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Gizo Market Manager raises key concerns for women in Western province

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Moffat Maeta

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO 

Market Manager for Gizo, has brought forward significant concerns that he believes demand the attention of the incoming government.

Moffat Maeta highlighted several crucial issues during an interview with Island Sun urging the new administration to take prompt action.

He said one big problem is that there aren’t enough chances for women and young people in Western province to learn new skills.

“For example, we have many local crops like root vegetables that could be made into different things and sold abroad, but we don’t have many people who know how to do that,” he said.

Maeta mentioned another important thing that needs focus on – changing how  people think.

“Changing our mindset is important, especially here in the Western part of the Solomon Islands. I strongly believe that the government can do things to help young people think differently. This can help them make better choices for themselves, their families, and their communities instead of getting involved in things they shouldn’t.

“So, I really believe that if we have women in Parliament and leaders who thinks like leaders, we can solve these problems,” he said.

He then asked all women young people in the Western province to vote for candidates who have ‘leadership mindset’.

SINCE COLONIAL DAYS

Written by
Ofani Eremae
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Historic project launched to create Solomon Islands’ address and postcode system

BY MORRIS NAFU

The Solomon Post has officially launched the Solomon Islands National Postcode and Addressing System Project with the aim of introducing the country’s first-ever national address and postcode system.

The project was inaugurated at the Solomon Post office with the presence of all its stakeholder representatives yesterday.

The event marks a significant milestone since the inception of a postal services in the country during the colonial times and through the independence era to date.

The National Addressing and Postcode system is designed to enhance planning and service delivery of essential address information.

It is expected to facilitate effective planning development, efficient postal service delivery, identification of delivery offices and areas, identification of delivery points and arrangements for post boxes, automation, presorting of mail according to defined postcodes and addresses, and adoption of ISO standard mailing codes.

These developments will enable the Solomon Islands to have a presence on e-commerce platforms.

During the official launching ceremony, Caretaker Minister of Communication and Aviation, Peter Shanel Agovaka emphasised the project’s significance achievement in implementing the policy of the Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement (DCGA) in the postal and logistical sector.

He noted that the absence of a postcode and national addressing system had been identified as a setback to economic growth in the Solomon Islands, particularly in the context of global electronic trading and the digital era.

“The introduction of alphanumeric postcodes aligned with current administrative and national numbering codes is expected to enhance the efficient delivery of integrated global trading, customs requirements, payment modes, shopping cards, e-shops, transportation, and logistics.

“Additionally, the implementation of the National Addressing and Postcode system will provide addresses for residential houses, communities, and even roads and footpaths, will be given names and we will finally enjoy the benefit and ease of services at our door step,” said Agovaka.

Overall, the Solomon Islands National Postcode and Addressing Development Project signify a significant step towards modernising postal and logistical services in the country, aligning them with global standards and facilitating economic growth and digital integration.

MFMR acknowledge media’s role

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BY INDY MAEALASIA

THE Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) has highlighted the crucial role the media plays in promoting transparency, accountability, and communication regarding marine resource management.

Acknowledging the significant contribution of the media, MFMR Deputy Secretary Corporate Services, Patterson Lusi emphasised the importance of disseminating information to communities and the wider world.

“Their efforts in disseminating information to communities and the wider world are crucial for fostering understanding and engagement in marine resource management initiatives,” Lusi said in his speech at the launch of the Solwata Blo Iumi Campaign recently.

With the launch of initiatives such as the Solwata Blo Iumi Campaign toolkit and its distribution nationwide, a participant of the toolkit launch workshop expressed the need for media coverage to document the impact the toolkit will have on coastal communities and the resources.

“We need the media to document how we will carry out workshops and awareness in the communities so that people have a fair knowledge on how we are trying to manage these resources,” Apunepara Haamwaora Natural Resource Association’s operation manager, Reginal Watesau told Island Sun.

More so, Mr Watesau hoped that upon his return to South Malaita, he would be able to help a lot of other coastal communities apart from his own.

Respect each other despite political differences: PPC Kili

Written by
Samie Waikori
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PPC Lesly Kili.

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

MALAITA PPC Superintendent Lesley Kili has called on Malaitans to embrace each other despite differences in their political affiliations.

