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Fotana tribe offers land for airport

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
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Allan Siau of Fotana Tribe in East Fataleka gives the concept plan to establish a third International Airport on their land to Acting Prime Minister, Manasseh Maelanga in Cabinet.

By EDDIE OSIFELO

THE Fotana Tribe in Ward 14 on East Fataleka in Malaita Province has offered its land to the Government to build a third international airport.

The tribal members last Friday met with Deputy Prime Minister Manasseh Maelanga and handed him the concept plan.

They were accompanied by Member of Parliament for Fataleka and Minister of National Planning and Development Coordination, Rexon Ramofafia.

This is to allow responsible ministries like Ministry of Communication and Aviation and Ministry of Infrastructure Development to carry out a feasibility study on the land.

Allan Siau of Fotana Tribe with MP for Fataleka, Rexson Ramofafia with the concept plan to establish a third International airport on Malaita.

Co-chair of the voluntarily team that push for the concept plan, Allan Siau said the idea behind is to attract tourism and curb urban migration to Honiara City.

Siau said since Independence in 1978, Malaitans have migrated to Honiara and other provinces in search of economic opportunities.

He said the team believe in creating another economic hub for this country to allow Malaitans to work on their land.

Siau said the concept is part of COVID-19 Free Agro Tourism Investment.

Proposed site for Fotana sea port

Maelanga was happy to see the initiative offered by the Fotana Tribe.

He assured the team to take up the concept plan in Cabinet for discussion so that relevant ministries can pursue the feasibility study on the land.

Health investigates diarrhea deaths in Gizo

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Western Provincial capital Gizo

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

HEALH authorities are investigating the deaths of five children at the Gizo Hospital reportedly due to diarrhoea.

Dr Dickson Baora, director of medical and health services at Gizo Hospital, confirmed to Island Sun yesterday that investigation is now underway to confirm the main grounds of the deaths at Gizo Hospital, Western province.

“There is a health investigation underway to confirm five children deaths due to diarrhoea. This needs to be confirmed after the investigation,” he said.

Boara said at the moment they are mobilising their teams to investigate the source of diarrhoea outbreak; “it could be from the drinking water, food preparation or other sources, this needs to be verified.

“We are sending some diarrhoea samples to test stools at the medical lab to verify the microorganism responsible for this type of diarrhoea. We will also begin immunization for the kids to prevent this diarrhoea.

“We are also strengthening our clinics by sending, diarrhoea drugs, and other medical items to help our nurses in the rural communities to deal with the diarrhoea in the rural communities. The health services primary aim now is to prevent any deaths to diarrhoea,” he said.

He also confirms that there is an increase in diarrhoea cases at the Gizo hospital and some surrounding communities in Western province, especially in children.

Ministry of Health and Medical Services office in their recent statement said as part of the Ministry’s routine surveillance activity, 15 stool specimens were tested of which five tested positive for Rotavirus on rapid diagnostic test (RDT); three of the positive cases were from Gizo Hospital and two positive cases from Good Samaritan Hospital.  

The health statement said some samples have also been sent to the Royal Brisbane Hospital for further confirmation and investigation by the National Medical Laboratory.

“MHMS outbreak management team has been activated and currently mobilizing the necessary resources to support Western Provincial Health team in Gizo to respond to their current situation. Some supplies deployed already,” the health statement said.

The ministry of health is strongly advising the public to regularly wash hands with soap and clean running water after going to the toilet, after touching dirty surfaces and before eating or preparing food.

“Properly cover food and ensure drinking bottles and containers are properly covered from flies. Always boil drinking water. Parents if you have babies who are 10 or 14 weeks old, and yet to receive the rotavirus vaccine, please visit your nearest clinic for vaccination,” health statement said.

Isabel losing coastlines: Kikolo

Written by
Jennifer Kusapa
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Nagoibo villagers on Isabel predict that within a generation, their village will be eaten up by the sea if action is not taken to mitigate the effects of sea level rise. PHOTO ALFRED PAGEPITU

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

PREMIER of Isabel Province Leslie Kikolo says coastlines along villages and islands of Isabel are slowly eaten away by sea-level rise.

He said like any province in the country, Isabel also experiences climate change impacts.

“As a way forward, there must be a well-organised lineage of both national and provincial government policies on climate change mitigation and prevention.

