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PM covid-vaccine pledge gains British envoy approval

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A show of solidarity by the British High Commissioner rolling up his sleeve to show support to the Prime Minister for putting his hand up to be amongst the first to be vaccinated in Solomon Island

BRITISH High Commissioner to Solomon Islands Dr Brian Jones has spoken highly of the Prime Minister for raising his hands to be among the first to be vaccinated in the country.

The acknowledgement was made during a courtesy visit by the High Commissioner to the Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare today.

His Excellency Jones thanked the Prime Minister for assuring the people of Solomon Islands that he is willing to be amongst the first to be vaccinated when the time comes.

He also took the opportunity to acknowledge the Prime Minister and his Government for continuing to manage the COVID-19 situation in the country.

The British High Commissioner also shared United Kingdom’s experience with the vaccination roll out in the UK and its challenges and outcomes.

Dr Brian said around 25 million people in UK have been vaccinated to date, with 17 million in the EU and UK vaccinated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

He assured the Prime Minister that whilst there have been a small number of concerns raised with its side effects, and those are being rigorously investigated, it has proven to be effective and safe in the UK and has been declared safe by WHO.

“There had been a dramatic drop in cases since this vaccination rollout kicked off in UK compared to the last 3 months,” His Excellency Jones said.

Prime Minister Sogavare in response has shared with the British High Commissioner that he has put his hand up to be amongst the first to be vaccinated to show confidence to his people that the vaccine is safe.

The Prime Minister also briefed the High Commissioner of the arrival of the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine this Friday.

“Yes, it will be here in the country this Friday and we are looking forward for its arrival,” he said.

This first batch of vaccines comes through the COVAX facility, set up by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, to ensure vaccines reach all countries, regardless of financial status.

The UK is one of the top donors to COVAX, supporting with £548m. 

Prime Minister Sogavare also acknowledged the experiences shared by the High Commissioner on UKs vaccination rollout program and its outcomes.

Other issues discussed also included the 2023 Pacific Green Games initiative, Pacific Islands Forum, education reform and carbon trading.

Meanwhile, the highlight of the meeting was a show of solidarity by the British High Commissioner rolling up his sleeve to show support to the Prime Minister for putting his hand up to be amongst the first to be vaccinated in Solomon Islands.

CoL moves to reclaim land from Asian logger

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Eddie Osifelo
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By EDDIE OSIFELO

COMMISSIONER of Lands, Alan McNeil has given a one-month notice for the resumption of land for public purposes to two owners at Ranadi, east Honiara.

Hong Jun Zhang and Malaysian logging company, Excellent Resources Management Limited held Fixed Term Estates titles over two different parcels.

Giving the notice on Monday, Mr McNeil said the land owned by Zhang is resumed for the purpose of drainage, sewerage outlet and public parkland.

He said the land owned by Excellent is resumed for purpose of biosecurity quarantine incinerator.

“The owners are given one month’s notice after which the government will take back possession of these parcels,” he said.

Honiara City Council transferred the FTE title to Excellent on 7th January with transfer costs of $800,000.

Initially, Commissioner of Land granted the FTE title to Honiara City Council on September 26, 1986.

Mcneil said for resumptions, compensation is payable for improved land.

He said there are “improvements” on this land but the question of compensation and how much has not been raised or discussed with the fixed-term estate owner yet.

Earlier, McNeil confirmed that he gave consent to the Council to sell the land, occupied by Biosecurity Division.

McNeil said he based his decision on valid documents that HCC held the Fixed Term Estate title and a minute to confirm the full Council had sanctioned the sale on October 29, 2020.

Further to that, he said a simple check was carried out to confirm whether the Council had paid the consent fee, certificate of FTE and browsed through his “black list” of parcels that are under forfeiture or resumption or before the High Court.

McNeil said the Council has satisfied all the requirements like confirmation of consent fee paid, valid certificate of FTE and it was not under the “black list” as there’s no case before the High Court, plus there was also a minute of the meeting last year.

However, two city council executives have denied the Full Executive had conducted a meeting on October 29, 2020 to sanction the sale of council land.

Charles Aiwosuga, who was deputy mayor until early this year, and another executive councillor who requested anonymity, relayed this to Island Sun last week.

This forced the City Mayor Wilson Mamae to order an investigation into the sale of the land.

He said the findings should be available next week.

