The Health ministry (MHMS) says the country is still free of Monkey pox, adding that the risk is low.
MHMS announced this in its media update yesterday on the ministry’s efforts to prepare for this disease.
“No cases of monkeypox have been found in Solomon Islands, so the risk catching it is low. However, persons travelling from areas in countries where monkeypox outbreaks are occurring should monitor themselves for symptoms.
“If you have been to an area where cases have been reported and develop any of the symptoms of monkeypox, immediately isolate yourself, follow the prevention measures and inform the surveillance unit at the Ministry of Health by calling 23650,” Ministry of health statement said.
The statement stressed that symptoms of Monkeypox include fever, headache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, skin rash and blisters on the body usually with one to three days of developing fever.
How to prevent it (monkeypox) are avoid contact with infected animals, humans or materials, practice good hygiene (handwashing), wear a mask, cover your cough and people with symptoms should isolate until they have recovered the health statement said.
A 20-year-old man who stole on two separate occasions against different complainants at Kukum shopping area in east Honiara was sentenced to three years and five months yesterday by the court.
Carlos Gao was found guilty of two charges of simple larceny in relation to the incidents which occurred in April 2022.
On April 8, 2022 morning the complainant, Silas Feliz Qopu, and his bus driver, parked their bus in front of L&J Hardware shop at the Kukum seaside area.
The complainant got off the bus and went into that Hardware shop to purchase some building materials.
He returned to the bus and waited for the materials to be delivered to his vehicle.
He then decided to get out of the bus to help with the loading of the materials.
So he removed his brown bag from his neck containing $18,800, NPF cards and driver’s licence and placed it onto the passenger’s front seat, and went to assist with the loading of the materials.
It was when he was busy with loading the materials that Gao approached the bus and removed the basket with the money and other personal items.
The second incident occurred while Gao was on bail. The complainant on this case is a Bangladesh national and on May 27, 2022 he put his Black Redmi 115 lite mobile phone valued about $4,300 on the counter and was looking for his keys in the interior of the shop.
It was when he was busy looking for the keys that the defendant entered the shop, grabbed the phone and escaped.
Principal Magistrate Augustine Aulanga in sentencing Gao said enough is enough, the court must send a strong message that carries a tangible result of objectively discouraging and decreasing stealing and its related offences in Honiara and in the country.
“That is, if you steal large amount of money or valuable properties of others, you will go to jail for a long term, nothing more nothing less.
“The defendant herein had caused unhappiness and anger to the person who had lost his $17,000 and the owner of the mobile phone.
“He is a thief and a bad citizen. He had no respect to other people’s money and property.
“He should be ashamed of himself. Through his own criminality, he just recorded his name in the criminal records of the Royal Solomon Islands Police which could impede or jeopardize his prospects of employment in the light of the ongoing overseas employment opportunities such as the Labour Mobility or Seasonal Work scheme,” Aulanga said.
He said there is no need for a scientific study or anecdotal evidence to convince any Solomon Islander living in Honiara that stealing is now prevalent in and around the city.
“It is an everyday occurrence on the streets, shops, public and private spaces, and in the neighborhoods.
“It is my considered view that past sentences imposed by the courts are out of contemporaneity and outdated.
“They need to be adjusted and increased accordingly.
“I say this because they have failed to deter stealing related offences in the country. There is no fear at all by thieves to carry out stealing even in the face of the public.
“And for them, going to jail is simply like a holiday break.
“Those past sentences on theft are just a laughing stock or sheer judicial messages that do not have any real deterrent effect on likeminded offenders.”
Magistrate Aulanga adds, “since the defendant is a thief, he ought to be punished by the law despite he is a 20 year old young person.
“He decided to steal and should be prepared as well to face its consequence. It is recognised that youths who committed felonious crimes should not hide behind the cloak of youthfulness merely to escape punishment.”
Survey claims they are behind intention to extend parliament
By EDDIE OSIFELO
LOGGERS and miners are believed to influence the DCGA Government to extend Parliament life from four to five years.
About 46 percent of respondents strongly agreed in a survey carried out by Transparency Solomon Islands between March 16 and April 1, 2022.
The interviews were by phone, face to face and online reaching 1,248 respondents.
On Facebook group pages 930 respondents were reached. A total of 2,178 respondents participated in the survey.
“The DCGA government has been strongly influenced by loggers who get away with breaching our laws.