The call was made following a recent arrest of a man who allegedly obstructed a candidate – with the use of force, from campaigning in one of the villages in Aoke Langa Langa constituency.

He said the man supported a particular candidate and did not want other candidates to campaign in his village.

Kili referred to the action as a crime in itself, and appealed to Malaitans to refrain from such action or other actions that would impede election processes.

He said the country upholds principles and values of democracy including freedoms of speech, assembly, choice, but within the perimeters of the law.

Kili said this is why candidates must be allowed equal opportunities to campaign without any form of obstruction.

He said the choice of who to vote is an individual right, and candidates also play significant roles through political campaigns that could decide the choice.

Vella retired public servant calls on candidates to address women issues

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Beverly Aaron

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

A retired female public servant has called on candidates to recognise the issues affecting women.

Beverly Aaron of North Vella La Vella constituency has urged candidates to always consider women’s concerns when they come into power.

She emphasised that while the choice ultimately lies with the people, whoever wins should prioritise women’s issues without fail.

Issues affecting women are significant and leaders should not neglect addressing them.

Ms Aaron, who retired a year ago, noted that in her community former MPs had addressed the water issue, but proper sanitation still needs attention.

When asked about her views on women being candidates, she said that any woman aiming to successfully contest the National General Election must understand the issues in rural areas.

Female candidates must invest more time with the people and treat everyone equally to secure victory in the election.

Aaron said in her constituency, putting women into power will take some years as people’s mindsets need to change, while women can contribute to positive change, the mindset of voters must change.

She emphasised the need for cultural and mindset shifts among rural populations before women can achieve success.

She also stressed that even if a capable woman contests but fails to recognise or be kind to the people during her lifetime, rural support will be lacking.

Despite the challenges, she urged voters, especially women, to make informed choices on April 17.

She emphasised that it is the responsibility of everyone in the village to make wise decisions when it comes time to vote.

3 men plead not guilty to multiple counts

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

Three men accused of multiple charges pleaded not guilty at the magistrate court.

Saverio Mate, 25, Lency Raga, 40, John Longatabo, 28, were all charged jointly with two counts of arson and one count of assault causing actual bodily harm.

Prosecution sought seven days’ adjournment for it to complete the Pre-Trial-Conference (PTC) documents.

Court extended the remand warrant for Longatabo and bail for Raga and Mate.

Court instructed the parties to file the PTC before close of business on April 8 before coming back to court on April 9.

Prosecution alleged that on October 12, 2022, the defendants were alleged to be part of a group of men that went and asked compensation from the complainant at Kakalu Village, West Guadalcanal.

They claimed the complainant had stolen their live pig and demanded he gave them some money if not they would return and burn down his house.

Later, the defendants went and set fire to the complainant’s two dwelling houses.

Steward Tonowane of DPP act for the Crown and PSO act for the defendants.

Police applaud peaceful Easter on Malaita

Written by
Samie Waikori
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PPC Malaita, superintendent Lesley Kili.

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

Malaita police commander Superintendent Lesley Kili has thanked communities across the province for the peaceful Easter celebration.

Kili made the acknowledgement following zero report of incident and arrest during the Easter weekend.

“The behaviour shown by people in the province illustrated their respect to Easter and that they celebrated it with its true meaning.

“I must thank the people of Malaita, who are in the province for this wonderful behavior and urge them to continue with this good behaviour.

“This is what we should have to treat all events whether religious or public events with respect and honour,” Kili said.

He thanked community leaders and their people for the synergy toward such achievement which had supported police in their work.

Kili on that note called for similar behaviour during the national elections on April 17.

“As known, the country will go to poll on April 17 and I urge Malaitans to continue with the similar good behavior during this national event.

“This is so that the event is administer accordingly and those will participate in it to do so freely without fear of any potential threats,” he said.

PLASTIC-FREE CHAMPION

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Moffat Maeta

Gizo enjoying a clean, sustainable environment 5 years ahead of Honiara on single-use plastics

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

GIZO, the capital of the tourism hub province of Solomon Islands is well into enjoying a single-use plastic-free environment.

Honiara is still getting used to living without single-use plastics, whereas Gizo has been since 2019.

