Home Blog Page 825

Zobule: scholars have obligation to contribute to society

Written by
Charles Kadamana
-
0
Part of the students who graduated from KGVI yesterday.

BY CHARLES KADAMANA

Every Scholar has the moral obligation to contribute to society which can make a difference to the world and improve life.

This was highlighted by Dr Alphaeus Zobule guest of honour at the King George Six graduation ceremony yesterday.

Dr Zobule in his reflection on the theme “Equipping, Resilience and Scholars” suggest the theme comes with responsibilities.

That means the responsibility of any scholar is to Acquire, Accept and Apply knowledge to make impact in life, add values, know how to do things and apply knowledge to help others.

Dr Alphaeus Zobule presenting the form six Arts Dux prize to Samuel Sisimia

He said a student who acquire knowledge about a subject is a scholar, a student who is awarded a scholarship is a scholar so therefore somebody who knows the subject well and acquire knowledge to be somebody who is knowledgeable in the subject is a scholar.

“So, every student and teacher in their own rights are scholars by definition so all parents and guardians have all the reason to be here to celebrate today,” he said.

He further elaborates that to acquire knowledge involves the pursue of knowledge, gain knowledge and more than that know how to do things.

Form seven students provide entertainment

He said to accept knowledge means to allow knowledge to make impact in one’s life, values, characters if knowledge is to make difference in the world it must make difference in the scholar. More than that it must be accepted in the heart, strengthen the attitude, character and shape a life

He said when Scholars apply knowledge it means to use it to benefits others like a student scholar applying knowledge to help others and a teacher scholar applying knowledge to help the students.

From left, Primrose Yanda, Wilmina Belo, Charlyn Andrew and Keren Jessy proudly display their certificates

By saying these he believes that every scholars have the moral obligation to contribute to the society and make a difference in the world to improve life.

“By that I simple mean everyone should make an attempt to make a difference in this world, in the society to improve life and that may involve second opportunity to those who don’t have the first opportunity, it may mean building something that can build the community, thinking of solution to issues and creating jobs,” he said.

SUIDANI HITS BACK

Written by
Samie Waikori
-
0
Premier of Malaita province Daniel Suidani

Files no-confidence motion against Speaker and deputy

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

Auki

MALAITA Premier Daniel Suidani has submitted a motion of no-confidence against the province’s Speaker and his deputy.

The motion was filed by Suidani on Tuesday this week, a day after Speaker Ronnie Butala announced having received notice of a motion of no confidence against Premier Suidani by the non-executives.

Speaking to Island Sun yesterday, Mr Butala welcomes the motion against him and his deputy.

According to the letter, Premier Suidani said:

“I, as the MPA for ward 5 and the Premier of Malaita Provincial Government, I hereby give notice of a motion of no confidence in the Speaker of Malaita Provincial Assembly in accordance to S.O. 116 as read with S.O. 118 of Standing Order of the Provincial Assembly of Malaita province.

The specific Teams and grounds for the lack of confidence in the Speaker are as follows;

1, The Speaker in the previous Motion of No Confidence against me 12 months ago acted contrary to S.O 152 Open Ballot voting. He instead ruled during the vote on that motion to adopt secret ballot voting, which is contrary to S.O. 152.

2, The Speaker in the previous MONC against me was not impartial in conducting the meeting. He was colluding with the movers of that motion to remove the premier from office.

3, More recently, the speaker acted contrary to my advice to administer the oaths of affirmations of office according to the Stand Order 9 of the Malaita Provincial Assembly. This has resulted in the matter now being contested in the High Court.

4, The Speaker is not impartial in exercising his function and is colluding with certain MPAs to move a motion of no confidence against the Premier.

As the head of an Elected Assembly, the speaker is duty-bound to decide independently on Assembly’s practices, procedures and processes following the Standing Orders and Provincial Government Act (PGA) 1997.

Instead, the speaker’s recent decision not to administer MPA oaths contradicted some of his past decision on similar matters.

As a result of specific issues that have been highlighted, the speaker is not impartial or neutral in exercising his duty. His actions bring the reputation and respectability of the assembly into disrepute.

Thus, this motion of no confidence against the Speaker is to restore the sanctity of the Assembly to ensure it is a respectable and impartial institution.”

Speaking to Island Sun yesterday, the provincial clerk Matthew Maefai confirmed his office receiving notice of Premier Suidani’s motion.

Maefai says he will wait for the speaker to arrive back in Auki before issuing a notice and date to table the motion in the provincial assembly.

Meanwhile, Butala welcomes the motion against him and his deputy, saying:

“I was informed on the motion of no confidence against me and my deputy speaker from Auki yesterday and my office is looking forward to facilitate it through the normal process.

“I respect the democratic rights of Premier Daniel Suidani for filing in the motion of no confidence and I and my deputy speaker welcome it.”

Suidani is also facing a no-confidence vote the non-executive bench filed against him Monday this week.

The motion has been scheduled for debate on 27 October 2021.