“The investors in the Extractive Industry have got the government system, the Executive Government, and public institutions in their pockets,” they said.
“They have corrupted our timber rights processes, the courts and those in leadership and it is not beyond them to have a hand in this.
“The fact that almost (80 percent) of all the logs harvested in Solomon Islands are exported to China, there is no doubt they argued a connection here, all the more reason for the extension not to be allowed,” they said.
The 27 percent strongly disagreed with loggers, miners having an influence on the proposed extension.
“They are of the view that unless the people stand up and say enough is enough, the loggers regardless of who is in power will always find a way of corrupting them and having the government system, officials, politicians eating out of their pockets and dancing to their tune,” they said.
“The country needs a complete change of leadership.
“The Prime Minister has shown that he has very little regard for people’s views, suffering, the loss of their resources, and inequitable sharing of benefits arising from the exploitation of their resources and needs to step down,” they said.
“Loggers, miners, businesses should refrain from influencing Solomon Islands political outcomes.
“Stronger laws are needed to address current experiences with these unscrupulous investors,” they said.
“It is time government admits and acknowledges that most benefits from the exploitation of the natural resources of this country are not poured back into the development of Solomon Islands,” they said.
“The influence of certain loggers, they say, has become very powerful.
“Just most recently Mines minister Bradley Tovosia granted Johny Sy of Bulacan logging company to log the protected Tubi species in Choiseul, and customary resources owners of tubi in Isabel were prevented by the High Court from exporting the tubi that was logged using fake gazette,” they said.
“This in their view shows just how deep the loggers and miners have corrupted our government system, and public institutions, including the judiciary,” they said.
—TSI Survey hits hard on Parliament extension plans
By EDDIE OSIFELO
A survey carried out by Transparency Solomon Islands (TSI) found that majority of total respondents (83 percent) strongly disagreed with the proposed extension of Parliament from four to five years.
Only four percent strongly agree with the proposed extension.
The result shows that be it in their age groups, children (13-18 year), youths (19-34 years), adult (34 plus years), men and women, the majority do not believe extending Parliament term from four years to five years is a good idea, nor is it in the interest of citizens, country, and democracy.
“In their view it will set a very bad precedent.
“Extension of term of Parliament will not make any difference in terms of programme implementation and any positive change nor delivery of services,” survey found.
Many believe the reasons given by the DCGA Executive Government are not good enough and irrelevant.
“The Constitution is the Supreme Law of Solomon Islands and should not be tampered with for an Executive Government that has become too comfortable in its number and has failed miserably to consult the citizens on its many controversial policies and decisions.
“It is of great concern to them that they are being left out of the debate nor consulted,” the survey stated.
“This is an election issue and a matter best left to the people to decide, at election time.
“DCGA political party must put this policy in this election campaign policy and platform to the people at the 2023 National General Election,” Survey said.
“It should not pre-empt the right of the voters to choose.
“It is irresponsible and unacceptable to jump the gun before election 2023,” it said.
“A government that is irresponsible, non-transparent, and with no accountability to the people of Solomon Islands is not needed in Solomon Islands.
“A “representative government” as always argued by the Prime Minister but one that is manipulated by him and the politicians in his camp for their own political agenda, an Executive Government that got into power as a result of undue influences on elected representatives,” it said.
Furthermore, of the Facebook groups 930 respondents, 94 percent were against the proposed extension of Parliament and only 4 percent agree with the proposal.
TSI conducted the public opinion survey on the opinions and views of the citizens of this country on the proposed extension of the parliament from 4 to 5 years between March 16 to 1st April 2022.
The interviews were by phone, face to face and online reaching 1,248 respondents.
On Facebook group pages 930 respondents were reached. A total of 2,178 respondents participated in the survey.
Of the 1,248 respondent’s 42 percent are female, and 58 percent male.
On age cohort’s 9 percent of the respondents are age groups 13-18 years (children), 50 percent are age group 19-34 years (youth), and 41 percent are age group are 34 plus years (adults).
SASAKOLO beach looks like any other in the South Pacific: a strip of sand buttressed by coconut palms, low green hill rising in the distance.
Located near Kafulapu community, this unassuming patch of land is one of the most important—and perhaps the largest—leatherback nesting beaches in the South Pacific.
