China's ambassador and former Isabel Premier, Lesley Kikolo
ISABEL Province last week engaged in an online dialogue with Shandong province of China.
The event was conducted at the Chinese Embassy in Honiara.
In attendance were Premier Leslie Kikolo, Deputy Premier & Minister for Community Affairs Toni Vahia, Provincial Secretary John Lokumana and Chinese ambassador Li Ming.
On the other side of the video link were senior officials from agriculture, trade & commerce agencies of Shandong Provincial Government of China.
Chinese companies of infrastructure, energy, fishery, and university representatives also participated in the dialogue.
Premier Kikolo said this was the first ever video webinar between two provinces and congratulated on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Communist Party of China.
He made an excellent introduction about Isabel Province.
“Isabel is well known for its beautiful scenery, abundant resources of fish, agriculture, mines and government owned parts of land to attract investors and tourists, but lack of capital, human resources and infrastructure are major bottleneck of development,” Kikolo said.
He emphasized that Isabel province firmly supports SI-China relationship based on One China principle.
He also thanked Chinese Embassy for facilitating the online dialogue and looked forward to further cooperation and exchanges with Shandong Province.
Senior government officials from Shandong Province separately briefed Kikolo and his officials on the economic and social development of Shandong and spoke highly of the prospects of cooperation between two provinces.
Shandong province is also famous for its strong economy, huge market, advanced technology, especially in areas of agriculture, infrastructure, maritime resources & technology.
Shangdong is the third largest province in terms of GDP in China compared with other 30-plus provinces.
Shandong province looked forward to more dialogue and cooperation with Isabel province in the future, including fight against COVID-19, trade & investment, people-to-people links.
Representatives from Shandong companies also expressed their interest and willingness in the provincial relationship.
Ambassador LI Ming gave a briefing on the fruitful outcomes in the past two years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Solomon Islands.
He highlighted the area of provincial cooperation and said the economic structures of Shandong and Isabel provinces are highly complementary with each other.
“The Chinese Embassy stands ready to continue to assist two provinces in enhancing dialogue, promote mutual understanding and making progress in cooperation,” Ming said.
He also announced during the dialogue that the Chinese Embassy together with Shandong Province will donate a certain number of desktop computers to high schools in Isabel province.
Malaita premier Daniel Suidani has called for the swearing in of the newly appointed deputy premier, Glen Waneta.
This call goes head-on with an advice by the Attorney General that Premier Suidani’s recent removal of his former deputy, Randol Sifoni, was Ultra Vires.
In labelling Suidani’s act as Ultra Vires, AG John Muria Jnr is claiming that the Premier does not have the power to do what he did.
However, in response to AG’s letter, Suidani wrote a letter dated August 26, 2021, advising the speaker of Malaita provincial assembly to go ahead and swear-in the new deputy.
Premier Suidani made the following points;
1. My decision of 23 August 2021 to reduce the composition of the Malaita Provincial Government Executive from 17 to 16, which resulted in Hon Randal Sifoni being
a. relieved of his duty as Minister and
b. relieved of his duty as Deputy Premier remains in effect.
2. My decision was based on power vested on me as Premier under sections 20 and 21 of the Provincial Government Act (PGA) and this remains in order until anyone has taken that to Court and the Court declares otherwise.
3. I exercise my power under the principle that any exercise of power by the person holding the power is assumed to be in order unless reversed by the High Court. In this case, my action as Premier is valid and effective until anyone has challenged that in the High Court and the High Court declares it to be invalid.
5. The Malaita Provincial Government Executive members are to continue performing their function unless a High Court order declares that they should stop.
6. At this stage, the Attorney General’s advice or indeed any advice by anyone is a mere opinion and cannot form an injunction against the implementation of the actions determined by the Premier.
7. The removed Minister and Deputy Premier, Hon Randal Sifoni, is encouraged to take up the matter at court if he feels that his rights are unlawfully or unfairly interfered with.
