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WEST DENIED $1.4M

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Government says no funds

BY BEN BILUA

The Government through the Ministry of Provincial has again denied Western Province of $1.4 million.

And, Western province policy-makers are rubbishing national government’s explanation as ‘lame’.

The fund is part of the 2022/2023 PCDF allocation which every province is the Solomon Islands is entitled to under the Ministry of Provincial Government Act.

In his speech when delivering Western Province’s Appropriation Budget 2023/2024, Minister of Finance and Treasury, who is also the Deputy Premier of Western Province, Calrick Runimetu said the 10th Assembly of Western Province is very disappointed that the government failed to pay the outstanding SIG PCDF allocation to Provincial Government in 2022/2023 Financial Year.

He said there was no formal explanation as to why the government has resorted to holding the funds back which are supposed to be delivered to support Western Province’s service deliveries and operations.

“The only explanation we received was that there were no funds which to us is a lame excuse,” Runimetu said.

He said the 1.4 million should stand as part of Western Province’s development budget for 2022/2023 and the fund is now foregone.

“WPG’s disappointment is that there was no written justification or reason stating why it will be forfeited. As agents of the national government, the PGs should be duly informed of such decisions.

“Further to that, these budget allocations are part of the approved appropriation ordinance and are legally binding and thus should be delivered,” Runimetu said.

He said Western Province is a strong province that has been looking at its people though the government downplayed benefits that are legally accorded to Western Province.

MID welcomes willingness by local contractors to remove potholes free of charge

Written by
Ofani Eremae
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MID Permanent Secretary (PS) Stephen Maesiola

BY NED GAGAHE

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID) Mr. Stephen Maesiola has welcome local contractors who are willing to do road maintenance along the stretch of road between Ranadi roundabout down to Henderson, East Honiara with their machines free of charge.

Maesiola was responding to calls by a local contractor to fix the road by grading it with his own machines free of charge following the worsening road conditions.

When asked by the media during the weekly media conference last Friday Maesiola said MID welcome such proposal and urged the contractors to see them.

“If any contractor is willing to voluntary work on grading the road, I am happy to see them and give them the offer to allow them to carry out the work.” Maesiola said.

He explained that Kitano company who is currently upgrading of the road was responsible to ensure that the road is in good condition for vehicles to use on a daily basis.

Maesiola said that despite undergoing the major upgrade Kitano is responsible under their contract to ensure that the road is in good shape.

Last week the paper reported that deteriorating road conditions there has forced bus owners avoiding the patch of road resulted in students and residents residing at Lunga and Henderson to walk from Ranandi to their homes.

Mr. Maesiola also added that other contributing factors such as rain also contributed to the worsening road condition.

Budget will be enough: HCC

Written by
Ofani Eremae
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HCC legal officer, Paul Inifiri.

BY NED GAGAHE

Honiara City Council’s (HCC) says that the National Hosting Authority (NHA) proposed budget to support HCC step up its rubbish collection and clean-up towards and during the Pacific Games will be enough to carry out their work plan.

HCC Legal Advisor Paul Inifiri echoed this during the media conference organized by the Prime Minister’s Office Last Friday.

Mr. Inifiri said HCC is currently working on its work plan designed as a budget before it submitted to NHA to provide funding to implement the workplan.

“To my understanding the budget from NHA should be enough for HCC to carry out its work on rubbish collection and clean-up campaign towards and during the games.” Mr. Inifiri said.

Earlier Secretary to Prime Minister (SPM) Dr Jimmie Rodgers disclosed that a proposal submitted by HCC for additional budget to complement HCC’s annual budget allocation specifically for the Pacific Games was disqualified for failure to meet government budgetary requirements.

NHA as a result has offered to support HCC with funding support.

The Island Sun had asked Mr. Inifiri how much is NHA’s funding support and whether it is sufficient for the intended purpose.

Mr. Inifiri only said that he hopes that the funding should be enough.

Mr. Inifiri did not disclose the amount and answer whether the funding will be enough to carry out the work.

Meanwhile, it is expected that HCC will have to deal with a massive work of cleaning up to 160 tonnes of rubbish in a single day in the city during the Pacific Games.

Police yet to make an arrest on Sasafa killing

Written by
Samie Waikori
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BY SAMIE WAIKORI

Police are yet to make an arrest in the killing of a man in North Malaita early this year.

Provincial Police Commander Malaita province, superintendent Lesley Kili made the statement yesterday when asked on the progress of police on the case, saying “no arrest yet made, but investigation is well underway”.

He said the incident is serious and police will ensure whoever is responsible must face the law.

The incident occurred on January 1, 2023, after the deceased left Uni’ai village where he was married and headed to Fo’ia (head road).

It is alleged that he was last seen at Fo’ia. After few days of failing to locate him, his relatives reported the matter to police.