From October through February each year, a dozen or so turtles emerge from the waves each night, hauling themselves scooch by scooch up the beach.
They measure up to 6.5 feet long and weigh up to 1,300 pounds, dwarfing the rangers that look on from a distance.
Leatherbacks, like many other turtles, are long-distance ocean travelers.
The same turtles that can be seen by divers off the coast of southern California cross the width of the Pacific Ocean to nest on the narrow, palm-fringed beaches of the Solomon Islands.
A Last Chance for Leatherbacks
While the species is considered vulnerable at a global level, the subpopulation in the Western Pacific are faring far worse than others.
Scientists estimate that this population has declined to just 1,400 breeding adults, leaving them critically endangered.
Without action, it will continue to get worse.
Leatherbacks, like many other turtles, are long-distance ocean travelers.
By 2040 years, scientists predict that the Western Pacific subpopulation will be whittled down to just 100 nesting pairs each year. “They’re crashing hard, and it’s going to continue unless we arrest the decline,” says Peter Waldie, a fisheries scientist with The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
But conservationists can’t protect these turtles without data: where, when and how often they nest, how many hatchlings clamber from sand to sea and how many nests are washed away by rising tides.
TNC is partnering with the Solomon Islands government to start gathering these data from critical nesting beaches in Isabel Province, with funding from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
In late 2021, TNC-trained rangers resumed monitoring at Sasakolo for the first time in more than 10 years.
And, in a first for the Solomon Islands, women rangers will now join the monitoring program.
Breaking Barriers to Save a Species
Strict gender roles dictate much of Melanesian culture.
“There are specific jobs for men and women, which creates a balance in communities,” explains Madlyn Ero, who leads TNC’s gender equity work in the Solomon Islands.
“And most of the time the roles that women play are domestic, they are in the house with children, cooking and other domestic-type work in the village.”
Meanwhile, men dominate jobs that require technical expertise and make the majority of the decisions for family and community.
Ero explains that getting women to attend meetings about conservation or natural resource management can be difficult, even when those decisions impact their lives on a daily basis.
“Unless you specifically require women to attend, only men will turn up,” she says.
Rangers collect data and tag a nesting leatherback turtle.
But as conservation organizations like TNC build gender equity requirements into their work, the tide is slowly shifting.
Five women attended TNC’s turtle ranger training in November, and three of those women are now working at Sasakolo.
Ero says that all three women showed up on the first patrol—even though they weren’t scheduled to work that evening—to shadow more experienced rangers and continue learning.
By far the biggest challenge, though, is convincing men in the community to accept that women are capable of the work.
“We have to work hard to change how men think, so they realize for themselves that women can do this work,” says Ero. Usually, they need to see it to believe it.
Ero and her colleagues are consulting with the community to learn what else they can do to facilitate more female rangers to join.
The goal is to build the program to a 50/50 gender parity.
To get there, Ero says they will need to take into account the women’s safety, figure out ways to help offset domestic duties while women are working and build a separate family-friendly facility so women can bring their children and partners with them while they work.
Long Nights on the Beach
Work as a ranger means long nights walking the beach by torchlight, searching for the tell-tale signs of a nesting turtle: tire-like tracks up and down the beach, or a very large, dark lump of heaving, snorting, salt-covered turtle in the dark.
When they find a female, the rangers wait patiently while she digs a hole in the sand and lays her clutch of eggs.
If they get the timing right, rangers can count the number of eggs in the nest as they drop from her cloaca.
Having laid her eggs, the female leatherback returns to the sea.
Then they mark the location, before gathering data about the female turtle and attaching a small metal identification tag to her flipper.
Rangers on these patrols also check the older nests, looking for signs of hatching or disturbance.
Solomons Islanders can legally harvest turtle eggs for food, and many nests are predated by people.
Eventually, Waldie and his collaborators at NOAA hope to incorporate satellite tagging at Sasakolo to learn where these turtles travel during their non-breeding years.
All of this data will feed back to TNC and NOAA, who will use Sasakolo as an “index beach” to better understand what is happening to the Western Pacific subpopulation.
Sasakolo beach.
“The tricky thing with turtles is that they are a very long-lived species, so you need long-term data for 9 to 10 years to really understand a population’s nesting trend,” says Irene Kelly, NOAA’s sea turtle recovery coordinator for the Pacific Islands.
