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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.

Tausinga launches constituency campaign

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BY INDY MAEALAISA

SOLOMON Islands United Paty Candidate, Silas Vangara Tausinga has launched his election campaign at Noro Western Province on Tuesday, pledging to bring about more developments for West New Georgia -Vona Vona Constituency.

Tausinga, a former member of parliament is eager to make a come back to secure the national seat for the fourth time in a row.

Tausinga was accompanied by UP’s Wing leader, Peter Kenilorea Jnr who is seeking a second term for the East Are’Are seat and newcomer and candidate for Central Kwara’ae, Ricky Fuo’o

Delivering an electrifying speech which was streamed lived via the UP’s FB Page, Tausinga emphasized UP as the party for “change”.   

“People say change, a lot of parties coming around say change. This is the party for change; United Party. It’s continuity towards change is what we want” he said.

Tausinga showcased a track record of infrastructure development that had taken place whilst serving his tenure since 2010, these includes the Munda International Airport, Noro-Munda Road, Noro International Ports and the Noro town road which is set to be completed soon.

He reminded supporters that their constituency has been the second most developed apart from the capital.

Most development that are happening beside Honiara are in West New Georga Vona Vona Constituency” he said

“For those sitting on the fence, for those who are sitting at the other side of the fence, come April 17th 2024, we are on the move as West New Georgia -Vona Vona, united party is coming to create government in the 12th parliament” Tausinga added.

Also speaking during the launch, UP’s Wing leader, Peter Kenilorea Jnr admitted the difficulties of uniting a richly diverse nation but reassured voters that his party chooses unity.

“United Party chooses the hard part, and the hard part is to get us all together to become truly one nation, one people serving one God” he said.

He then emphasized that “nation-building is going to be a work in progress” and reminded voters that the responsibility to make Solomon Islands a better nation for the next generation lies on everyone.

Pre-poll voters voting clarified

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Chief Electoral Officer, Jasper Highwood Anisi

BY INDY MAEALSIA

Solomon Islands Electoral Commission’s (SIEC) has clarified that Pre-poll voters will only cast their ballots for the national government due to capacity limitation and the challenge to conduct a joint election for the first time.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Jasper Anisi explained the commission’s stance in the Sunday talk back show hosted at SIBC.

Since significant time and capacity has been put into including the pre-poll with the April 17th election, the commission is looking forward to successfully execute the joint election.

“This our first time to run a joint election so we want to do it perfectly and accurately and then we will slowly look at how we can best manage pre-poll” Anisi said.

He described pre-poll as basically out-of-constituency voting and highlighted the commission concern with the integrity and security of ballot papers.

“Out-of-constituency voting means movements of ballot paper here and there. At the same time, though we want everyone to participate in the election, we must also be worried about the integrity and security of the election or else they’ll be tampered with, so we must plan properly for this kind” Anisi said.

Under the Electoral Act; subdivision 2, Pre-poll voting is reserved for eligible voters including police officers, senior field election officers and electoral commission staff who are schedule for duties on polling day.

Anisi further clarified that the commission opted not to expand to include other essential services for the same capacity reason.

Additionally, Anisi reassured voters who fall within the pre-poll eligible category that they would have the opportunity to cast for the provincial assembly and Honiara City Council in the next election.

THREATS IDENTIFIED

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BY NED GAGAHE

UNSTABLE power supply and unfavorable weather conditions are amongst tough challenges faced during construction of the Comprehensive Medical Center at National Referral Hospital’s eastern end.

Despite these challenges, Chief Engineer of the project Mr. Liang has expressed confidence that his team will deliver the project on time and in high quality.

Speaking to local Journalists that since the project kicked off in December last year, they faced challenges such as unstable power supply, intense exposure to heat by Chinese workers, unfavorable weather condition.

Mr. Liang said the weather conditions was a huge challenge especially for the Chinese workers, however, they have managed to come up with solutions that addressed these challenges one of which is the utilizing the Christmas and New Year’s period when weather was favorable to schedule their work efficiently.

The project is expected to be completed by early 2025.

Chief Engineer Liang adds that in order to ensure they meet the targeted deadline; they have to work day and night given the construction period 16-months to complete the project.

Liang also expressed optimism with the current labour force of approximately 130 workers actively involved in the construction, he hopes that they will approach the finishing line by festive season.

He also revealed that the project employed around 70 Solomon Islanders working alongside their Chinese counterparts.