8. In absent of an order from the High Court on that, Hon Randal Sifoni has been effectively terminated and no longer has any power to exercise in that capacity. Any attempt by Hon Sifoni to remain in office is null and without legal basis.
9. As required by the PGA, I have advised the Minister of MPGIS that Hon. Glen Waneta will take up the role of Deputy Premier. The Minister of MPGIS as required by the PGA section 20(4) must make the appointment in accordance with the advice from the Premier.
10. The Police must maintain order and preserve the integrity of the Malaita Provincial Government.
11. I therefore request that you administer the Oath of Office to Hon Glen Waneta MPA for ward 8 as the new Deputy Premier of Malaita Provincial Government.
In a separate statement Suidani referred to AG’s letter as his own legal opinion, and “he should take the matter to the High Court so that the High Court can decide on the question of whether the Premier has acted outside or beyond his power.
“Alternatively, Hon Sifoni can challenge the Premier’s decision in court if he feels his right was denied or he was unfairly removed from office.
“In the absence of a High Court ruling the Premier’s exercise of the ‘power to remove’ his provincial Minister who is also the Deputy Premier is deemed effective.”
Centres within the Honiara Emergency Zone will resume covid-19 vaccination as of today.
Dr Christopher Becha, health director for Honiara City Council Health sector, confirmed this in a recent press conference organised by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services prior to the recent 36 hour-lock down.
“Our vaccination centres at Kukum, Honiara City council and at Children’s Park Rove will open back to the public and resume vaccination roll-out in Honiara as of today, Tuesday 31st 2021,” Becha said.
Incident Controller for Ministry of Health and Medical Services Dr Nemia Bainivalu said vaccination roll-out did not happen during the lockdown because movement was restricted.
“But definitely if in any event of community transmission, we are planning to do vaccination through the set zones within the Honiara Emergency Zone,” Bainivalu said.
Vaccination roll-out in Honiara Emergency Zone stopped on Saturday afternoon before the lockdown.
Police Response Team (PRT) patrolling the Honiara City road
BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
Police have reported 20 arrests in the first night of the lockdown.
They’ve also reported the detention of a landing craft, owned by loggers, on the same night.
The 36-hour lockdown began at 6pm Sunday, ending at 6am this morning.
Covid-19 Police Operations Commander, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Simpson Pugeava said 18 suspects were arrested for breaching the lock-down regulations and two suspects arrested in relation to kwaso (homebrew) issues.
“Those twenty suspects arrested are currently at Central Police Station Custody awaiting further dealings. It is alleged that some of the suspects arrested were related to the rock throwing on the government vehicles on Sunday night.
“Investigation into those arrests still continues and ask those people who might have any information to come forward and assist police.”
He stressed police will not tolerate anyone who breaches the lock-down orders.
Attorney General John Muria Junior in a recent radio talkback prior the lock-down confirmed that the exercise is legal and has hefty penalties if breached.
“If you breach the 36 hour lock-down you will be arrested. Penalty for breaching the lock-down is $15,000 or five years imprisonment,” Muria said.
Police are expected to provide a lockdown update later today.
An officer checking a vehicle at the Ranadi round about checkpoint
Point Cruz road during the lockdown on 30 August 2021
Officer controlling vehicle coming to checkpoint at hotbred Kukum round about
Community Represenetatives who participated in Sehge
The Bills and Legislation Committee (BLC) has successfully concluded its inquiries into the Public Health Emergency Bill 2021 on Tuesday 24th August 2021 for the Choiseul and Western Provincial region.
It took almost a week and a half to conduct the hearings, unfortunately BLC was not able to conduct hearings in Nila, Shortlands because of a restriction order by medical authorities, however, BLC might consider going to Shortlands later.
BLC members with the Speaker(far right) and Members of the Choiseul Provincial Assembly infront of the Provincial Assembly house
Hearings were only conducted in Taro, Gizo, Munda and Seghe for the selected front line workers, government agencies that served there and various community representatives from surrounding villages.
BLC was also able to pay courtesy calls to Provincial leaders before conducting hearings on the ground.