Dodo Creek land up for tender by MHLS

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
-
0

By EDDIE OSIFELO

THE Land Board in the Ministry of Lands, Housing & Survey has tendered the land that hosts the defunct agriculture research station at Dodo Creek, Central Guadalcanal.

The 15.58 hectares of land is registered as Parcel 192-019-005/      Lot 31 of LR.83/ R at Dodo creek.

According to MLHS advertisement on Island Sun, the Perpetual Estate is owned by the Commissioner of Lands with no encumbrances.

MLHS said the land has been disused for more than 20 years and the government has no plan to redevelop the site.

The Ministry said squatters have reoccupied the former government quarters and built their own houses in the area, and there is at least one grave site in the area.

“Tenders are hereby invited for a 75-year Fixed Term Estate over this land.

“The successful bidder is expected to accept the land as it is, and will be fully responsible for any persons already occupying the land,” MLHS said.

The Ministry said no alternative sites will be offered in lieu of this property, regardless of any difficulties encountered.

“Preferences will be given to tenders for tourism and/ or agriculture development of the land, and for partnerships for example with original customary landowners.

“There is no set or minimum Premium price for the land and annual land rent will be set as 1 percent of the unimproved capital value of the land, which is yet to be determined,” MLHS said.

Commissioner of Land, Alan McNeil said all government ministries were asked if they wished to develop the land, and none came forward.

McNeil said the successful tenderer will be responsible for the squatters, and they will have to convince the Land Board that they have the right and appropriate approach.

“The decision on the successful bidder will depend on the Land Board, so I cannot predict whether it will be a ‘big investor’ as you put it,” he added.

The research station at Dodo creek winded up its business following the ethnic conflict from 1998-2003 on Guadalcanal.

Gov’t housing entitlement sliced

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
-
0

By EDDIE OSIFELO

MINISTRY of Public Service has sliced the housing rental entitlements for its employees.

This cost-cutting measure is set to take effect next year.

The new arrangement sees a level 1 public servant eligible for $1,500 monthly rental.

While the highest post holder in the government, SS3, is eligible for $4,500.

Permanent Secretary, Nego Sisiolo said their salaries will be untouched.

Sisiolo said the SIG will pay its employees with Public Service Housing Assistance (PSHA) specifically to support them rent a house.

He said Honiara-based officers who have and lived in their own accommodations will now be able to use the PSHA to improve their existing properties.

“Officers who rented houses at higher rate are expected to negotiate rental rates with their landlords to have  the rates fall within their respective PSHA allocated rate,” he added.

Sisiolo said this policy change sensitises fairness on housing assistance to all officers and is leaning towards efficiency in public service as there will no longer be cumbersome paper works on tenancy administration as we currently experience.

However, some public servants have complained that the rental is too small which could land most of them in low-cost housing on the outskirts of the city.

Malaita to complete kava training soon

Written by
Samie Waikori
-
0
Kava plants in the highlands of Central Kwara’ae.

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

MALAITA provincial agriculture office will soon complete its kava pre-processing training for the province.

Provincial supervising chief agriculture officer, Mr Dennis Tafea told this paper six out of eight proposed trainings have already completed for the province.

He said the purpose of the training is to ensure farmers understand the pre-processing stages of the kava product, which can determine quality products for market.

Tafea said most kava farmers only understand the early stages of kava production; nursery, planting and caring for the kava plants.

He said the stage from harvesting that is the pre-processing stage is where the weakness of most farmers lie and this is where the training targets.

Tafea said so far they completed three trainings for southern region, one for eastern, one for northern and another one for central regions.

He said the remaining two kava pre-processing trainings will be for northern and central regions.

Tafea said a total of 240 participants have attended the six training so far and they expect them to share the knowledge learnt with their colleague kava farmers in the province.

He said the kava pre-processing training is funded by the national government through the ministry of agriculture (MAL) towards kava development in the province.

DCGA pledges more investment in agriculture

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
-
0
PM Sogavare and his delegation visiting the noni stall

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

Government has promised to commit to increasing its investment in the Agriculture sector.

This was revealed by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare during the launching event of the 10-year Agriculture Sector Growth Strategy and Investment Plan earlier this week.

“Be rest assured that this government is fully committed to progressively increase our investment in the Agriculture sector now that we have a plan to guide us on how and where will we put our income to,” Sogavare said.

He said this strategy recommends reforming and restructuring the Ministry of Agricultures and Livestock so it can effectively deliver especially the extension services infrastructure like fuel experimental stations.

“Our goal is to grow our subsistence small holder farmers to become to become commercial farmers. Our strategy as well is designed to facilitate nation-wide implementation involved both the public and private sector including farmers, their organisations and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO’s) supporting the farmers,” Sogavare said.

He said it also involves other crucial implementation partners, our international development partners, CSO and religious group.

“On this note allow me to thank all our development partners in our Agriculture sector development journey all these years,” Sogavare said.

Minister condemns alleged killing of seven-year-old girl.

Written by
Press Release
-
0
Minister for Women Youth Children and Family Affairs Freda Rotutafi Rangirei.

THE Minister for Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs Freda Tuki Rotutafi condemns in the strongest term the brutal killing of a young girl at Kolombangara Island, Western Province. 

