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Mala to protect its local businesses

Written by
Samie Waikori
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BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

MALAITA provincial government stands to protect locals in benefit sharing of business partnership under the provincial Business License Ordinance (BLO).

Deputy Premier who is the supervising premier, Randol Sifoni told Sun Auki this week that this was one of the objectives the MPG had established the BLO.

He made clarification on the ordinance following recent findings on applications for business license made by two shops in Auki that were deemed foggy and as a result the MPG ordered lock down of the shops.

Explaining the ordinance, Sifoni said BLO was passed by the MPG and became an ordinance or law that primarily looks into details of application for business license from the province.

Sifoni said the purpose of the ordinance was to protect locals or indigenous Malaitans by way of encouraging them into business.

He said with the recent findings, locals made the application with declaration that she/he owned the business, but later found the business was co-own by his/her Chinese business partner.

Sifoni said the applicant didn’t disclose his/her business partner in the application. And MPG’s concern on this case was on the benefit sharing.

He said although the matter was personal to business owners, the concerns were on whether the local would have good percentage from benefit sharing of the business. 

“Because under the ordinance any application for business license involving partnership between local and expatriates, local must own 90 percent benefit of the business.

“We saw this a way to protect locals to prosper in business as well their benefit will remain and help in the development of the province and country. 

“We stand by the ordinance and the provincial executive always abide to it when looking over business license application from interested people to do business in the province,” Sifoni said.

He said there were other businesses like logging that operate under regulation set by national government, however when operating in the province they must pay provincial license fee to grant their operation.

More good news for local kava

Written by
Ben Bilua
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BY BEN BILUA

Gizo

REGIONAL Kava Development Strategy which was discussed during the recent Trade Minister Meeting is a beacon of hope for local kava farmers.

Faiyaz Koya who was the Chair of the Forum Trade Ministers’ meeting and Fiji’s Minister for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport said the Regional Kava Strategy will be developed under the close guidance of the Kava Working Group that will be established in the coming months.

He said interested farmers and other agencies across the Pacific Island Forum region are welcome to express their interest to be part of the Kava Working Group.

“We had discussions on the Kava Regional Development Strategy and this has reaffirmed the cultural and traditional significance and the commercial potential of kava in the Pacific.

“The Ministers recognised the value in collectively developing the product further and agreed to develop a robust strategy and policy, not only to capture the opportunities but to safeguard its origins and ownership through various legal instruments provided for in the multilateral intellectual property treaties,” Koya said.

Kava is a promising export commodity in Solomon Islands.

Farmers in Malaita, Guadalcanal and Isabel have ventured into kava since last year following a program initiated by the government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

On November last year, a total of 60 farmers from the different wards in South Malaita, Malaita Province were trained on kava farming.

A group called Malaita Kava Revolution Movement has been voluntarily providing Kava basic training in Malaita province with the hope to help local farmers get better returns.

Similar training was carried out on Guadalcanal Province so as Isabel Province.

Mala MPA extends help beyond boundary

Written by
Samie Waikori
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Children from one of the community recipients of the water project in Ward 16 enjoy the newly installed borehole in their village. Photo supplied

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

PROVINCIAL member for ward 16 in the East Malaita constituency, Preston Faarobo Billy has offered to extend his “Clean water for life” water project to communities in neighbouring ward 15.

He told Sun Auki yesterday he had proposed five boreholes for ward 15 and will work on a budget for the extension.

Sites identified for the boreholes under the extension include; Nafinua RHC, Feraabu Christian Bible School, Atori Church, Ulubala Clinic and Faubaba.

He explained that his colleague, the MPA for ward 15 has welcomed the assistance.

“Water is a basic necessity for life and it should not deny from people,” he added.

He said people are the centre of his leadership and did not matter where they are, they deserve support from him as a public leader.

Billy said he looks forward to working with communities from ward 15 during the course of implementing the five boreholes captured under the extension of the project.

National security briefing underway

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Police officers patrolling the Western border with Bougainville. PHOTO ABC

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

OFFICIALS from the Ministry of Police, Prime Minister’s Office and Western Provincial Government yesterday discussed the National Security Strategy (NSS) and National Border Security Strategy (NBSS) action plans.