She says that most of the data on the Western Pacific sub-population comes out of Indonesia, with very little data available from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
“The West Pacific leatherback turtle population is a difficult one to study because nesting areas are so remote and logistically challenging to access,” she says.
“But the more we look, the more we learn.”
Data on how often females return to nest, the number of nests laid and hatchling survival rates will all feed into NOAA’s population models and status assessments.
Those, in turn, will help the agency better protect leatherbacks by refining management measures to mitigate interactions between turtles and US commercial longline fisheries.
They will also inform NOAA’s work with international governments and partners to help conserve the species.
Kelly emphasizes that, at the end of the day, NOAA alone can’t save the western Pacific leatherbacks.
“We need and rely on partnerships,” she says.
“We don’t want to just collect the data and leave, that’s not sustainable or realistic.
“We need to engage with communities and local partners to build capacity, so they have ownership over the project, which builds longevity.”
“We’re fighting against extinction at this point” Kelly adds.
“But there’s still hope and enough turtles, we believe, that the western Pacific leatherback population can recover. We haven’t hit the tipping point, yet.”
And that’s exactly what TNC and the community at Sasakolo are doing: fighting against extinction, one turtle at a time. – Source: The Nature Conservancy
During high tide, water overflows on Buala wharf in Isabel Province. Pappa Steeviey
By EDDIE OSIFELO
The threat of sea level rise on the sea coasts of Solomon Islands is real.
The country lies east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and 3,280 km to Australia, has nine big provinces and more than 900 small islands.
Most of the 700,000 population live alongside coastal areas in Solomon Islands.
Evidence shows some parts of the country have hit hard by sea level rise.
At Buluabu village in Lilisiana, Langa Langa lagoon, Malaita province, the water has reached the floor level of some houses in the village.
Sea intrusion into Buluabu village in Langa langa lagoon in Malaita province. John Selogaga
While at Buala wharf in Isabel Province during low tide, the sea level drops very low but at high tide, the salt water
Furthermore, Solomon Star female reporter, Esther Nuria published a story and photos on the impact of climate change on people of Walande in South Malaita.
She covered the story after attending the Anglican Mother Union meeting in Walande.
The story landed her the first prize at the end of the six weeks National Security Reporting Course organized by Media Association of Solomon Islands and Australia Pacific Security College.
David Hiba Hiriasia, Director of the Solomon Islands National Meteorological Services in reference to sea level rise, said La Nina contributed to this as well.
Hiriasi said the trade winds push more warm water on our side of the Pacific and so sea level is expected to be higher than average
COP 26
Solomon Islands hoped for a decision to reach on Long Term Finance at United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC), Conference of Parties 26 at Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom from 31 October to 13 November 2021.
Deputy Secretary (Technical) of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Chanel Iroi, said the endorsement of the LTF would not only provide financial leverage to struggling small island states but also honor the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage which was one of the resolutions of Paris Agreement.
Iroi said Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the effect of climate change in the coming years reemphasized the need for world leaders to endorse and roll out the LTF to vulnerable countries.
He said ground work on Loss and Damages must continue at the same time global leaders must make the right choice to reduce emissions so as facilitating financial resources towards mitigation and adaptation programs.
Iroi said priority areas for slow onset events and non-economic losses on the international stage while incorporate “limits to adaptation” in National Adaptation Plans and other GCF proposals was important.
According to CarbonBrief, the “Glasgow Climate Pact” that emerged from the summit was welcomed by many for its commitment to doubling adaptation finance and requesting countries to present more ambitious climate pledges this year.
“Others were disappointed that this COP once again failed to provide vulnerable nations with the money to rebuild and respond to the unavoidable impacts of climate change.
“Much was also made of a last-minute intervention from the Indian environment minister Bhupender Yadav that saw language around moving beyond coal weakened in the final text,” CarbonBrief said.
It said the call to “phase down” unabated coal use is, nevertheless, unprecedented in the UN climate process.
COP 27
Solomon Islands and other Small Islands nations are preparing for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 7-18 November 2022.
Australia Foreign Minister, Penny Wong relayed positive messages to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand and Solomon Islands to tackle climate change.
Senator Wong told media following her visit to Solomon Islands that Australia is committed to reach 43 percent by 2030 and plan to host a United Nations Climate conference with the Pacific Islands nations.
“That would lead to in terms of renewable energy, that is 82 percent of our energy being renewable being provided from renewable energy sources. So, we are serious about this,” she added.