Police media report stated the seven-year-old girl went missing on her way home from school on 14th October and was discovered dead on 18 October.  

 “I share my heartfelt condolences and deepest sorrow to the immediate family and relatives of this young child and those perpetrators must receive the toughest punishment under the Law of Solomon Islands,” Minister Rotutafi said in a statement issued yesterday.  

The Minister said the horrific act of taking away the life of an innocent child and any forms of violence is a serious crime and is not accepted and must not be tolerated.   

 “Every child including girls should be able to grow up safe and secure wherever they are – at home, at school and in their communities and deserve respect as any other individual.”  

She calls for more collective effort to stop any forms of violence against children whether it be physical or sexual abuse and others. 

Minister Rotutafi urges all actors including Government agencies, Non-government organizations, Churches, Schools, Community leaders and parents to act and help create safer environment for all children. 

“National and Provincial leaders, church leaders, community leaders, teachers, parents including men and boys must come out and speak against violence against children including sexual abuse. 

“Whilst the Government is committed to ensure that all children are protected from any form of violence and abuse at home, school, community and our society, we acknowledged the need to strengthen thegood traditional values and practices that help to provide for the care and protection of children and respect for women and girls.”

WPG Education authority condemns killing of girl, 7

Written by
Ben Bilua
-
0

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

WESTERN Province Education Authority has condemned the gruesome killing of the seven-year-old girl in Kolombangara last week.

The victim was a student of Vaosau Sepe Primary School.

In a statement to Island Sun Gizo, Principal Education Officer of Western Education Authority, Freedom Tozaka described the action as “beyond normal human being’s reasoning”.

He said the sad incident reinforces the need for the government to improve access to education by bringing schools closer to homes.

Tozaka adds that the proposed Child Protection Act should be fast tracked, similarly more awareness should be made on the Family Protection Act.

“The Western Province Education Authority strongly condemns the brutal act of murder that has happened to one of our little girls aged 7 of Vaosau Sepe Primary school on Thursday, Oct 14, 2021.

Principal Education Officer, Freedom Tozaka

“This innocent child was struggling for her future to be one of our human resources.

“As Western Province seems to be expressing very high rape cases and child abuses we do strongly call to the public to stop touching our little children and do show respect of caring and loving.

“We also call to Solomon Islands Government to provide more resources on the Child Protection Act and Family Protection Act so that awareness from the shores of Solomon Islands and to jungles must be known to these important tools.

“We call on all key partners to work together and make awareness especially, Ministry of Women, Children Affairs, MEHRD, Police, Unicef, Save the Children and others partners.

“On behalf of the Western Province Education Authority and all children of Western Province we deeply share our deepest sympathy to one of beloved future human resources to the Parents and family members whom they lost their very love one,” he said.

Island Sun understands that two suspects are being questioned.

CAUSE builds new Jacob’s ladder for Jericho residents.

Written by
Press Release
-
0
Jericho ladder

A NEW 270-meter long Jacob’s ladder (concrete stairway) is currently being constructed at Jericho community of Central Honiara.

It starts from the main road at the top and stretches right down to the community along the valley.

The project commenced construction in August and expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The construction is being undertaken by members of the Jericho community who trained under CAUSE Project’s 7-day Life-Skills Training.

A statement from CAUSE said of the 22 workers, 12 are female members while 10 are male. The project is valued at 120 thousand dollars. 

“The technical design has incorporated the provision of safety rails along steep sections to ensure safety of community members traversing this stairway every day,” the statement said.

“Jericho is a growing community and have faced difficulties in accessing essential services at the town centre because of the poor and hazardous state of the common foot trail servicing the whole community specially when it is soaked by rain,” it added.

The statement said CAUSE access infrastructures are designed to bring access convenience to daily users.

“During hazard events it essentially supports evacuation, facilitate emergency relief operations during disaster events and help accelerate post-disaster recovery efforts.”

This project is implemented by the CAUSE Project under Honiara City Council and funded by World Bank. 

WPG COVID-19 team heading to Rendova

Written by
Ben Bilua
-
0

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

WESTERN Province’s COVID-19 vaccination team is heading to Rendova to carry out vaccination this week.

In an interview with Island Sun Gizo, Director of Western Province, Health and Medication Authority Dickson Boara said sites have been identified for people to get their vaccination.

He adds that those eligible for the vaccine will get the jab.

Boara said vaccination programme in other parts of Western Province are still ongoing.

He said Western Province’s vaccination teams have dispatched to Marovo, Noro, Vona Vona Lagoon and now at Rendova.

Boara also said, vaccination centre at Gizo is still open for public to get their jab.

He said vaccination rollout programme in Western Province has been successful with few challenges.

Boara reiterates his call on the public to get their jab as soon as possible.

“We are racing behind time and it is important that we must get the vaccine. Note, that the government is likely to open the border when we reach the expected percentage people getting the vaccine and this is why it is important for you to get vaccinated to protect yourself and your families,” he said.

1...824825826...1,690Page 825 of 1,690