Gizo Market manager Moffet Maeta says Gizo is well into its stride as the country’s champion for environment sustainability.

Mr Maeta said this transformation was solidified with the signing and gazetting of the Regulation on September 1, 2023.

He highlighted that Gizo embarked on the path to ban single-use plastic as early as 2019.

Therefore, when the ban officially took effect last year, people in Gizo and those visiting Gizo were able to comply, he said.

“We had already adjusted to the single-use plastic ban, so the ban posed no significant challenge for us,” Maeta said.

He said while acknowledging that new visitors to Gizo might find the transition unfamiliar, Maeta emphasised the simplicity of complying with the regulation, particularly for local vendors.

“Our vendors have adapted to the new norm. It is just a matter of changing our habits and being mindful when shopping,” Maeta explained.

He calls on Gizo residents and visitors to embrace the practice of bringing their bags when visiting markets and shops.

“Let us all embrace this practice and contribute to preserving the beauty of our environment,” he urged, underlining the importance of individual responsibility in fostering a plastic-free future for Gizo town.

Moreover, the signing and gazetting of the Regulation means that it is now effective as a subsidiary legislation under section 55 of the Environment Act 1998.

The five items listed in the regulation include Plastic shopping bags, Plastic straws, plastic cups, plates and cutleries, polystrofoam takeaway containers, plates and cups and polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) water bottles that contains less than 1.5 litres.

This new regulation is part of a larger effort to reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends ups in our environment. It is important to note as well, that the ban itself is inadequate on its own without the support and participation of stakeholders and the public at large.

According to the Solomon Islands government it believes that it is prudent to start making changes and shift to sustainable alternatives and to ensure that the environment is protected from plastic pollution.

Newly released informative toolkit to boost stakeholders

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BY INDY MAEALASIA

THE recently debuted Solwata Blo Iumi Campaign toolkit is highly anticipated to enhance stakeholder capacity and empower local community participation in sustainable marine resources management.

“This user-friendly toolkit will empower provincial fisheries officers, Community Based organisation reps, and relevant NGOs to effectively spread information” Malaita Fisheries officers, Martin Jasper said

With the continuous negative impacts of climate change and man-made factors on these vital resources, Jasper termed the toolkit a “timely and critical development”

“With the toolkit in hand they(stakeholders) will be well equipped to educate communities about sustainable resource management plans, this will in time contribute to the health and well-being of marine ecosystems” he said.

The informative toolkit consists of a facilitator’s guide, flip-chat and a reader-friendly booklet that comes in English and Pidgin version, illustrations and depict problems and solutions scenarios.

To kick start the launch and the distribution plan, the cChange, Ministry Fisheries Marine Resources(MFMR) and other stakeholders leading the Solwata Blo Iumi Campaign has undergone a workshop on Wednesday 27th-Thursday 28th 

Workshop participant, Apunepara Hamwaora Natural Reasource Association Operation Manager, Reginald Watesau expressed his relief of finally having the toolkit “we now have a standard book which we all can use across the nation or even across the Pacific”

Based on South Malaita, Watesau will be hard at work upon his return “I will be carrying out workshop, in villages, schools and among community elders”.

Watesau has extended his appreciation to Chnage and MFMR and other stakholders for making the toolkit a possibility.

For the first round of distribution, more than 10,000 toolkits are set to be launched and distributed throughout the country.

MILLION DOLLAR BUILDING BREAKS GROUND

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Managing Director AJ Enterprise Ltd, Aron Dawen ZHENG, Deputy Secretary Economics MoFT and SINPF Deputy Chairman David Rupokets during the ground breaking ceremony.

SINPF $81m four-floor commercial building breaks ground

BY NED GAGAHE

SOLOMON Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) breaks ground for its newest investment million dollar building on Thursday 28 March 2024.

The project, SOLCHO is a four-level commercial building project is the latest SINPF investment in the domestic property market.

A groundbreaking ceremony was organized on Thursday at the project site next to Ombudsman office, Point Cruz attended by SINPF, Chief Executive Officer, Mike Wate, Deputy Chairman of SINPF Board David Rupokets, officials from contractor AJ Enterprise and Deputy Secretary Economics Selwyn Takana of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MoFT).