Furthermore, Senator Wong said other thing she want to talk with Pacific Islands countries is stronger engagement potentially holding Conference of the Parties to try and press issues.
“When I was Climate Minister and still today, I think the voices of smaller island nations have been powerful and authentic in the UN negotiations,” she added.
However, the new Labour government is to adopt a policy to deal with coal and fossil fuel in Australia.
Australia is showing commitment to address climate change through infrastructure design for projects.
Tony Telford, Infrastructure Management Leader in Hub for Solomon Islands Infrastructure Program said the impacts of climate change is real in the Solomon Islands after their scoping visits to Malu’u (Malaita), Buala (Isabel) and Seghe (Western).
“Just focusing on climate change and disaster resilience, certainly climate change is a very real threat and it is something that is considered at the very start of any design process.
“At Malu’u, the shoreline coming closer, so that is something we need to consider at the very start of the design process,” he said.
Furthermore, Telford said the other thing that they noticed at Buala, there is a wharf next to the market and looking at photos, the wharf is under water at few times each year.
He said that is another visible impact that climate change has and forefront on design process.
Strong message from UN GS
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations speaking ahead of the COP27 said the answer lies in renewables – for climate action, for energy security, and for providing clean electricity to the hundreds of millions of people who currently lack it. Renewables are a triple win.
“There is no excuse for anyone to reject a renewables revolution.
“While oil and gas prices have reached record price levels, renewables are getting cheaper all the time,” he said.
“The cost of solar energy and batteries has plummeted 85 per cent over the past decade. The cost of wind power fell by 55 per cent.
“And investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than fossil fuels,” he said.
The UN GS said of course, renewables are not the only answer to the climate crisis.
He said nature-based solutions, such as reversing deforestation and land degradation, are essential.
“So too are efforts to promote energy efficiency.
“But a rapid renewable energy transition must be our ambition,” he said.
“As we wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the benefits will be vast, and not just to the climate.
“Energy prices will be lower and more predictable, with positive knock-on effects for food and economic security,” Guterres said.
“When energy prices rise, so do the costs of food and all the goods we rely on.
“So, let us all agree that a rapid renewables revolution is necessary and stop fiddling while our future burns,” he added.
While world leaders are still finding ways to phase out coal and encourage big nations to adopt renewable energy, the low-lying islands in the Solomon Islands are sinking as well in the Pacific.
The island of Ontong Java in Malaita Outer Island.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
CLIMATE change is changing the social fabrics of the tiny atolls of Malaita Outer Islands in Solomon Islands.
The small community which practised communal system, starting to see it eroding because of the changing calamities that affects their way of live, scares food security due sea level rise, land disputes between families and increase criminal activities among youths.
Malaita Province government and National Government have been talking about relocation policies to relocate the islanders to mainland Malaita Province, but they struggled to implement them because of land issues and people reluctant to leave the atolls.
As part of adaptation programmes, Anglican Church of Melanesian has worked with Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to initiate food security projects, but was a setback because of salt water intrusion.
Jenny Asua, who comes from the island confirmed to Island Sun in an interview in the past, the women of Ontong Java in Malaita Outer Islands used to harvest sea shells not far from the shores to sell for incomes.
She said today, the women abandoned their activities because the sea level rise has covered the harvesting areas.
“The women have to paddle far out of the shores to dive the sea shells,” Asua lamented.
She said this really makes life difficult for them compare to past years when the sea level was low.
As such, Asua said the women depends on men and boys to find money through harvesting of bech-de-mers or sea cucumbers.
Ontong Java is part of Malaita Outer Islands constituency which also includes Pelau, Luaniau and Sikaiana.
According to the statistics in the April 4 elections in 2019, there are 200 people living on Pelau, 1000 plus on Luaniau and 600 on Sikaiana.
The number on the islands normally reduced after the elections because the people returned to Honiara, capital of Solomon Islands.
MOI people are part of the Solomon Islands archipelago in the South Pacific, which her population expects to reach the 700,000 mark after the Census this year.
The elder of Ontong Java explains the salt water intrusion into their island that spoilt their kakake plant. Ontong Java
The country has a land mass of 28,896 km2 (11,157 sq mi) and the 22nd largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 1,589,477 km2 (613,701 sq mi).