Acting Chairman of the BLC, Mathew Wale, told witnesses that the hearings allowed Parliament to engage with the public, thus, this process is significant to the Committees and Parliament.
“We would like to hear your thoughts on this very important piece of legislation in this western part of the country.” Wale said.
Witnesses in the Western and Choiseul provinces willingly share their observations and provide the Committee with adequate information with evidences concerning their own communities and their border with Bougainville.
A female community representative asked a question during the inquiries in Gizo
They informed the Committee that the object and reasons of the Bill are genuine except that some clauses need to be re-looked at or amended.
Many recommendations were also made by various sectors like the biosecurity, customs, police and immigration officers who were also present at the hearings.
People also shared that they were not properly consulted to better understand the Bill, while a few managed to skim through before actually submitting their evidences to the Committee.
Details of the Western and Choiseul Province’s inquiry will be made known to the public after all hearings are completed and a report of evidences and recommendations is compiled and tabled in parliament for debate.
BLC Committee Members – from left Hon. Lily Maefai, Hon. Stanley Sofu and Hon. Matthew Wale (Acting BLC Chair) during the hearing in Gizo.
The team returned back to Honiara on Wednesday 25th August 2021 and are now in preparation to visit the Central Islands Province this weekend.
Hearings for the Central Islands province will be conducted in their provincial headquarter, Tulagi on Tuesday 31st August 2021.
Travelling Committee members to Central province are;
Hon. Matthew Cooper Wale, Member, Acting Chairman
Hon. John Deane Kuku, Member
Hon. Lilly Maefai, Member
Hon. Rick Nelson Houenipwela, Member
Hon. Derrick Rawcliff Manuári, Member
Hon. Peter Kenilorea Jr, Member
The Committee will be accompanied by National Parliament Office support services staff.
THE National government has recently announced an increase of funding for the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) program for provinces by 2022.
That news means there will be more projects implemented in the provinces under this PCDF program which so far has proven itself through measures being put in place and importantly through the benefit it has for rural communities.
Minister for Provincial Government (MPGIS), Rolland Seleso relayed the announcement during his address to hand over a newly built Government funded six-block classroom to Faiako school on Thursday.
“You may be aware that the prime minister has announced good intentions of increasing the PCDF starting from the 2022 budget.
“This is resulting from the tangible impact he has seen as he went round the entire country to attend the second appointed day celebrations of the respective provinces,” he said.
Seleso strengthened the statement saying his ministry will press on behind the intention to ensure it happens.
“On my return to Honiara, I will be submitting a cabinet paper on the policy proposal made by the prime minister for cabinet endorsement.
“My ministry is also available for any technical support that Malaita may require to improve its human capacity to support its service delivery objectives,” he said.
On that note, the minister congratulated Malaita province for meeting the nine minimum conditions in the recent assessment of the PCDF that has qualified the province to receive $5.6 for its capital budget 2021/2022.
“I must inform you that 60 percent of this money has already been transferred by the government into the Malaita provincial government’s account for its projects,” he said.
Seleso said since the inception of PCDF in 2008, the Malaita provincial government has so far delivered 190 projects across the province at a total cost of about $60m
He said most of these projects have gone a long way in improving the living conditions of the people who are benefiting from them.
Seleso commended the Malaita provincial government for the efforts they had rendered to improve the living conditions of its people in Malaita province.
PROVINCIAL Member of Assembly for Ward three (Buma) in Malaita Province, Martin Fini has thanked the national government through the ministry of provincial government (MPGIS) for funding a classroom building to his people in-and around the Faiako School.
Speaking during the handing over of a six-block classroom building facility to Faiako School on Thursday, Fini thanked the national government for the wonderful gift saying it will greatly impact the life of people in his ward.
He said the gift is a sign of working together between all stakeholders involved in the project, especially the MPGIS that resulted in the achievement.
“It is true that through the partnership between the provincial and the national government and our efforts that we have in this project,” Fini said.