“The impacts of climate change are real, we are slowly losing our coastlines, while some islands are slowly turning into islets. While in land we are losing land for housing and gardening and also losing fertile soil due to soil erosion and flooding,” Kikolo said.

He said it is important that infrastructural designs, homes and other related issues being considerate of climate change and natural disasters to avoid unnecessary public cost stemming from ill-planning

Kikolo said climate change is one of the global environment pandemics.

He also calls on the Isabel people and communities to be creative and take action to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

“There are internal development partners who are willing to support local initiative to mitigate the impacts and I encourage you to seek out those assistance and support to prepare our communities,” Kikolo added.

Big drop in visitor arrivals

Written by
Press Release
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Tourists visiting Gizo in 2018.

A SIGNIFICANT decline in international arrivals was recorded since restrictions were imposed on International flights by the Solomon Islands Government towards the end of March 2020.

This was the result of the Visitor Arrivals report released by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office on Friday 4th June 2020.

Government Statistician Douglas Kimi said the State of Public Emergency (SOPE) response towards preventing Solomon Island residents and citizens from the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the notable decrease.

Kimi said total arrivals for third quarter of 2020 were 807.

“This is an increase of 143.8% compared to the previous quarter (2nd quarter 2020). Compared to the same quarter a year ago, a decrease of 94.3% was recorded,” Kimi said.

“Returning residents made up 75.0% of arrivals for third quarter 2020. This was followed by Visitors with 24.0 % of arrivals and the remaining less than one percent were Intending residents,” he added.

The National Statistician said visitor arrivals for the third quarter increases by 295.9% to 194 visitors, compared to the second quarter 2020 figure of 49 visitors.

“There was a decrease of 97.5% in visitors arrivals from third quarter 2019 to third quarter 2020.”

Meanwhile, Visitors by Country of Residence Arrivals by country of residence for the third quarter 2020 showed that Australians (43.3%) remain the largest group of visitors to the Solomon Islands.

There was an increase of 342.1% to 84 in Australian visitors compared to the second quarter of 2020 figure 19.

The next largest group of visitors were from China (18.0%), followed by New Zealand (17.0%), Other Asia (10.3%) and Canada and PNG (4.6%).

Visitor arrivals by month showed that September recorded the highest number of arrivals in the third quarter of 2020 with 103 visitors. This was followed by month of July with a total of 52 visitors and August the least with 39 visitors.

Restrictions on international flights also had adverse implications on visitors travelling predominantly for tourism purposes. Third quarter 2020 recorded zero tourists whose purpose of travel was for holiday and vacation.

Ends with Chart 1 showing that the returning category make up the largest proportion of all arrivals while the visitors and intending resident categories make up the lesser share this quarter.

–SINSO Press

PM arrives in Temotu

Written by
Press Release
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PM Sogavare, Premier Forau and members of the Temotu Provincial Executive.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has arrived in Lata ahead of the 38th Second Appointed day commemoration of Temotu Province.

The anniversary celebration takes place today.

Shortly following his arrival in the provincial capital yesterday, Mr Sogavare met with the Premier of Temotu Province Clay Forau and members of the Temotu provincial executive.

The Prime Minister met with the Temotu provincial executive to share some information and updates of mutual interest between the Government and Temotu province.

Premier Forau used the opportunity to express support of the Temotu provincial executive and its people to the Prime Minister and the Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement (DCGA).

Forau highlighted shipping as one of the important needs for the province.

Sogavare acknowledged the issues and needs of the province and expressed the Government’s serious concern to address the needs of Temotu Province in the shipping industry.

Sogavare is expected to travel to other parts of the province as part of his trip and as impressed upon Premier Forau during their meeting, one of his main intentions to travel to Temotu as part of joining the second appointed day is “to have the opportunity to listen and witness firsthand, the issues and needs of the people of Temotu Province”.

Sogavare will officiate as Guest of Honour in today’s programme.

He is accompanied by the Minister for Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening Rollen Seleso.

–OPMC PRESS

Gov’t policies must maximise resources

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Central Bank of Solomon Islands. Photo by CBSI

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

THE Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) highlights that the country’s long-term economic growth depends on how the government drives its policies to fully utilize existing resources.

In a statement released recently, CBSI states that the country has enormous resources capable of driving economic growth in the long term but the absence of strong policies continue to be a challenge.

Resources identified in the report includes; Natural resources, Capital, Human Capital and Technological Progress.