National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office John Wasi said the discussion was based on how best the national and provincial governments can collaborate and effectively implement the objectives of the strategies.

“We are interested to get their views on how the NSS and NBSS can be successfully implemented,” Wasi said.

“The strategies have already implemented since their launching last year and that our meeting today is a matter of re-coordinating and establishing greater partnership with stakeholders to leverage success,” he added.

“This discussion will also help stakeholders to know their responsibilities and obligations under the national security Strategy so as the National Border Strategy.

“Furthermore we have discussed possibilities of reviewing our existing legislation to align with provincial ordinance.

“We look at how legislation can complement each other when comes to the implementation of any national policies or strategies.”

Wasi said Western Province is the first province to have been briefed with the Strategies’ objectives and expected obligations given the vulnerability of the province to national security.

He adds that Western Province has three point of entries with high risk of national security issues and that the government see it fit to include Western Province first on the line.

“We have the border, Noro International Seaport and Munda International airport adding the province has high interest in term of investment.

“These entry points pose a greater risk for Western Province when comes to national Security,” Wasi said.

He said NSS and NBSS are DGCA’s flagship policy in an effort to safe guide the country’s security concern.

Wasi said these are first ever strategy and policy finding its way into the cabinet and were blessed by Cabinet Members following ongoing security concern in the country.

He said the task is difficult but he is confident that his team will execute the consultation and implementation of the strategies.

Man gets three years for stealing

Written by
Jennifer Kusapa
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

A man found guilty for stealing $140,000 from the Solomon Forest Association (SFA) has been sent to jail for three years.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Ricky Iomea said the offending by the man had resulted in a loss of $140,000 to the association, this is a substantial amount of money.

“This is the kind of offending where the principles of general and specific deterrence are considered important. Any sentence must send the message clear that those who breach the trust of their employers must expect immediate custodial sentence to be imposed against them especially when the offending involves substantial amounts of money,” Iomea said.

This is the case of Patrick Soeasi Maelaua who was convicted of six counts of embezzlement in relation to the offences that were committed from September to December 2016; at that time of the offending he was the accounts clerk of the SFA.

Iomea said the man’s attitude is a breach of trust, he was the accountant or account clerk for SFA and because of the nature of his employment, he was entrusted with and had access to the SFA cheque book, he breached that trust.

“Second the offending was repeated, he had engaged in this behaviour not once but on six occasions, he should have re-think his action after had fraudulently embezzled the first cheque and crashed it but he did not.

“Thirdly although the association is made up of logging companies, the offending by the accused had resulted in a loss of $140,000 to the association, this is a substantial amount of money,” Iomea said.

“The matter was instituted in court in September 2019, it is not clear why the matter was not instituted earlier, the accused has also contributed to the delay because he failed to appear and a warrant of arrest was issued on October 18, 2019.

“The warrant was executed on March 6, 2020 and the accused was remanded until he was released on bail on April 3, 2020. Non-appearance of lawyer in carriage of the matter in court at time and lack of instructions provided also contribute to the delay.

“I do not think that delay should have an impact on the sentence, the need for deterrence, both specific and general I am of the view that the appropriate starting point for each of the six counts is four years imprisonment, for each of the counts I impose a sentence of four years imprisonment,” Iomea said.

Iomea, taking into account the mitigating factors put on behalf of the accused, deducted one year from the four years, thus given the total effective sentence of three years imprisonment ‘as insufficient for the purposes of punishment deterrence’.

Dora’s case moved

Written by
Jennifer Kusapa
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

The case against owner and director of One Link Pacifika money scheme has been adjourned for next week.

It was mentioned in court for a plea to be made, however, some issues which needed sorting out forced the adjournment.

Accused, Charles Dora, is facing charges under the Financial Institutions Act 1998.

Allegations said on July 4, 2019, One-link Pacifica was registered at the company Haus under the name of Mr Charles Dora as Director and Mr Dora is the proprietor and sole trader of the OLP, he is also a manager for online mentors.