When asked whether the project would need more local workers, he said that will depend on the demand and should it require more locals going forward, they will hire more but currently only 70 workers who are part of the total workforce.

Known as the ‘Comprehensive Medical Center’ the project is fully funded by Chinese Government worth $90 million dollars, it is poised to become a milestone in the medical fields of the Solomon Islands, contributing to the improvement of public health standards.

The project is managed by a joint team from CSADI (on-site management team) and Jiangsu Jiangdu Construction Group. (construction technology team).

“The main building has four floors above the ground. The functions of the ground floor include consulting rooms, pharmacy, inpatient dispensing area, health workers lunge, and patient waiting area. The functions of first floor includes wards, health workers lounge, and health workers working zone.

“The functions of second floor include CT laboratory, health workers lounge, health workers working zone, and remote conference center. The functions of third floor include operation area, ICU, health workers lounge, etc. There is an ICU on the opposite side of the operation room, with a total of 3 beds.

“The outdoor power room includes domestic water pump room, fire pump room, LV distribution room, outdoor diesel generator, outdoor fire water tank, etc., which ensure the normal operation of the hospital system.” A statement from the Chinese Embassy said.

Renowned security service provider West Gate graduates more recruits

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West Gate New recruits

BY INDY MAEALASIA

West Gate Security Solutions Ltd concluded a two-week training for its latest cohort of 27 recruits on basic security at its NPF Plaza office.

Being one of the country’s most trusted security service provider, West Gate is currently providing security for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and its sites, DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) sites, residential areas of diplomats, the NPF and Anthony Saru complex, the new Kukum Market.

The Central Bank is reportedly West Gate’s latest client.

In the recent two weeks, the private security firm facilitated its usual training to prepare recruits for deployment.   

Throughout the course of the training, West Gate Director and training facilitator, renowned local security specialist Selwyn Akao delved into security professionalism.

“We covered the main duties and responsibilities of security personnel, access control and other basics of being a security guard,” Mr Akao said

Akao stressed that the training not only focussed on professionalism but also aimed to nurture the character building of each recruit to contribute back to their respective communities.

Apart from this, the training also touched on ways private security firms can support the public security agencies such as the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force in providing top-notch security service for its clients.

For this round, 26 males and one female have been thoroughly selected.

“There has been many young boys and girls especially school drop-outs who had shown interests,” Akao said.

New recruit, Ronald Alley Junior who is also a former police officer said he has learnt a lot from the training.

“A lot of the things I have learnt will help me a lot, will reshape me, looking back at my time in the police force it is mostly general as for a private security firm, you will come into contact with people directly each day,” he said.

West Gate security was established in 2022 and since then has proved its outstanding professional service, receiving a lot of praise and acclaim for its trustworthy service.

47-yo man gets 11 years for rape

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

A 47-year-old has been slapped with a 11-year prison term for raping a young woman living with a medical condition.

The victim was 20 years old at the time of incidence.

Christopher Sugui had denied the charge of rape and a trial was carried out last year.

Delivering the sentence recently, High Court Judge John Keniapisia ordered a head-sentence of 11 years for Mr Sugui.

Mr Keniapisia said this should serve as a deterrence for any other like-minded persons from committing rape.

Court imposed a starting point sentence to reflect the gravity of the offence at eight years’ imprisonment.

After, Court looked through the aggravating factors including the physical force involved, the incident occurring at night at an isolated location, the accused being drunk, the big age disparity, victim being a vulnerable person with significate disability and the psychological harm the incident has put on the victim and her family.

For all the above six serious aggravating factors, court made an uplift from the starting point sentence to 14 years imprisonment. That is one year in respect of each aggregating factor.

Defence submitted the mitigating factors which involve Sugui’s personal circumstances, delay and compensation being paid in custom.

Court then deducted three years as a result of the valid mitigating factors. Therefore, the final head sentence court imposed on Sugui was 11 years’ imprisonment.

Court heard that Sugui is from Mwaniwiriwiri village, East Bauro, Makira island, and the victim is from Kaonasugu Village, West Bauro, Makira island.

The victim is an epileptic female person.

On April 11, 2019, at about 12am, the victim was walking back home. She had left home earlier that day because her parents had an argument.

On her way back, Sugui jumped out from the bush, held her hand tightly and asked her for sex.

The victim was frightened as the defendant had a strong smell of beer, he was drunk and was not talking properly.