“If a country has a plentiful supply of natural resources and the ability to exploit or make use of them then the economy will be able to expand,” the statement said.

“Having plentiful natural resources does not guarantee economic growth however, the means to exploit them must also exist. In some instances the existence of natural resources and who exploits them has caused conflict and led to reduced economic growth for some countries around the world,” it added.

“When we talk about capital we are usually referring to machinery and equipment which helps us produce goods.

“By increasing the stock of machinery in the country we are increasing our ability to produce goods and hence we are expanding our economy.

“To get machinery and equipment, a country must invest and so the level of investment in an economy will impact future economic growth.

“As we said before, we can work overtime for a while to produce more and we can use machines every day, all day but eventually the machine will break so we must continually invest in machinery and equipment.

“When demand in an economy is high so that we are using our machines and equipment every day, all day (we are working at maximum capacity) it signals to the boss that it may be time to invest in more capital.

“We refer to a country’s workforce as human capital.

“Although we cannot determine the quantity of workers we have in an economy we can influence the quality of the workforce.

“By improving education standards, we can improve the quality of the workforce, this again requires investment.

“The existence of machinery and capital which help us produce goods more efficiently is thanks to technological progress. To improve our ability to produce goods in the future we need technological progress to be on going. Investment again is needed, in education and research,” the report stated.

It emphasized that the government must focus on policies which impact the quantity, quality or ability to exploit the areas identified so that the economy can be able to produce more.

It also states that the policies must focus on the supply side to improve the country’s productive capacity of the economy.

For example, there is a need of strong policies on promoting education and training to improve the quality of the workforce, promote research and development to ensure on-going technological progress, investing in infrastructure (roads, wharfs) to improve the ability to exploit resources and promoting sustainable exploitation of natural resources to ensure the sustainability of economic growth.

ADB approves $1.2B for transport network here

Written by
Press Release
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East Malaita Road rehabilitation plan underway.

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved support of almost USD$150 million (SBD1.2 billion) to boost land and maritime connectivity in Solomon Islands.

ADB is providing a grant of $74.5 million (SBD$595.7 million) sourced from the Asian Development Fund and a concessional loan of $74.4 million (SBD$594.9) for the Solomon Islands Land and Maritime Connectivity Project.

A statement from ADB says the national government is contributing the remaining USD$21.8 million (SBD$174.3 million) of the project’s overall cost of almost USD$171 million (SBD$1.4 billion).

The project will provide urgently needed repairs to one-third of the country’s road network and half of the country’s wharves.

“Considering 80% of the population lives in rural areas, this new investment project will have a measurable impact for hundreds of thousands of people in Solomon Islands,” said ADB Transport Specialist for the Pacific Tomoaki Kawabata.

The project will support the rehabilitation and upgrading of about 35 kilometers of roads in and around the capital, Honiara, the construction of two provincial wharves at Ahanga and Kira Kira, and improvements to the old wharf at Honiara International Port.

The project is set to increase access to markets, clinics, and schools, while supporting the disaster resilience of the transport network in Solomon Islands.

Climate proofing will be a key component of all the road and wharf upgrading under the project.

The capacity of the government’s Ministry of Infrastructure Development will be strengthened by the project, through improvements in the transport infrastructure maintenance practices in Solomon Islands.

It will assist the government in planning, project preparation, procurement, and other transport sector institutional reform.

The ADB-supported project will complement the improvement works on road sections of the east–west Guadalcanal corridor financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

EDITORIAL- Time to pursue long-term solutions

Written by
Admin
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FOUR bus stops in central Honiara have been closed for use as of yesterday.

The closure will be for an indefinite period of time.

The decision came from a joint meeting held in Honiara last week, attended by the Honiara City Council (HCC) Law Enforcement Division, Traffic Police and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID) Road and Transport Unit.

This is part of efforts to address the daily traffic congestion in Honiara as the city prepares itself for the 2023 Pacific Games.

City Mayor Eddie Siapu says the closure of the four bus stops will allow relevant officers to monitor and assess how best traffic congestion can be addressed.

A review, he added, would be carried out once all assessments are done.

Traffic congestion in central Honiara is now a new issue.

It’s been with us for many years.

There were many contributing factors.

Key among them is the increasing number of vehicles in Honiara.

Yes, the number of vehicles running the roads appears to have increased every month.

