Home Blog Page 1156

Abba’s back

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0
Abba (with the ball) playing in the NZ Central League during the 2013 winter season with Wellington Olympic AFC

NZ club Waitakere United signs up former Solomon Islands international

 

BY ROMULUS HUTA

FORMER Solomon Islands international Andrew Abba re-emerges back onto Oceania’s top football club level after his recent signing with Waitakere United for the new season of the ISPS Handa Premiership in New Zealand.

Abba, 28, was picked by Coach Chris Milicich to join Waitakere this season after helping Western Spring FC to finish at second spot in the winter season of New Zealand’s Northern Premier League – hauling in five goals and provided 14 assists in the process across 22 matches.

Milicich, who is the former coach of Solomon Islands duo Benjamin Totori and late Commins Menapi at the Trusts Arena believes the addition of the Solomon Islander will create the much-needed spark upfront in the new season.

“Andrew is a good addition to our line-up this season.

“He has good playing experience with NZ football and that is a bonus for us and we hope he will deliver for us.”

The recent signing with Waitakere will surely reinstate Abba back on the regional football scene following a five-year absence from the NZ top flight league since he last featured for Team Wellington during the 2012/13 NZFC season.

Who is Andrew Abba?

Andrew Abba while playing for Team Wellington in 2011.

Abba, who hails from Malaita Province, was identified as an interesting future prospect when he featured during the 2002 National Under-14 Championship in Honiara.

Played for Temotu Arrows, he emerged to be the most feared striker during the two-week tournament, racking up eight goals decently enough for him to lay hands onto the golden boot award.

Three years later, the youngster found himself representing the country at the Under-17 World Cup qualifying tourney in New Caledonia, playing alongside Judd Molea as a forward and helping Solomon Islands to a third place finish behind New Zealand and Vanuatu, respectively.

The following year he scored an opportunity of a lifetime to undertake a football scholarship at Nelson College in New Zealand.

Equally adept at playing out on the wings, he helped Nelson College to finish fourth at the secondary schools’ competition in 2006 and also finishing third in the Jim Wizzard tourney at Timaru.

In 2008, he received his first ever big call up by Hawke’s Bay United coach Jonathan Gould to join his team in the NZFC where he perfectly marked his debut after coming off the bench in a 2-1 win over Waikato FC at the age of 18.

Abba featured with Hawkes Bay for the next two seasons before teaming up with fellow Solomon Islander Michael Fifi’i at Team Wellington where he stayed on until his departure by the conclusion of the 2012/13 season.

Despite making a good presence in competing at the top club level in New Zealand during those years, Abba was never called up to represent the country anymore at any upper level age group since the 2005 Oceania under-17 championship.

It was until the Oceania qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup where he finally gets the nod in an away 2-0 loss against Tahiti. This also marks the only time he gets to don the national colours at the senior level.

Meanwhile, Abba’s Waitakere will begin their New Zealand football campaign next weekend against Hamilton Wanderers.

Abba (with the ball) playing in the NZ Central League during the 2013 winter season with Wellington Olympic AFC

Xmas comes early for Ministers?

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0
Members of the parliament

Estimated $7 million said to be shared as payouts, thanks to secret fund

 

By Alfred Sasako

IT’S Christmas come early for Ministers, Government Backbench MPs and some Opposition Members – thanks to Taiwan’s secret fund.

The lucky MPs shared an estimated $7 million, which the Office of the Prime Minister paid out last week, insiders told Island Sun last night.

The 21 Government Ministers and some backbench received $303, 000 each, while a selected number of Opposition MPs and some unlucky government backbench received only $87, 000 each, the insiders said.

“Not all in the Opposition received the payments either. Those who did were actually rewarded for supporting the Government in passing the amendment to the Constitution in respect of the new Electoral Act 2018,” one insider said.

“As you know the government did not have the number to pass the amendment. “Fortunately, some Opposition MPs made up the 38 MPs required to pass the amendment.

“The payment was a token of appreciation to them,” the insider said.

Successive governments and Taiwan have consistently denied the existence of the secret fund, which Taiwan usually pays out every year just before Christmas. No explanation was given for the early release of the fund this year.

The insider said the distribution of the funds is at the discretion of the Prime Minister. But whether the funds are intended for Constituencies remains a grey area.

A backlash by Government Ministers over the distribution of the secret funds in 2011 led to the ousting of former Prime Minister, Danny Philip in November of that year.

At the time, there was $13 million in the till.

The news of the payment to Government MPs is certain to infuriate many, particularly those who are still waiting to be paid.

One group is the team of workers who carried out voter registration work in the Constituencies.

These workers were paid 20 per cent of their allowances at the time they were engaged with promises the balance of 80 per cent would be paid at the conclusion of the voter registration exercise.

“This is the second week since the voter registration had ended and we are still waiting for our payment,” one frustrated worker told Island Sun.

“This is not good enough. We have family and other commitments to take care of,” he said.

Taiwanese in Solomon Islands celebrates double Ten

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0
PM Rick Hou and wife and HE Roger Luo and wife cutting the cake to the Taiwan’s 107the National Day

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

PM Rick Hou and wife and HE Roger Luo and wife cutting the cake to the Taiwan’s 107the National Day

TAIWANESE living in Solomon Islands has celebrated their 107th National Day on Tuesday 9.

Hundreds of Taiwanese nationals and Solomon Islanders turned up to celebrate Taiwan’s national day commonly known as “double ten”.