The defendant pulled the complainant to the side of the road and using his right hand held the victim’s mouth shut. The victim struggled and pulled back to avoid Sugui taking her to the bush.

Court heard that Sugui then pulled down his trousers and also took off the victim’s trousers and shirt. He dragged the victim to sit down and laid her on the ground.

On the ground, Sugui laid down on top of the victim and had sexual intercourse with her.

During this course of rape, the victim’s mother and another person arrived at the scene, and Sugui got up and escaped.

Jonathan Auga acts for crown and Mr. Bosa act for Christopher Sugui.

SIDP candidate for Savo-Russells,Salopuka, launches campaign strategy

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Young Nukufero lady presenting a gift to intending candidate for Savo Russells Oliver Salopuka

With only 27 days left before the country goes to the polls, to elect the fifty members of parliament, candidates are now gearing up for the election by launching their campaign plans to their people.

Oliver Salopuka, the candidate representing the Solomon Islands Democratic Party in the CARE coalition, officially kicked off his campaign strategy vying to contest for the Savo/Russell seat at Marulaon village on Russell Islands over the weekend.

The theme of his launch is “Charting our future through inspiring leadership and teamwork for the development of Savo/Russells constituency”.

In his address, Salopuka expressed his readiness to assume the political leadership role that the community yearns for, driven by a deep concern for the well-being of future generations.

As a two-time runner-up candidate, Salopuka humbly announced his candidacy for the April 17 election, emphasising his determination to advocate for the rights of the people of Savo/Russell, who he believes have long been marginalised.

He said his primary focus once elected, include revitalising the Russell Islands Plantation, addressing issues faced by RIPEL workers, and facilitating the resettlement of vulnerable populations affected by climate change to safer locations.

“My overarching goal is to empower individuals to enhance their livelihoods across social, economic, physical, and spiritual dimensions, aligning with the vision of the Coalition for Accountability Reform and Empowerment (CARE) Party,” he said.

The candidate and his party were warmly received, with a dancing group from Karumulun village escorting them to the stage and Tikopeans, Nukufero presenting gifts as tokens of recognition.

The launch drew hundreds of supporters and voters, which ended in a  vibrant celebration featuring entertainment from both the Russells and Savo communities.

By Richard Karima,

Stringer/ Russell Islands

3 candidates set to launch campaigns in South Vella la Vella next month

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Dates have been set for three candidates who will be competing for the seat in South Vella La Vella constituency.

They are scheduled to launch their political campaigns next month, reaching out to their respective communities within the South Vella La Vella in Western Province.

The candidates include the former, Frederick Kologeto, Jacob Kwan, and Dr Hedric Kuboto Kaniki.

Kologeto will hold his campaign launch on Tuesday, April 2, at Barokoma village.

He will be representing the Solomon Islands People’s First Party (SIPFP).

Kaniki, running under the banner of the Solomon Islands United Party (SIUP), has also set a date for his campaign launch.

Kaniki confirmed on Sunday that his launch event will take place on Wednesday, April 4, in Eleoteve village.

When asked about his political launching date, Kaniki expressed his excitement and encouraged everyone to attend and participate in his launching and campaign.

Meanwhile, another candidate, Jacob Kwan, who is running independently, has confirmed that his political campaign will be held on Wednesday, April 3 in Supato village.

Kwan extended a warm invitation to the voters to witness his campaign kick-off.

These three candidates will join the others who have already completed their political launches.

Former MP Alex Lionel launched his campaign under the Democratic Alliance Party (DAP) banner with a symbolic knife at Maravari village on Wednesday, March 20.

Conrad Rore, an independent candidate, also launched his campaign on the same day in Eleoteve.

Ronald Ivupitu, representing the Solomon Islands Democratic Party (SIDP), held his political campaign launch at Vonunu on Thursday, March 21.

In total, South Vella La Vella constituency will see six candidates competing for the seat.

By Alfred Pagepitu

Stringer, Western province

Former POB officer pleads guilty to multiple charges of fraud

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BY ROMINAH FAKA

A former Pan Oceanic Bank (POB) employee has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of fraud.

Shuyee Eli Yan pleaded guilty at the Magistrate court on Monday this week to 16 charges in total – four forgery charges and 12 larceny by servant charges.

Prosecution and defence counsels also submitted to the court subsequent sentencing and mitigation documents.

Court suspended the matter to April 8 to deliver its sentence for Ms Yan.

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.

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