Meanwhile, new information Island Sun obtained yesterday suggest councillors whose names appeared in the minute of the purported council meeting denied attending such meetings.

Council insiders told the Island Sun city clerk Rence Sore may have fabricated the minute to deceive the Commissioner of Land so that he could facilitate the transfer of the land.

Jab centres in Honiara identified

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Mavis Podokolo
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The Multi purpose hall used as a field hospital.

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

THREE vaccination centres to roll-out covid-19 immunisation have been identified in Honiara, says Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

“In Honiara, three vaccination centers are being consideration each in East, Central and West Honiara.

“The Central Honiara location is the Triage area at the National Referral Hospital COVID-19 zone, at the eastern end of NRH,” Sogavare said on Monday this week.

He said for West Honiara talks are underway to secure the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF). The Marine Training school at Solomon Islands National University for East Honiara.

“We are also considering he possible use of the Central Field Hospital which is currently empty after all COVID-19 cases had been discharged almost two weeks ago. The field hospital has all essential back up facilities, including beds where people can rest after vaccination if required. Our health team will confirm during the week if we can use this facility,” said Sogavare.

He said vaccination sites in Choiseul province, Western province and Malaita Outer Islands will be finalised sometime this week.

“Ministry of health will keep us updated on the various locations for COVID-19 vaccination during the week. I will provide further updates on this subject in my weekly national address next Monday,” said Sogavare.

He said to demonstrate his confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, he will be honoured to take the first COVID-19 injection in Solomon Islands before everyone above 18 years of age can be vaccinated.

WOMEN IN SPORTS MEDIA

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Female participants of the 2 days Women in News & Sports training

BY PETER ZOLEVEKE II

For the first time local female journalists are introduced to the basic model of sports media reporting  in a two-days Women in News & Sports (WINS) training.

The workshop started yesterday and gathered aspiring students from the Solomon Islands National University (SINU), freelance female journalists, broadcasters and the main stream media journalists.

Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) Training Chairlady Gina Maka’a in her opening remarks highlighted the importance of the workshop to encourage more females in the male dominated sport media industry.

Facilitators for the two days’ workshop are freelance journalist Elizabeth Osifelo together with the technical experience of Diane Justus a former SIFF Women Development Officer.

 “MASI is excited that such initiative is organized for the first time ever sports workshop for only females,” she says.

“You are the lucky bunch of females to participate in the country. This workshop will also aid to prepare you for the upcoming 2023 Pacific Games.

“Not only that but it will give you the opportunity and avenue for you to travel overseas to do sporting coverage on events,” Maka’a told the participants.

She also encouraged the participants to learn as much as possible from the workshop.  “We want you to get as much as you can during these sessions,” Maka’a said.

The WINS initiative is a training and mentoring program aimed at providing for female journalists in the Pacific and Asia.

It provides to enrich personal and professional capacities including interviewing, digital storytelling, building confidence and live coverage (commentary).

The program is initiated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s International Development Unit (ABCID) and is supported by the Australian Government through the Team Up program until 2022.

This project builds on two previous phases since WINS began in 2016 and Solomon Islands is the tenth country to be part of the program behind fellow Melanesian countries Papua New Guinea (PNG), Fiji and Vanuatu.

Final day of the workshop today will involve a practical session where a scheduled field trip to Lawson Tama stadium for the mid-week Telekom S League (TSL) fixtures will be arranged for the female journalists.

The two days’ workshop will then wrap up with the handing of certificates by the Australian High Commission and MASI.

Leaked police report irks Isabel parties

Written by
Jennifer Kusapa
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

A leaked report on police investigations in the Nuha incident, Isabel province, is causing Isabel police and community leaders to be suspicious.

The report, dated February 22, 2021, is said to be confidential but was leaked to the media, and each party involved is denying being the source.

It is based on violent incidents which took place in Nuha, Katova district on January 17 and February 1 this year.

Provincial commander of Isabel police, Superintendent Leonard Tahnimana says he will lodge a formal complaint to the RSIPF professional standard internal investigations unit (PSSI).

“I am aware of that report as it was sent through me to the Assistant Commissioner Provincial in Honiara and not for public information.

“Officers when attending to any reports or incidents happening in the province, they have to compile a report and make submission of what we have attended and that was that report about,” Tahnimana said.