This new commercial property located in the heart of the Honiara CBD is expected to cost around SBD81 million (inclusive of all taxes) and construction is expected to take up to 20 months to complete. It is expected to be handed over to the SINPF Board by AJ Enterprises Limited in November 2025.  

Local contractor AJ Enterprise won that tender to build the SOLCHO Commercial building.   

In his remarks at the ground breaking Chairman of SINPF Board David Rupokets said the project marked ‘yet another milestone in the progress of SINPF Board’s investment in the domestic property investment market.

“Dear distinguished ladies and gentlemen, my sincere thank you for joining us for this ground-breaking ceremony today to commence our new commercial building construction. We appreciate and thank you for your presence here today to witness yet another milestone in the progress of SINPF Board’s investments in our domestic property investment market.

“For a bit of history, this location where we are now has a long rich history as it was formerly owned and hosted the former iconic government’s owned Solomon Islands Housing Authority Head Office. This asset is part of the sales and purchase agreement settled between the Solomon Islands Government and the SINPF Board when the SINPF Board bought the entity in 2009.

“Our investment journey to develop this commercial site commenced in 2017 with the Board’s endorsement and Minister of Finance approvals secured in 2018. The project was put on hold when the Board won the public tender to construct a residential accommodation unit for the Commonwealth Government of Australia at the Hibiscus Apartment grounds.

“With the advance progress of the apartments’ construction (with the 1st phase of the Hibiscus development expected to be completed in December 2024), the Board is now in a position to commence the construction of this new modern 4 level commercial building.

“This new property investment will see the development of a basement parking level, a podium level and four (4) levels of Commercial Office spaces with all utilities and services to inclusively serve the needs of all tenants of the building.  The Board has already commenced seeking and canvassing for potential tenants for the new commercial property.

“Today, we are marking the beginning of construction works of this new commercial property by successful bidder AJ Enterprises Limited who successfully tendered for the project among other competitive bidders.

“On behalf of the SINPF Board Chairman and Board Directors, I would like to congratulate AJ Enterprises Limited for your successful bid to construct our new high rise commercial property.  The Board have the trust and confidence in your ability to deliver the successful completion of the project according to our quality specifications, agreed time, and within budget.

“Our project manager for the project is FMC Pacific Limited who has partnered with the Board in the past to design and develop the new Australian Government Apartments and the Hibiscus Apartments expansion.  FMC has been a productive partner with the SINPF Board to develop and manage these properties new developments.

“Besides investing to protect and grow our members contribution balances with good returns, there are also the wider positive ramifications that comes with such new investments that our wider economy will benefit from.   These include the creation of new employment opportunities, creating additional business for local suppliers of goods and services and creating additional taxes for the government to pay for its services for our growing population.  The completion of this new building will also provide a face lift for our national capital city Honiara.

“The SINPF Board’s current property investment portfolio has now reached $727.5M at the end of 31 December 2023.  This portfolio includes developed and undeveloped commercial properties in Honiara City, Auki in the Malaita Prince and Tulagi in the Central Islands Province. Our property investment portfolio is expected to expand further with the completion of the Australian Government Apartments and later this new commercial property.

“We also have planned property investments that include the development of our high covenant residential property at Tavio Ridge in West Honiara, our continued investigation on the feasibility of developing our Panatina Land at East Honiara for residential homes in partnership with any credible formal multilateral financial institution, and the development of our Town Ground and NPF building car park properties.” Mr. Rupokets said.

In his remarks at the groundbreaking event, Jerry Tengemoana of Prime Consulting, the Project Business Advisor to AJ Enterprise expressed gratitude to the SINPF Board and the Management for the trust and confidence for awarding the contract to AJ Enterprise to construct the project.

Mr. Tengemoana informed the guests and officials that AJ Enterprise had already shipped all materials for construction in the country.

He also assured the SINPF Board and Management that AJ Enterprise has the capability and will deliver the project on the 20-months construction schedule on time and with high quality of work.

 MoFT Deputy Secretary Selwyn Takana welcome and congratulated SINPF for the investment undertaking.

He said the project will surely benefited members of the fund on the return of investment the project will have on hard-earned savings of the members.

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