However, the oceans are turning against the low-lying islands in the Solomons which are now vulnerable to climate change.
Fr Nigel Kelaepa, Mission Secretary of Anglican Church of Melanesia, said climate change is real for his people because it affects the economy, social and spiritual aspect of the island.
He said food security is an issue on the island because crops don’t grow well because the salt water has destroyed the swamps on the island.
“Our people depend on foods coming from Honiara and shops.
Fr Kelaepa said they cannot engage in fishing because you need freezers and blocks to keep them and transport to Honiara.
On the social front, Fr Kelaepa said due to the population increase on the island, there is also rise of land dispute among families because they compete for space to plant their food.
He said the communal system practised in the past has slowly eroded as family members resort to individual lifestyle as a means of survival.
“Families don’t share food with close relatives now,” he said.
Furthermore, Fr Kelaepa said there are also rise of criminal activities among youths, marriage breakdown among couples and underage marriage on the island.
He said youths are seen as bread winners because they get money from diving bech-der-mers.
“Some families allow their girls to marry the boys as means of survival because they can support them through earning money through diving bech-de-mers,” he said.
On the spiritual front, Fr Kelaepa said on Sundays, only old people and children attend the church service, while youths stay away.
Since 2010, Anglican Church of Melanesia and Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) have initiated food security projects on Ontong Java because crops like kakake and taro were affected by the salt water that intruded in their gardens.
The project under SPREP was called the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) which involved the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
However, Fr Kelaepa said the foot security project by SPREP and ACOM did not work out on the island because the crops did not grow well on land.
He said it is still the fear of the people on the loss of garden crops that will affect their local diets.
ACOM with the help of University of New South Wales in Australia and University of Southampton in United Kingdom have commenced a project on environment and climate change on four sites in Honiara.
The four sites were Selwyn, Red Beach on Guadalcanal and Walande and Fanalei on South Malaita.
Fr Kelaepa said under the projects, poles were placed on the four sites to collect the rise of the seas.
“The data collected can be shared to the government,” he said.
As part of adaptation, he said the church plans to plant self-resilient crops on the atolls like bed fruits, Pacific Yams and coconut that grow at low level.
He said this project is to address the food security crisis on the islands.
Furthermore, out spoken activist, Lawrence Makili said the Atolls have been used as marketing tool by the national government in international forums for many years now.
Makili said there needs to be autonomy for the Atolls to negotiate with Government and international donors on addressing climate change affecting his people.
Moreover, Pastor Geoffrey Alacky, said a non-charitably group calls Alliance of Vulnerable Islands Across our Nation is formed to negotiate with Government and donors on climate change issues affecting them.
He said the group is expected to launch its constitution soon.
However, Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani said climate change is a big issue that the national government can handle it because it will involve relocation of people to another land.
Suidani said the province is currently negotiating with landowners to relocate people living on vulnerable islands to mainland.
“For example, the people of Kwai and Ngongosila have relatives living on mainland.
“We can negotiate with them for the people on the island to move inland,” he said.
Suidani said the people of Fanalei and Walande have already moved in land in South Malaita.
For the people of MOI, Suidani said his government is still to find land for them.
Moreover, Director of Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Hudson Kauhiona said climate change on the Atolls is very complex because it involves land issue when it comes to relocation.
Kauhiona said currently, there is no specific policy or strategy to deal with climate change on the Atolls.
However, he said past governments and current government have allocated $1.5 million for the Low Carbon Emission Programme and Solomon Islands Climate Action Programme in the national budget.
Kauhiona believes one option the government can take as part of relocation is to build a second home in urban centres that are closer to schools, health care and employments for relocation.
Solomon Islands government has presented the country’s case of climate change in regional meetings and international meetings like the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC), International Conference on Climate Change in past until today.
As a Small Islands Developing State (SIDS), Solomon Islands is part of the Association of Small Islands States (AOSIS), which includes countries in the Pacific and Caribbeans.
The future of Solomon Islands and members of AOSIS look bright if they see the global average temperature rises are limited to well below 1.5C; and that parties must reduce emissions by 45% below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 95% come 2050.
This should be complemented with adequate support for capacity building, technology transfer and a comprehensive, equitable and robust outcome.
All in all, the Atolls people of MOI are leaving in the reality of the climate change which already impacted their social, economic and spiritual lives.