PPC Tahnimana also denied any police involvement with Sunshine nickel mining company, saying police were there when some people from Jejevo in Katova District, alleged to have acted disorderly in January and February this year.

However, Community spokesperson for Jejevo, Furona and Moluforu, Gabriel Manelusi said that Sunshine delegation with the Isabel PPC with some officers were drinking beer together prior to the meeting that was conducted in January this year.

He said the attitude of Police officers in Buala is pure negligence to their duty to deal with such issues happening in the communities.

Manelusi also said that it is suspicious why a police confidential report is accessed by the media.

“I will send a full complaint against the Assistant Police Commissioner Provincial, PPC Isabel and also the officers involved to the Police Professional Standard for full investigation.

“Such issues gave us no trust on the PPC Isabel and need to be removed from Isabel immediately,” Manelusi said.

Meanwhile, Police media when contacted about the incident said that police will deal with the matter.

Man gets 18 months after ‘massage gone wrong’

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Jennifer Kusapa
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

A 46-year-old man found guilty of sexually assaulting his niece has been sent to jail for 18 months.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Ricky Iomea in sentencing the accused said the victim was feeling unwell and the uncle offered to massage her and then sexually assaulted her by touching her private part.

He said the offence is a serious one as the victim at the time of incidence was 12 years of age and the accused was a person of trust.

This incident occurred at West Kolaridge in Honiara on an unknown date between January 1 and December 31, 2018.

DCM Iomea said after that incident the victim felt unsafe and reported the matter to the police.

Iomea said during the incident, the victim was sick and lying in her room at home. She woke up and saw that the room door was open with the accused standing there.

The accused asked her of how she felt; in response the victim said that she was weak and her body tired.

It was at that time the accused offered to massage the victim.

The victim then lied on the floor and the accused massaged her. He started by massaging the victim’s legs then proceeded up to her thighs. It was at this time the accused slipped his figures into the victim’s clothes and touched the victim’s private part.

DCM Iomea said after assessing and considering both submissions made from the prosecution and defence lawyers, he is of the view that a sentence of 18 months is appropriate on the case.

Therefore, he imposed a sentence of 18 months with the sentence to be include the period the accused had already spent in custody.

Office of the Director Public Prosecution appears for the crown on the case.

PM visits National Institute of Sports building

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Taromane Martin
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PM Sogavare at the site of the newly built SINS complex

By Taromane Martin

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Mannasseh Sogavare and a number of his government Ministers had paid a visit to the soon to be completed Solomon Islands National Institute of Sports (SINIS) building yesterday.

Members of the National Sports Council (NSC), National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI), the Sol2023 National Hosting Authority (NHA) and the 2023 Pacific Games Council office also joined the site visit yesterday.

The SINSI building will feature a multi-sports training and conditioning facility. It will be the first facilities for the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara that will be completed. The building is earmarked for completion and officially opened in May.

The visit was to witness firsthand the progress on the work of the government’s first-ever dedicated investment to Sports Development in the Solomon Islands.

Inside the newly constructed building

“Today we are 852 days away from the Games. With God’s help, we will succeed,” Prime Minister Sogavare said.

“What we witness here today explains a key reason why this country had not been performing to our potential in national, regional, and international sporting events and competitions, Simply, we had not taken sports development as seriously as many of our neighboring countries.

“That explains why even much smaller countries have out-performed Solomon Islands, the third largest country in the Pacific Islands in regional and international sports competitions.

“Our country has the talents in all the sports that will be played during the 2023 Pacific Games. What we have not had is a ‘sports development facility and a dedicated sports development programme’ to further develop, harness and sharpen the skills of our athletes to be competitive.

“Colleagues, what we witness here today is the start of our journey in ‘dedicated sports development’ in Solomon Islands.

“This facility will support sports development programs for at least 20 of the 24 sports listed in the 2023 Pacific Games.

“I thank the NHA under the leadership of the Chairman and the Board for the vision that will leave behind a legacy for sports development in this country – a legacy that for the first time put our sports people, our youths at the centre of our human development aspirations.

“This facility is totally funded by the Solomon Islands government through the NHA. It comes complete with its own Solar installation to power the electrical needs of the facility long-term.

Inside the newly constructed building

“By the time it is completed, it will cost around 20 million Solomon dollars representing one of the best investments this country has made because its impact will live on, and it will be enjoyed every day by our sporting talents in the country.

