy to commit terrorism act’ case commences next week

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

Trial into the matter of two people accused of conspiracy to commit arson last year at Hammock Beach will commence tomorrow.

John Damusi and Moses Su’u are jointly charged with one count of conspiracy to commit arson.

Mr Damusi was present in court on Wednesday this week however a defence counsel present in court told court that Mr Su’u had passed away, although this is yet to be confirmed by Su’u’s lawyer, Lazarus Waroka.

On Wednesday this week the final-interim mention was heard in court where defence counsel Delilah Kukura informed court she will be acting for Damusi.

She told court that Damusi will be challenging the record of interview based on unfairness.

Kukura also told court that she would be travelling to her home province on April 11 for the coming elections.

Court adjourned to Monday next week for the Voir Dire trial to commence.

Police alleged that Damusi and Su’u participated in a scheme aimed at causing harm to various government national projects and critical infrastructure within Honiara.

The allegation came about this year

Allegations said between March 17 and to May 6, 2023, at Hammock Beach, North West Guadalcanal the principal accused Damusi and his co-accused Su’u conspired with others to commit arson.

The matter was reported to the police and both accused were arrested and dealt with accordingly.

Mary-Anne Zurenuoc acts for state and Lazurus Waroka of PSO act for Moses Su’u and Delilah Kukura of PSO act for John Damusi.

Warrant of arrest issued for female co-accused in illegal drug case

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

Court has issued a warrant of arrest for an accused in a case involving attempt to smuggle illegal drugs out of the country.

Beatrice Umea did not turn up in court yesterday, and prosecution applied for the warrant, saying that Ms Umea had known about the court date.

Umea and her co-accused, Etekia Kauai, are facing charges of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs out of the country.

Prosecution informed court yesterday that Mr Kauai was in court, and that he had come after he received summons.

Kauai also told court that he already has a legal representative.

Court suspended the case to April 12 for plea and warrant of arrest to be executed on Umea. 

Bail for Kauai was extended.

The two are charged in relation to an allegation on June 19, 2019 at the Henderson International Airport.

Prosecution alleged Kauai packed eight packets of marijuana inside a speaker in 20cm by 20cm plastic bags. This was taken to the airport, where Umea was on check-in duty for Solomon Airlines.

It was further alleged that Kauai took the package to Umea and she accepted the package as unaccompanied luggage, but tagged the package to a passenger whom she had already checked in.

When the package went through screening, suspicion arose and the speaker was unscrewed and the packets of marijuana were found.

Police then arrested Umea and Kauai and charged them jointly for one count of attempting to export a dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Public Prosecutor Steward Tonowane is appears for the Crown and Mr. Hite for the accused Kauai

Investigation into Marau murder case of October 2023 yet to complete

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

Investigations into a murder case at Marau, south east of Guadalcanal, in October last year is yet to complete.

Constance Manepania is charged with one count of murder. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

The case was heard on Wednesday 3rd April.

Prosecution had informed court in the previous hearing that the file had been transferred to the Henderson police for further investigation.

Henderson police also told court then that they had gone to Marau on March 12 and during their investigations they found some new developments to the case.

Prosecution also told court they are expecting a co-accused to be involved in this matter, though, this will be confirmed when the investigation is completed.

Investigators have collected 20 statements. The outstanding documents yet to be filed include the autopsy report, photo album of the autopsy, crime scene album and the record interview to be signed by the accused.

Court adjourned the matter for April 9, instructing both parties to ensure the outstanding documents are available by then. Prosecution was also instructed to provide defence with full disclosures.

Remand warrant for Manepania was extended.

Police alleged October 8, 2023 late in the evening, the deceased and some of her relatives boarded a canoe to an island called Ravi within the Marau area to sleep over for fishing during the night time.

Next day at about 8am, the deceased and two other relatives boarded another canoe to the mainland to collect food and water for the group on the island.

When they reached mainland, they dug some swamp taro, refilled some containers of water.

At about 4pm the deceased and the other girls loaded their canoe and departed for Ravi Island.

About few metres from the mainland the deceased complained that her body was not feeling good, and was afraid to go to Ravi island, so she decided to stay back on the mainland.

The other girls left the deceased along the shore so that she could walk back home.

The deceased then left Tawanikeni village along the sea shore back to her village Kompa’u.

Prosecution alleged that it was on her way back to her home village that the accused attacked her.

A witness who was on his way along the airport that day heard a sound of a crying person. When the witness got closer to where the crying sound came from, he saw Manepania holding a bush knife in his right hand.

Manepania led the witness to where the deceased was lying unconscious then he stepped onto the deceased’s forehead and squeezed the neck of the deceased until she stopped breathing.

After that Manepania demanded and ordered the witness to take the dead body down to the sea and sink it.

The accused allegedly threatened the witness to carry out this act, saying he would cut the witness with the bush knife if he did not comply

Police at Marau received a report of the incident on October 10, 2023, when villagers around Marau area saw the deceased’s body washed ashore in front of the Conflict Lodge.

Jonathan Auga appears for Crown and PSO for act for Manepania.

Details of Jiangsu-Malaita provinces sister-relationship

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Samie Waikori
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BY SAMIE WAIKORI

JIANGSU province through the Embassy People’s Republic of China in Honiara formally established a historic sister relationship with Malaita province of Solomon Islands in Auki.

A MOU to officially seal this relationship was signed and the two provinces will begin to work on areas of mutual interest under the partnership.

And in pursuant to guidelines of the communique to establish relations between the two provinces, they have reached consensus through consultation and friendly relations to promote exchange, cooperation and facilitate better understanding and friendship between people of the two provinces.

The two parties agreed on the following matters.

  • The two parties, with respect to the principles of free will, equality and friendship are willing to facilitate exchanges and cooperation in a variety of fields at all levels, including economic and trade, agriculture, education and livelihood improvement for common development.
  • The two parties would play an active role in facilitating trade cooperation. Tradable and exportable commodities and products from Malaita such as coconut, cocoa, tuna, fish, beche-de-mer, seaweed and others will be exported to Jiangsu.
  • The two parties would leverage the role of China-Pacific Island Countries Agriculture cooperation and demonstration centres as a platform to conduct cooperation with Malaita, providing technological support in agriculture and training of agriculture professionals (in areas of scientific research, and assessment, quality control, product development, management and skill development) to Malaita.
  • The two parties would strengthen educational cooperation. Jiangsu would offer government scholarship such as “studying in Jiangsu” to train professionals in trade (business/finance), production, industries/infrastructure, health (pharmaceutical/medicine), fisheries and agriculture from Malaita.
  • The two parties would promote exchanges in areas related to people’s livelihood (including climate change and natural disaster response). Jiangsu would provide people in Malaita with essential support and assistance for human security, sustenance and maintenance.
  • Jiangsu Foreign Affairs office and Malaita provincial government office as designated officials contacts of the two parties, would be responsible for coordinating resources to implement the matters and activities articulated in this MOU.

According to the signed document, the MOU enters into effect on the date of signature and will be valid for five years. If neither of the parties calls for termination six months before the expiration date, this MOU would be renewed resultantly.

The MOU was worded in both Chinese and English languages and both texts equally authentic.

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