One link Pacifica scheme was described as sharing resource; however, it is a Ponzi scheme, the essence of the scheme is that investors give money towards the company, on promise there will be a higher return after 30 days of investment, the creator of the scheme then used recruiting agents (mentors) for people to come along and invest their money through them.

Prosecution alleged that Dora collects deposits from mentors by way of online deposits. Members of the public invested their money through his agencies, and the total amount that was alleged to have invested in the were around $56,440,475, those monies went missing and have not been recovered since.

Prosecution also alleged that between the period of December 2019 to March 2020, investors did not receive their money as promised. Within the period, CBSI warned public members about the operation of the scheme, that one-link Director Mr Charles Dora did not apply for a licence under the FIA to engage in the business of banking in Solomon Islands.

On March 4 2020 CBSI wrote to Charles Dora as Director of One-Link to make available to CBSI record, books or accounts relating to the business for examination within 7 working days pursuant to section 3(3) of the FIA. However, Mr Dora did not provide detail documents or failed to comply such their bank account details, receipt books and accounts books.

Later on, March 27 2020, CBSI informed Police that One-link Pacifica seem to be operating as a banking business, and does not comply with the Financial Institution Act, it was at that time investigations were made and the accused was arrested for that offence.

Partnership to strengthen sawn timber exports

Written by
Press Release
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0

IMPROVED certification standards are expected to boost the Solomon Islands’ $80 million sawn timber industry and strengthen economic recovery.

A recently signed agreement between the Value-Added Timber Association (VATA) in the Solomon Islands and the Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access Plus Program (PHAMA Plus) will strengthen quality management, traceability and legal sourcing of sawn timber.

Through PHAMA Plus, an initiative supported by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, VATA – a key member of the Solomon Islands Timber Processors and Exporters Association (SITPEA) will buy plantation timber from small, community-based plantation owners for export.

SITPEA is the representative body for the Solomon Islands value-added timber industry, a sub-set of the country’s estimated $1.6 billion forest sector.

Through the support also, two critical certification managers will be hired to improve standards and help SITPEA members to maintain access to existing high value export markets and meet international certification and quality standards.

Australian High Commission First Secretary Economic, Louisa Macdonald Hall said, “Australia is proud to support this project to ensure that Solomon Islands can meet international certification standards and produce timber that is ethically and legally sourced from communities in a sustainable manner. 

“This partnership has the potential to boost industry revenue and contribute to Solomon Islands’ economic growth.”

Association representative, Julius Houria, said certification standards demonstrated that their timber had been legally sourced from forest to end-user, in compliance with local laws and regulations.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has motivated our members to work towards economic recovery in securing market access and create new opportunities,” Houria said.

“Australia and New Zealand are our major timber buyers and represent 70 percent of the timber market valued at SBD60 to SBD70 million dollars per year. In order for us to continue to supply to these markets, we need certification standards which we anticipate achieving by end of this year.”

Steven Wong, Director of Pacific Export Alliance Group said PHAMA Plus support was critical.

“Only with the support of PHAMA Plus is the local timber industry able to push forward with legality compliance ensuring that Solomon Islands’ timber can continue to sell our key markets in Australia and New Zealand and beyond.”

Improved teak plantation management in the Solomon Islands will raise the quality of timber and allow for higher returns for growers.

More than 7700 hectares of teak were planted in the Solomon Islands in 2019 but the forests remain a significantly untapped resource as community teak farmers have been unaware of opportunities and they have lacked aggregation, harvesting, logistics, and marketing skills to improve the value of their product.

The Solomon Islands’ timber industry provides employment for 1500 people and supports the livelihoods of about 9000 rural families involved in harvesting around the country.

PHAMA Plus will organize a knowledge sharing workshop targeting other exporters, policymakers and donor agencies working in the timber sector to share the learning of the round log teak export.

This will encourage other exporters to understand the cost-benefit of the export of round teak. It will also help the Ministry of Forests to organise its teak conservation and replanting activities with communities as larger volumes are harvested and sold for export.

Plans to connect PPIA with Schedule 2 of Constitution

Written by
Brian Lezutuni
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The office of the Registrar of Political Parties.

BY JARED KOLI

The Political Parties Commission is planning to connect the Political Parties Integrity Act (PPIA) 2014 to the Constitution of Solomon Islands in the current review of the PPIA through amending Schedule 2 of the Constitution.