A joint search was conducted by police and relatives, and after seven days the lifeless body of the deceased was found along Sasafa River – that borders Lau/Mbaelelea and Baegu/Asifola.

The body was retrieved by police and brought to his home village in north Malaita for proper burial.

After weeks into the incident, a reconciliation was held in Auki to settle the matter and address a roadblock put-up by relatives of the deceased at Taba’a area, blocking route to northeast.

The two MPs for North Malaita and Baegu/Asifola constituencies, Senley Filualea and Makario Tagini, and relatives organised the reconciliation, and more than $100,000 and 30 plus shell monies were presented to the relatives of the deceased.

$47m budget for West

Written by
Ben Bilua
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0

BY BEN BILUA

WESTERN Provincial Assembly has adopted a budget paper for 2023/2024 which strike a net-worth of $47,164,338.

The Appropriation Bill 2023/2024 went through second reading yesterday and will be debated today when it goes to the third and final reading.

The breakdown of the proposed budget is as follows.

The total Recurrent Revenue anticipated to collect in FY 2023/2024 is $23,188,771.

The total Recurrent Expenditure anticipated to support the Service Delivery of the province is $18,427,172.

The total Capital Revenue Anticipated to Collect in FY 2023/2024 to support the Capital Development in the Province is $23,975,567. The Total Capital Revenue anticipated to support the Capital development of the Province is $28,737,166.

US visa to be available in new embassy here: US delegation

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
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US Coast Guard Commander for Oceania Rear Admiral Michael Day, Commander, District 14 (left), National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Dr Kurt Campbell (centre) and US Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator for Asia Michael Schiffer (right). Photo credit – Mavis Podokolo

By EDDIE OSIFELO

UNITED States of America has assured Solomon Islands to offer visa service at her reopened Embassy in Honiara.

Currently, Solomon Islanders have to travel to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea or Fiji to get their visas to travel to USA.

Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, National Security Council, confirmed this to media yesterday to look into the visa issue.

“We understand that that’s what the Solomons people are working for.

“We’re going to do everything possible to get this done as quickly as possible,” he said.

Furthermore, U.S. Embassy Honiara Chargé d’Affaires – Russell Comeau said the consular services that will remain there for the time being primarily because the demand isn’t here for such services.

“To be quite frank, if we get to a point where the demand necessitates opening up, bigger, fuller concert operations, we’ll certainly look at that,” he said.

The USA was asked whether to consider visa waiver in the future like Solomon Islands is benefiting from European Union at the moment.

Campbell said his strong representative from the State Department will need to study it before making any decision on visa waiver.

“Isn’t that in the future for us as organizers considering that we don’t have many plans for visa probably that could be an obstacle.

“So, I want to just give kudos to your government, because this is an issue that your foreign minister raised directly with us today,” he said.

His eight-member delegation left Honiara yesterday to Vanuatu.

US offers more opportunities for Solomon Islands

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
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National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Dr Kurt Campbell.

By EDDIE OSIFELO

UNITED States of America has offered opportunities to help develop Solomon Islands in maritime security, education, climate change and unexploded ordnances.

This came after Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, National Security Council and his eight-member delegation met with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and his Cabinet in a bilateral meeting in Honiara, yesterday.

Speaking to media in a press conference yesterday, Campbell said they had a very positive meeting.

He said they held the first ever strategic dialogue between the two countries.

“This was important because it allowed us to go through concretely the specific issues that are important for both of our countries,” he said.

Furthermore, Campbell said they underscore that they’re extremely close to being able to welcome back the Peace Corps Peace Corps volunteers to the Solomons.

In addition, he said they made clear to Solomon Islands to begin a process to support ship rider agreements with the Solomons if there are interests.

“We’ve been very fortunate to work on that programme throughout the Pacific,” he said.

According to internet sources, shiprider agreements allow maritime law enforcement officers to observe, board, and search vessels suspected of violating laws or regulations within a designated exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or on the high seas.

Apart from that, Campbell said they are seeking specific partnerships for the university with American academic institutions to ensure that Solomon Islands students have the opportunities to advance in forestry and in Marine Studies.

Moreover, Campbell told US President Joe Biden announced a major initiative in which they will start to train the up-and-coming leaders and executive people in the governments and institutions of the Pacific in Washington DC, later this year.

“I think that we were very pleased with the discussions was very practical.

“We have a list to follow up on,” he added.

However, Campbell said there’s sometimes misunderstandings about how processes are undertaken in both of our governments and the best way to deal with those is to sit down directly and figure out how to make progress as we go forward.

“So, I would judge this visit to be very successful.

“We are following up on the commitments that we made earlier and we want to do more as we go forward,” he added.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare joined other leaders and senior representatives of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, met with the United States at the White House in September 2022.