On that note, he pleads to the recipients of the project, especially Faiako Community High School to see it as blessing for the nourishment of the education of the children in the ward in generations to come.
Fini said with that, it is important to respect and have a sense of ownership to take care and maintain the facility in a more appropriate manner.
“Such facility is beyond our means and capability to fund, so let’s be thankful to the government through the PCDF program for funding this facility to Faiako CHS.
“I behalf of my people of ward 3 (Buma) must congratulate you Minister Seleso, your PS and the national government for this wonderful achievement.
Group photo with the vaccines at the back following successful decontamination by health team
BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
THE government of Japan through its embassy has donated 56,000 Astra Zeneca vaccines to the country.
The donation was officially handed over by Ambassador Morimoto Yasuhiro to Pauline McNeil, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services on Friday.
“56,000 thousand more of AstraZeneca vaccines doses have just landed provided by the government of Japan through the COVAX facility,” the statement from Ministry of Health said.
It further adds that the same flight also offloaded 50,000 Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Government of Australia.
Ministry of Health and Medial Services said they thanked these two partners for their ongoing support towards the country’s health sector in assisting the country’s effort to fight against the deadly virus.
DMP performing in Australia during their 2019 tour
BY ELTON LONARATHA JNR
Solomon Island renowned boy band Doorman’s Projects (DMP) has made it again into the final round of three days online voting in the World’s largest online music competition – Djooky Music Award.
In their first World’s largest online music competition last year they came second with 5,060 votes.
They also won the Best Reggae song and Best Afrobeat song.
In a bid to make it to the top the band need more support from music lovers and followers across the country through online voting which already started yesterday.
DMP’s band manager and promoter DJ Victor Lopez who is instrumental in raising the profile of the local artist calls for support from the public and followers to cast their votes for the band.
He said the online voting will be done online via the Djooky App. The voting window will last for 96 hours.
“My message to fans, family and friends in the Solomon Island is to support DMP in this season Djooky Music award by voting 10 points everyday towards the song entitled “Like it”.
“Last year season the band made a breakthrough as the first Solomon Islands band to be named among the top 3 of the international music competitions jamming it on to 2nd position representing the country. With the support of the nation, we can definitely have a shot at winning this season music competition.” The Promoter DJ Victor Lopez said.
Lopez added that the current version of Djooky online Music competition saw DMP, Mossa, and Small Jam are qualified for the Global Voting Rounds after successfully passed both national and continental rounds of voting with flying colors.
“The band was named the best Reggae Artist while Mossa with his song – Kanigho booked a third place in last session’s Global Voting Round and he scooped the award for the best ‘Afrobeat’ genre. DMP, Mossa & Small Jam placed Top 3 of the National Round, and moved onto the Continental round having topped that round which moved all three ‘Solomon Island’ artists into the Global Voting Round that has currently open yesterday” he said.
Meanwhile Lopez stated that this is the world’s biggest online song contest –and for the first season we didn’t win the main prize but we came close too close. Launched last year, the Djooky Music Awards (DMA) was designed to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels and promote global excellence.
“The contest involves the National Voting Round which takes place to find the top three Entries of each country who will qualify for the Continental Voting Round which includes countries in North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and Oceania.
“The top three Entries from each continent will then compete for the main prize in the Global Voting Round, and thereafter winners will be announced and awarded,” he said.
“I AM the eldest in the family and I feel a sense of responsibility to make something of my life so that I can be able to support my family.”
The sentiment shared by Mike Toni from Veramogho village in South Guadalcanal is not far from what most Solomon Islanders are also thinking of when hoping to get into the Labor Mobility Scheme.
The Labor Mobility Scheme is an objective of Pacific Island political leaders to increase access for Pacific Island country workers to Australia and New Zealand.
With this employment opportunity in higher economies, Solomon Islanders are looking into this scheme as an opportunity to improve their living standards and productivity.
But the process to get into the system is not as rosy as it sounds.
“I have been here since last week trying to get a passport,” says Toni.