This aims to put in measures to address gaps within the PPIA that was experienced after the 2014 and 2019 elections.  

Political Parties Commission Registrar Jasper Highwood Anisi said this is so that the Governor General instead of calling for election of Prime Minister, invites the party or coalition with majority numbers to form the executive government.

One of the major loopholes in the Act was in the case of Ownership Unity Responsibility (OUR) Party which registered after the election in April 2019 and eventually form the current ruling government under Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

Sogavare ran as an independent candidate, but straight after the election he rallied many of the other Member of Parliaments (MP) who stood as independents behind his newly re-formed OUR Party. He was then nominated for Prime Minister.

Following this, MP for Aoke Langalanga and rival Prime Minister nominee then, Matthew Wale claim this was illegal under the PPI Act and use the courts to stop Sogavare becoming prime minister. However, the High Court of Solomon Islands later ruled in May 2019 that the case be struck out.

Chief Justice Albert Palmer in Paragraph 86 of his ruling states that: “The problem with the PPI Act 2014 is that while it has noble and admirable intentions and objectives in its inception to promote integrity in the development and operations of political parties in the country, it had one fundamental flaw or defect in its enactment.

“While it sought to determine the process of nomination of a Prime Minister pursuant to the requirements (s) of the PPI Act, it miserably failed to institute a corresponding amendment(s) to the relevant provisions of the Constitution, in particular, Schedule 2.”

This is one of the reasons why the commission is planning to connect the Act with Schedule 2 of the Constitution so that so that the Governor General instead of calling for election of Prime Minister, invites the party or coalition with majority numbers to form the executive government.

Below is an extract of Schedule 2 of the Constitution under the heading “Election of Prime Minister.”

Calling of election meeting

1. As soon as possible after a general election of members of Parliament, or whenever there is a vacancy in the office of Prime Minister, the Governor-General shall convene a meeting of members for the purpose of electing a Prime Minister by issuing to each member a notice stating-

(a) the date, place and time of the election meeting;

(b) the place at and the date and time on which nomination papers are to be delivered to the Governor-General which time shall be not later than four days before the date appointed for the election meeting.

Meanwhile, Mr Anisi said what OUR Party does after the 2019 national general elections was legal based on the fact that it meets all the legal requirement under the PPIA 2014.

“The only thing is that OUR Party has not participated during the last election period. In order to express to the people (voters) their visions and explain what was under their Party Policy intentions. This allows the voters opportunity to vote on their Policies.”

“We want the parties to do that, however this was not foreseen during the initial drafting of PPIA.  Hence, we are reacting to it,” he said.

Mr Anisi informed this paper that one of the other areas under this review is also to set a time frame for registration of new Political parties before and after the election.  

He said the legislation failed to address this issue by not having time frame in place to register Political Parties.

He said the timeframe is to ensure that political parties are duly registered and able to participate fully during an election period.

As part of the review process, due nationwide consultations will be undertaken, to ensure the voices of our people are being captured as part of this process.

New USP BA programme target range of communication roles

Written by
Brian Lezutuni
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0
USP main campus in Laucala, Fiji.

BY JARED KOLI

The newly launched Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Communications and Media programme of the University of the South Pacific (USP) offers students to choose specialist subject that will open doors to a wide range of communication, media and marketing roles.

Students can create a specialist subject out of courses from a wide range of disciplines, in order to pursue an area that is both interesting and of relevance to the student’s future career plan.

This is according to USP’s Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics Dr Fiona Willans in a newly developed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet of the programme.

The information had it that if students want to target a communication and media role in a particular field, they could choose 4-6 courses that will help them build up knowledge in this field.

“Your CV will show a desirable qualification in Communication & Media, and you can show that you have chosen to focus your specialist subject in this particular area,” it says.

It stated that possible fields to consider include Environment, Health, Inclusive Education, Marine Science, Nutrition, Pacific Arts and Heritage, Pacific Policing, Social Work and Tourism.

In addition, if students want to target a communication and media role in NGOs or civil society organisations, they could choose 4-6 courses that engage with political and societal issues in general, enabling them to work across a range of fields at a later date.