Outside the newly constructed building

“The chairman of the NHA has informed me that we will also be building a 2,000 square metre National Sports Haus that will host all the National Sports Federations after the Games – another first for the country.

“Apart from Rugby and Soccer, all other Sports Federations do not have their own offices. The National Sports Haus will not only provide an office for each of them, but it is also intended to host the National Sports Council, the National Olympics Committee of Solomon Islands.

The Prime Minister and Ken Grossmith on a tour of the facility

“We will also have a 70-metres by 30 meters training field and a 4-6-lane 60-meter sprint training track. We will also install a temporary swimming pool for conditioning training using a 40 feet container,” Sogavare adds.

The Prime Minister meanwhile also acknowledged the General Manager of the CCECC and his team for the wonderful work done so far to build the facility for Solomon Islands.

The PM said once all these facilities are completed, Solomon Islands will have one of the best, if not the best National Institute of Sports in Pacific Island countries.

The Prime Minister yesterday too also made a brief visit to the Indonesia funded Futsal Stadium site, which the construction has already kicked off.

Statisticians ready for visitor arrivals

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Chief Statistician Anterlyn Tuzakana and Statisticians Steward Sopamana and Grace Perakana during the practical session of the course

STATISTICIANS from the National Statistics Office (NSO) are fully prepared to start collecting data of Visitor Arrivals in the Solomon Islands after a refresher course conducted at the office on Friday 12th March 2021.

Florence Walekwate, Grace Perakana and new staff Steward Sopamana are responsible for recording incoming residents, visitors and tourists from overseas at the country’s Henderson International Airport.

They participated in the one day course, facilitated by Chief Statistician Anterlyn Tuzakana.

“It’s an orientation course for our new officer Steward, and a refresher for the others”, Tuzakana said. “The information collected is confidential.”

“It is also an introduction for him to the process of the data collection from entry to analysis, and to familiarize himself with the entry system we use, CSPro,” she added.

A refresher course is held every beginning of the year to remind the officers of their duties and the significance their specific input contributes to the process of collecting the data.    

“We are currently affected by the COVID-19, so we only collected data in the first quarter of last year.

“But when the borders re-open, we hope to start working because we are now ready to go.”

Tuzakana highlighted that they will also depend on the Immigration, Quarantine, Customs officers’ cooperation to carry out their duties effectively.

“The quality and accuracy of our data depends on us working cooperatively with each other. The information we collect for our data comes through these other three groups first before reaching us. ”

Meanwhile, Steward, who majored in Economics and Statistics at the University of the South Pacific has high expectations and looking forward to learning more. It is only his second week at the NSO and he is still getting used to the new environment.

 “I completed my studies in 2019 and the whole of last year I did nothing. Then the vacancy for a statistician came out. I applied and I got in.

“The refresher was great. To familiarize myself with the software CSPro is important. It’s the software everyone else in the office uses.

“The most interesting part of the work for me will be meeting the people from different countries at the International airport. We are going to interact with them, so we must be friendly.”

The National Statistics Office releases the Visitor Arrivals bulletin quarterly every year. -SINSO Press

PC Tepai: why I love my job

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PC David T Tepai

POLICE Constable David Tipasua Tepai, 42, from Lavagu Village on Rennell Island in the Rennell and Bellona province has faced numerous challenges during his 14 years as a police officer but the challenges have given him the courage and confidence to continue serving the people of Solomon Islands through the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF).

PC Tepai is currently working as a coordinator on acting basis at the Tigoa Police Station in West Rennell, Rennell Bellona province.

As a Form five leaver of Bishop Epalle Catholic School in Honiara and former teacher, PC Tepai decided to switch careers after an absence of police officers in his community of Lavagu on West Rennell.

“I was employed by the Rennell and Bellona Provincial Education Authority as a primary school teacher on Fixed Term Appointment basis in 2004. In 2007 I decided to join the RSIPF as there was no police officer in my community while there were many primary and secondary teachers.”

“My aim of joining the RSIPF was to serve my people, my community and my country. I wanted to contribute to a safe, secure and a peaceful environment for my people,” says PC Tepai.

He was recruited into the RSIPF in 2007 and after his two-year probation, he attended a prosecutors training and was posted to the Police Prosecution Directorate (PPD) in Honiara and worked as a police prosecutor for eight years.

PC Tepai was transferred to general duties in Honiara City’s Central Police Station to allow him to experience other areas of policing. He served there for two years.