These include public buses and taxis.

Closing off four bus stops as part of the effort to address the issue may not really address the congestion.

That’s because the number of public buses entering the city centre will remain the same.

When you see the number of public buses coming in from both sides of the city during the day, you can tell the two bus stops at the Central Market simply does not have the space to accommodate them.

This is where the congestion issue really lies.

The most effective step to addressing it is to control the number of buses coming into central Honiara.

This is where zoning the city comes in. Meaning public buses will be required to serve only the zones they are allocated.

Doing that would reduce the number of buses coming into the city centre, thus minimising the congestion.

Solutions like this must be backed with regulations and enforcement to make them work.

The traffic issue has been with us for many years now. Authorities should have come up with long term solutions years back.

They failed to do that so the problem keeps cropping up every year.

Honiara is a rapidly growing city.

City councillors and other stakeholders must be proactive and think ahead when tackling pressing issues affecting the city.

Short-term solutions will not address the issues.

Gaobata elects new youth body

Written by
Press Release
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Ghaobata Youth Association members with provincial member John Lee Saki, sitting left.

THE Ghaobata youth representatives in northeast Guadalcanal selected their Ward Youth Association Executive Board on Sunday.

This was confirmed by the President of Guadalcanal Provincial Youth Council (GPYC), Danny Rasile.

He said the event was attended by the MPA for Ghaobata Ward, John Lee Saki, his WDC chairman, two other WDC members, church leaders, chiefs and other community leaders.

Rasile thanked Saki for his support in helping to establish the youth association in his ward.

“I want to personally thank Saki for taking the lead initiative to establish the Gaobata Ward Youth Association,” he stated.

“Saki sees our need and steps in to salvage the moment. His efforts with the Ghaobata WDC’s help, has result in what we’ve seen today,” Rasile added.

He also expressed that he hopes other Guadalcanal MPAs would do the same in the wards.

“We hope other MPAs will follow suit to organize and facilitate the formation of youths in their wards.”

Rasile said only three wards in Guadalcanal have since established their youth associations. These are Avuavu, Tandai and Ghaobata.

The other 18 wards are yet to come up with their youth representatives before establishing their youth associations.

Rasile stated that Savulei Ward is expected to have their youth association established by the end of this month.

In addition, the president also lamented that despite the fact that Guadalcanal youths make up about 80% of the province’s population, they are rarely included in the provincial government budget until this year where about $280,000 was allocated for the 2021-2022 financial year.

Rasile said so far these three wards were established without any support from the financial budget.

Despite the self-sufficient mindset, Rasile expressed that they can’t continue to be ignored.

The Ghaobata Ward Youth Association Board Members are:

1: Jane Saronga – Chairlady

2: Dickson Maeke – Vice Chaiman

3: Cathy Roxy – Treasurer

4: Graeme J Tolugu – Secretary

5: Joseph Pei

6: John Rocky

7: Francis Garimane

8: Ben Turasi

St Dominic’s RTC gets new classroom building

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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0
Representatives posed in-front of the newly launched building.

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

ST Dominic’s Vocational Rural Training Centre in Gizo has officially received a new double-story classroom building worth SBD$621,000.

The building was donated to the school by the Embassy of Japan in Solomon Islands with the focus to provide more effective technical and vocational education to local youth.

Fr Steven Tee, principal of Dominic’s Centre, said the newly erected double story building marked a milestone for the staff and students of St Dominic’s with the great support from the people of Japan.

New double story classroom building.

“The building will always remind us with our relationship to the people of Japan and St Dominic’s RTC in the future or years to come.

“Therefore, I on behalf of the staff and students of St  Dominic’s RTC highly appreciate you his excellency the embassy, your hard working coordinator and the government of Japan for this great need of RTC project class room,” Tee said.

Ambassador Yasuhiro Morimoto said the success of this project whether it works well or not depends highly on the recipients manage it, being aware of the responsibilities for good management and maintenance to succeed to the next new generation.

Warriors welcoming Ambassador Morimoto

“I hope that the new classroom building will benefit many youth people, and be remembered as a symbol of the friendship between the two peoples of Japan and Solomon Islands for many years to come,” Morimoto said.

He said Japan is willing to continue their efforts in assistance for the educational field including vocational schools to see more happy faces in many places of Solomon Islands and to cultivate cordial relationship between the two countries, Japan and Solomon Islands.

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