The possible subjects to consider for this scenario include Governance, Politics and Sociology.

Moreover, if students want to add additional skills and competencies to their CV, rather than specialising in any particular field or sector, they could choose courses that would enable them to learn a new language, or develop skills in business or technology field.

The possible subjects to consider for this scenario include Accounting, Business Information Systems, Chinese, Fijian, French, Hindi and Management.

“If you want to pursue any other passion or favourite subject, safe in the knowledge that the BA Communication & Media is already a desirable qualification…

“You can use your specialist subject to study 4-6 courses in any field of your choosing. This can be a good way to follow your heart and study any discipline in as much depth as you want.

“This will also likely open up new opportunities that you were not aware of when you first enrolled, since you will be taking subjects that you already know you are interested in,” the newly developed FAQ sheet stated.

For job prospects of the new BA programme, the information had it that job advertisements for roles in Communication and/or Media are common.

“Quite often, these advertisements specify the preference for a first degree in Communication, so this programme will give you an advantage. The programme will also make you eligible for many roles in media, digital media, marketing, public relations and communications management.

“The BA in Communication & Media includes job application training, a work placement, and a range of digital, communication and research skills,” it says.

It adds the courses for specialist subject must be approved by one of the programme coordinators during the first semester.

Prospecting students are told that any subsequent changes they wish to make must be approved.  Students must ensure that they meet the pre-requisites for any courses that you choose for your specialist subject.

USP new BA programme can be completed in any of its campuses

Written by
Brian Lezutuni
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0

BY JARED KOLI

The newly launched Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Communications and Media programme of the University of the South Pacific (USP) can be completed from any of its campuses across the Pacific region.

This is according to USP’s Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics Dr Fiona Willans in a newly developed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet of the programme.

The information had it that the BA Communication & Media is a prescribed programme of 24 courses with with most courses are offered in at least two modes.

“This means you can take advantage of face-to-face opportunities at Laucala, or you can study entirely online, or you can combine the different modes,” it says.

The programme is offered for full-time students and part-time students.

Full-time students can complete the whole programme in three years, taking four courses each semester.

Part-time students should note that each course requires approximately ten hours per week of study. You should therefore only take on more than one course around your work commitments if you have this much time available.

The programme also gets students ‘workplace-ready’ with job application training, a workplace attachment, and a range of digital, communication and research skills built in.

“You can use the specialist subject either to target a communications role in a particular field (e.g. Pacific Heritage and Arts, Marine Science, Inclusive Education, Nutrition …), or to target a range of roles in NGOs or civil society organisations (e.g. Politics, Sociology, Governance …), or to pick up additional skills that look good on your CV (e.g. a new language or useful business skills), or simply to follow your love and study a subject that you’re passionate or inquisitive about, safe in the knowledge that a BA in Communication & Media will open doors to a wide range of jobs,” said Dr Willans.

Applications are now open and new students may join the programme in Semester 2 this year.

Continuing students may switch to this programme and cross-credit any courses they have already completed.

The programme requirements for the BA Communication & Media include UU100 -Communications & Information Literacy, UU114-English for Academic Purposes, JN101 – Introduction to Journalism, JN103-Media Law & Ethics, LN111-Introduction to Language Studies, MG101 Introduction to Management and two courses at 100-level from an approved specialist subject.

In the 200-level or year 2, students will undertake UU200 -Ethics & Governance, UU204-Pacific Worlds, JN201-Print & Online Journalism, LN216-Language Use in the 21st Century Pacific, MG206-Marketing Principles & Strategies plus 1 or 2 of: JN202-Radio Broadcasting, JN203-Television Journalism, LN211-Structure of English plus either 1 or 2 courses at 200-level from the specialist subject.

In the 300-level, students will take JN303-Journalism Production, LN317-Qualitative Analysis of Texts, MG303-International Marketing plus 3 or 4 further courses from: JN301-International Journalism, JN302-Journalism Research, LN311-English in the Pacific, LN315-Corpus Linguistics & Language Technologies and MG301 Management of Service Operation plus either 1 or 2 courses at 300-level from the specialist subject.

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