“During my time so far in the RSIPF I encountered many challenges, some were organizational, operational, community-related and personal. The challenges sometimes threatened my health, well-being and family, but these challenges gave me the courage and confidence to continue to deliver my duties as a police officer.”

He adds, “As a police prosecutor I encountered challenges including working long hours to meet the expectations of the court, qualified defence lawyers, victims of crime and my superiors.”

“In general duties and provincial policing, I have encountered people with different cultures, characters, attitudes and behaviours. Sometime I faced life-threatening situations, but with some courage and my previous experiences, I overcame the challenging situations. I have heard people criticising police and read it on social media, but I look at these criticisms as challenges when carrying out my duties.”

To his colleague officers, PC Tepai has this to say, “We are working in a disciplined organisation, and we are here to serve our people in a professional manner. The public expects a lot from us. They want us to be fair and honest. The public wants to trust us.”

According to PC Tepai, law enforcers are the most hated public servants in the world.

“But remember no matter how much people hate police, they need police more than how they hate them. We should be a shining example of professionalism in our country.”

To those who want to pursue policing as a career PC Tepai says, “Continue to pursue your dream because members of your family and friends will be proud of you and respect you.”

RSIPF MEDIA

MP Bodo defends ‘stop noni farming’ comments

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North West Guadalcanal MP, Hon.Bodo Dettke

MEMBER of Parliament for North West Guadalcanal, Bodo Dettke has defended his call for all local noni farmers in the provinces to discontinue work on noni farming due to in availability of processing facilities in the provinces.

This is after former MP for Lau Baelelea in Malaita province, Walter Folotalu described the call as mere political rhetoric rather than looking for a way forward for this potential industry in the country and more particularly the rural areas where more than 80% of our rural dwellers find ends to meet.

However, Dettke said Folotalu has missed his point on the basis of the call.

He said after three years of research and study, he has perfected noni handling to achieve high quality products that will compete in the international market and put SI on the map.

“My experience over the three years and common sense, I am not questioning anybody’s political endeavours and powers.

“I for one know and proud to say Malaitan people are very hard working people, and they are not scared of taking on any challenge if it will benefit them,” he said.

“But I would be very sad to see if Malaitans are spending the next six months planting noni plantations without any income for the duration of time.

“And the duration of six months with no income generated, only to find out after 7 months to see noni farms flourishing with noni fruits but there is no buyer and factory to process them,” he said.

Dettke explained that farmers have to bring their noni products to a commercial factory within eight hours for processing, otherwise it would fail to meet the processing quality.

He said in some countries, there are factories situated within the farms to process the products rather than transporting them to another location.

However, Dettke said if Folotalu will overcome this problem by taking an initiative to put in place a factory to buy these people’s noni fruits, “I salute you and I am very proud that somebody from Malaita will take up the initiative.”

“I am only telling your people to stop, think and look to be cautious because they could be sorry if there is no factory,” he added.

Dettke gave an example of the 10,000 palm oil nurseries at Waisisi and Warokai in West Are Are that were abandoned projects. The palms that were in the nursery are now bearing fruits, but “still no factory”.

He said the project was fully funded by the Solomon Islands government but turned out a failure at the end.

He said this is similar to the oil palm project at Vangunu in Western Province, carried out by Sullvinia Product in the 80s that also failed despite millions of ‘taxpayers’ money ploughed in by the government.

“I’m sure, my good friend, Mr Folotalu, should be well aware of this failed projects, which took place when he was a member of parliament”.

But if Mr. Folotalu has the time, I would be happy to take him for a tour in my factory to see firsthand the pros and cons of this industry.

As such, Dettke said it is important to establish noni factory in each provinces, before farmers in the provinces can start cultivating their noni farms. All I’m saying is for farmers out there in the provinces to be cautious, before taking the big step into the noni industry.

“We will never be able to expand into the provinces, where this new noni industry is much needed, because we have not overcome problems we have with the ministry of finance that cannot see this as being an important commodity and cash crop to befit out rural people.

“It is sad that the ministry responsible chose not to support our application for tax incentives for the importation of machineries and equipment to expand the industry.

“Because of the lack of government support for the proposal to expand, the Noni factory had no choice but to stay focus on buying noni fruits for farmers within my constituency. So who is being rhetoric here?” Dettke questioned.

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