Their only hopes if worse comes to worse is for the people in authority to relocate them to the mainland of Malaita province and the landowners to embrace them in their settings.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure Development, Manasseh Maelanga, hands over a new hilux to Renbel Premier, Japhet Tuhanuku, while Renbel MP, Dr Tautai Angikimua Kaitu'u looks on.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
RENNELL and Bellona Provincial government will find it easy to deliver its services on land transportation on the island.
This was after Ministry of Infrastructure Development donated a new brand hilux to the province in Honiara yesterday.
Minister of MID and Deputy Prime Minister, Manasseh Maelanga said the hilux is funded under MID that looks after transport.
He said MID donated the new hilux to Renbel following request from its government to assist them in its administration work.
Premier of Rennell and Bellona Province, Japhet Tuhanuku thanked MID for the assistance and said it is gift that breaks the heart of the people in the province.
Tuhanuku said they will use it to do service delivery to the people of Renbel.
Wood remains Solomon Islands top export to New Zealand
BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
WOOD remains top of Solomon Islands exports to New Zealand valued at $10.,159 million in 2021.
In 2020, wood exports to New Zealand dropped, after a steady progress in 2019 but in 2021 they bounced back significantly.
Second on the list of top exports is coconut oil export, followed by canned tuna, cocoa beans and chocolate, flour, meal and powder.
Coconut oil exports have steadily increased since 2019, accelerating in 2021 to $1.154 million. In 2019, exports of cocoa beans and chocolate wer valued at $56,663.00 rising in 2020 to $87,663.00
Similar trend has been seen for canned tuna. Canned tuna export has shown progress in 2020 and 2021.
Exports of Canned Tuna were valued at $102, 728.00 in 2020 and $273,674.00 in 2021.
Flour, meal and powder exports also showed growth in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Flour, meal and powder export were valued at $24, 018.00 in 2019, $107, 414.00 in 2020 and $181,731.00 in 2021.
The total value of Solomon Islands exports to New Zealand generated from these commodities by year are as follows; and $8.883 million in 2019, $8.246 million in 2020 and $11.873 million in 2021,
Speaking to Pacific Journalists earlier this week, Pacific Trade Investment New Zealand, Trade Commissioner, Glynis Miller said Solomon Islands is rich with natural resources yet to find their footprint at the international market.
She said frozen agricultural products – which for one New Zealand supermarket chain is set to grow by 10% in 2 years is an immediate opportunity.
Miller said the future for Solomon Islands export is in fresh produce and kava as well food and beverages.
She said Pacific Trade Investment New Zealand will visit Solomon Islands when international border opens and meet with businesses on the ground as well as alongside governments to improve the country’s export.
(L-R) New Zealand High Commissioner Jonathan Schwass, Acting PS of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Barney Sivoro, and PS of Ministry of Finance and Treasury McKinnie Dentana with the signed funding arrangement.
A funding arrangement of NZD$550,000 (SBD$2.8m) to support the tourism sector in Solomon Islands was signed on Tuesday at the New Zealand High Commission, between New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.
A statement from the NZ High Commission said the agreement will support the recovery of the tourism sector after the challenges that have accompanied the pandemic.
“It will support the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to continue working with operators to use COVID-19 safety protocols and keep visitors safe; drive the development of tourism products and minimum standards, including investing in key national tourism assets ahead of the Pacific Games; and improve sector coordination,” the statement said.
“The aim is to drive a growing, sustainable, and inclusive tourism sector in Solomon Islands,” it added.
The agreement is part of a wide range of work underway to support the recovery of the tourism sector.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with support from Strongim Bisnis, have trained operators in COVID-19 safety protocols, so that venues are ready to open their doors as tourists return.
New Zealand will also support technical advice and grant funding to Tourism Solomon Islands, to drive marketing and online communications, as well as small grants to tourism businesses through Business Link Pacific.
High Commissioner Jonathan Schwass noted the importance of partnership in rebuilding the tourism sector.
“New Zealand has been supporting tourism since 2017, because we see the tourism sector as critical to economic development in Solomon Islands, particularly in the provinces,” Schwass said.
“This arrangement represents a new chapter in New Zealand’s support to tourism, and we are excited to be seeing this work progress,” he added.
In acknowledging the support, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Barney Sivoro thanked the New Zealand government for the assistance, and noted that it is timely as the country looks forward to the opening of international border in July.