Most of those trying to get into the Labor Mobility Scheme are those trying to get a passport for the first time.
The process to acquire a passport is one that is not easy.
With the influx of people seeking new passports, the passport section is now trying to cope with the high demand.
“I submitted my documents in May this year. Because I reside in Auki, I have to go back to the province while waiting for the process to complete.
“I arrived last week with the hope that my passport will be ready for collection but this was not the case,” another passport applicant said.
“The reason given was that the system was down since then, which was why I am not able to get my passport yet,” he added.
Meanwhile Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Riley Mesepitu says the system for passports has been down since May.
“Work to fix this issue has to be done remotely from a company in Malaysia.
“They were not able to get it done till recently. So unfortunately, we have to start the process again for some whose names were lost from the system.
“However, they should be in the priority list,” Mesepitu says.
Edmond Wasi comes from Malaita province and was not able to get through the process yet, let alone the first stage.
“I reside at Burnscreek with relatives. I am the second last child in a family of seven.
“My parents are in Malaita. I went to school mostly in Malaita.
“I finished school at form 6 and went on to do plumbing at a vocational school at Henderson.
“I did my practical session at the National Referral Hospital and when the call for applicants into the Labor Mobility Scheme came out I decided to try my luck,” Wasi says.
Talks of nepotism and corruption seemed to be rife among those congregating in front of the Commerce Ministry’s gates.
Claims were made that security and government officers are bribing applicants to pay extra to get their application through above the rest.
The allegations did not go unnoticed by the Ministry.
“We have lodged an investigation into the claims and currently we are on it to see if the allegations are true,” the Commerce PS says.
He says this is gross misconduct by his staff if this is true.
“Applicants should not be paying any fees to the staff.
“All fees for the passport including a fee for fast service should all be paid to the IRD unit and not directly to any staff here,” Mesepitu says.
However, he says because of the high number of passport applicants, even for the fast fee service will not work.
He says applicants should report any staff trying to seek payments from them to push their applications forward.
The Ministry of Commerce has since made an announcement that the passport ‘fast fee’ service is suspended for the time being.
The Ministry says applicants should only be paying $1000 for their passport.
“Spending a whole week here just to even fill in the form to get a passport is not good enough.
“The process needs to be reviewed so that it is a win-win situation for all,” an applicant says.
He says as applicants under the labor mobility scheme, it is a sacrifice they are willing to take for the sake of their children.
“There is a saying that for you to enjoy tomorrow you have to sweat today,” he added.
For Mike Toni, most days spent in front of the Commerce office are without food.
He resides at Henderson and usually only has his bus fare in his pocket.
“I was a nursing student at the Solomon Islands National University (SINU). I did my Diploma in Nursing studies but was not able to complete my education because I did not have the money to pay for my tuition,” Toni says.
He says the only hope he has now is to get into the Labor Mobility Scheme so that he can be able to support his parents and siblings in the village as well as himself.
For Ambrose Wasi he also shared the same sentiments.
Ambrose Wasi keeping his fingers crossed
“My aim to find employment under the Labor Mobility Scheme is so that I can support my family and myself,” he said.
Both Wasi and Toni are in their early 20s and are keeping their fingers crossed to be selected for the Labor Mobility Scheme
The other applicant used to work for the European Union. He says now, it is quite difficult for him to secure formal employment.
“I fully commend the government for this initiative. However, these setbacks in the processes are the frustrating part for us,” he says.
Applications for the Labor Mobility Scheme closed on Friday 20 August 2021. It is believed that about 7000 to 8000 Solomon Islanders have submitted their applications.
Australia has since decided to double the number of Pacific workers in their country.
An additional 12,500 Pacific workers are expected to take up jobs between now and March 2022 in agriculture, aged care, accommodation and hospitality.
The Australian High Commissioner in Solomon Islands, Dr Lachlan Strahn tweeted that at the rate in which workers are being deployed, by the end of the year, there will be 2,500 Solomon Island workers in Australia.