They made a joint declaration to enhance cooperation, combat climate change, advance economic growth, and strengthen our partnership, a partnership rooted in mutual respect, transparency, and accountability.

State Government is not negotiable: Veo

Written by
Ben Bilua
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0
Billy Veo

BY BEN BILUA

PREMIER of Western Province says state government is not negotiable but is a must for Western Province.

Billy Veo made the statement in response to questions thrown to him during the Assembly Meeting on Monday.

He said the newly published policy of Western Province does spill out the strategy to slowly transforms into the federal system.

“This government is serious with the ambition and that the subject is factored in our policy.

“In my previous speeches, I echoed that we will approach the federal system slowly with thorough checks and balance to make sure we are ready for the transitions.

“In our policy, we see it fit that we must look at establishing a grown economic base before pushing for statehood,” Veo said.

He said his government will continue to pursue responsible institutions in the build-up to attaining statehood so that people can be well-informed about the pros and cons of how the federal system operates.

Sogavare assured no military facility here: US

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Dr Kurt Campbell.

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

PRIME Minister Manasseh Sogavare has assured the visiting United States delegation that there is no intention to create a military facility in Solomon Islands.

This was confirmed by the National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Dr Kurt Campbell in a press conference yesterday.

Campbell said they had raised the agreement between Solomon Islands and Peoples Republic of China to PM Sogavare.

“We do believe that for the best interests of not only Solomons but the Pacific more transparency will be appropriate and we made clear what our expectations are around the military in pacific.

“Our expectations are very clear and we receive very clear assurances from the Prime Minister that he has no intention and will not move towards creating a military facility in the Solomons that would support powered projection capabilities.

“Indeed, he focused exclusively domestic issues for the country,” he said.

The visiting US delegation arrived on Monday, March 20, to meet with senior government officials and the Opposition to reaffirm their commitment to the bilateral relationship, mutual prosperity, and sovereignty. 

CLIMATE CHANGE PROMISE

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
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0
US Coast Guard Commander for Oceania Rear Admiral Michael Day, Commander, District 14 (left), National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Dr Kurt Campbell (centre) and US Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator for Asia Michael Schiffer (right). Photo credit – Mavis Podokolo

US voices commitment to help Solomon Islands with its ‘most critical security challenge’

By EDDIE OSIFELO

UNITED States of America is committed to help Solomon Islands and other Pacific Island countries in addressing climate change.

Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, National Security Council, made the assurance during a press conference in Honiara yesterday.

Campbell said at the outset that the most critical security challenge in the Pacific is ‘climate change’.

“And so everywhere we’ve gone, we’ve heard from leaders and citizen representatives, that to be relevant we have to address the issues that matter in the Pacific,” he said.

Campbell said the biggest security issues are the implications associated with climate change.

“And we saw it through a variety of programmes, both large investments in the United States but also with partners to limit carbon emissions to deal with programs that will hopefully assist with resilience and preparations in advance.

“So we’re committed to those and we are committed to working with the Solomons and other governments as we go forward,” he said.

Campbell said the larger mission of the United States is their continuing commitment to maintain peace and stability.

“Not just in the western Pacific but throughout the entire Pacific.

“We believe that role is important,” he said.

Russell Comeau, Chargé d’Affaires of Chargé d’Affaires, states in his Op-Ed that today, USAID runs numerous programmes providing support to the people of Solomon Islands across the country.

“For example, through USAID’s disaster preparedness programme, more than 2,500 Solomon Islanders in 20 at-risk communities are better prepared to respond in the event of a disaster with climate-smart agricultural practices and inclusive hazard risk reduction and disaster preparedness plans,” he added.

Apart from that, in the declaration of the U.S-Pacific Partnership reached on 29 September, 2022, they take the climate crisis as the highest priority of our partnership, for it remains the single greatest existential threat to the livelihoods, security, traditional and customary practices, and wellbeing of people in the Pacific region, including as reflected in the Boe Declaration on Regional Security.  

“We are united in our commitment to implement the Paris Agreement and we are committed to work together to advance progress at COP27 and beyond.

“We urge all countries – especially major emitters – whose 2030 nationally determined contributions targets are not yet aligned with the Paris temperature goal to increase their ambition and align such targets with a 1.5 °C pathway before COP27,” says the declaration.

Further to that, the declaration states: “We urge all developed countries to deliver on their commitment to the goal of mobilizing $100 billion annually through 2025 to support developing countries, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation.

“We urge all countries to reduce collective anthropogenic methane emissions at least 30 percent by 2030 from 2020 levels.”    

Also, the declaration states: “We recognize the importance of international collaboration and accelerated action especially within this decade on aviation and shipping emissions, to help put both sectors on a pathway aligned with keeping a 1.5 °C limit to temperature rise within reach.”  

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