The event should take place on October 10 to commemorate the start of the 1911 Wuchang Uprising in mainland China, but Taiwan people in Honiara decided to celebrate it earlier.

Taiwan Ambassador His Excellency Roger Luo said as Taiwan turned 107 years; they are honored and proud to share longstanding relationship with Solomon Islands.

He said both countries have achieved tremendous development over the years in terms of Health, Education, Agriculture as well as a new trade and investment that will be established soon.

Luo said a recent achievement is the mutual visits and signing of agreement and Memorandum of Understanding during President Tsai Ing-wen’s state visit last year.

“I am proud to point out that these visits not only enhanced our mutual understanding, they also led to signing of the Agreement on Police Cooperation and the MOU on Maritime Cooperation between Solomon Islands and Taiwan,” Luo said.

“I also want to assure the Honorable Prime Minister and all the other senior officials present tonight, my Government vows to work even closer with SIG in order to advance the livelihood of Solomon Islanders,” he said.

“We are confident that our bilateral relations will remain robust and continue to grow from strength to strength,” Luo said.

Group photo of Taiwanese community in Solomon Islands

Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela said Taiwan’s national day this year also marks the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between ROC (Taiwan) and Solomon Islands.

He said Solomon Islands is excited joined the 23 million people of Taiwan celebrating its 107th National Day which is a significant milestone that deserves our joint retrospection and celebration.

“Bilaterally, Solomon Islands and Taiwan established diplomatic relations 35 years ago, and over these years our friendship has grown steadily,” PM said.

“Allowing us to jointly see the best of the sunlight and the worst of the storms, signifying Taiwan’s outstanding role as a traditional and loyal friend to our country,” he adds.

“I am confident that our relationship is based on mutual and beneficial constructiveness, social cooperation and a shared vision for progress and prosperity of our peoples,” PM said.

“Therefore my government is committed to maintaining, and further consolidating and strengthening our relations,” he adds.

Solomon students now free to work in Taiwan after studies

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0
Taiwan Ambassador HE Roger Luo.

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

THE Republic of China (Taiwan) has opened a new opportunity for Solomon Islands scholars to live and work in Taiwan.

His Excellency Roger Luo on Tuesday said the programme commences this year.

He said, “We have gone even further to amended our law and allow Solomon Islands students who graduate from our scholarship programs to stay and work in Taiwan starting from this year.”

In terms of scholarship intake, Mr Luo said in the past, they used to award 10 Solomon Islanders scholarship for undergraduate study with seven to eight under Taiwan ICDF Scholarship for master and doctoral degrees.

However, during President Tsai’s visit to Honiara last year, the number was increased from 10 awardees to 15.

“Through the efforts of our Embassy, we actually ended up sending 18 Taiwan scholarship awardees and 8 Taiwan ICDF Scholarship awardees to Taiwan this year,” he said.

Environmental Learning Centre for sustainable development

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0
Group photo of officials from HCC and JICA in front of the storage facility at the Ranadi Landfill

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

Group photo of officials from HCC and JICA in front of the storage facility at the Ranadi Landfill

HONIARA City Council has received a new storage of environmental learning Centre for waste management for sustainable community development from JICA yesterday.

The Centre was located at the Ranadi Landfill. It is an initiative from the Learning and Ecological Activities Foundation for Children (LEAF), a project under the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The establishment of the learning Centre is basically for waste management at Ranadi Landfill, compost at SINU and Nature Environment at the National Herbarium.

Furthermore, the Centre will also be opened for schools around Honiara. This is to assist them in their studies in environment as well as for their research and other source of learning.

Deputy Mayor Eddie Ngava says the importance of this learning Centre is that it focuses on education where children and youths can learn about looking after the environment and how to manage waste.

“If we look at the households in town, a lot of litter come from children and youths because of ignorance”, Ngava said.

“But with the initiative from LEAF, this should pave the way in educating our young ones in waste management”, he said.

Ngava said the learning Centre is the foundation where children will learn about waste management and littering.

He said such a project has paved the way forward for HCC to be at par in managing litter in the City although there are many challenges ahead.

Ngava said the project is adequate for HCC in the long run. At this implementation stage, children and youths will be much educated in managing waste.

The occasion brought together leaders from JICA and HCC to witness the official MOU signing and handing over of the storage of Environmental Learning Centre.

Protect your vision this World Sight Day

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

AROUND 90 percent of blindness and vision impairment is preventable or treatable if it’s detected early enough.

Today as the world marks World Sight Day, more emphasis is placed on looking after the eyes.

A statement from ‘World Sight Day’ website says, good vision is one of those thing which people too often take for granted.

“Approximately 90 percent of vision loss and blindness is preventable or treatable if identified early, so it’s important for people to get regular eye tests – especially if over 40.”

The risk of developing an eye condition increases as people enter their forties. People who smoke, have diabetes, have a family history of eye disease are also at increased risk of eye disease.

In Honiara, activities to mark the World Sight Day will take place at the car park of the National Referral Hospital.

The theme for this year’s World Sight Day is ‘Eye Care Everywhere’.

The statement from World sight day website says, in many parts of the world, people experience significant levels of vision loss and blindness which could have been prevented.

“So we must do more to combat treatable conditions like cataracts and diabetic eye disease.”

‘Safe cities for girls’ initiates dialogue for girls and taxi owners

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

TODAY marks the International Day of the Girl Child. As part of this commemoration, a dialogue between taxi fleets and a Non-Government Organization (NGO) is taking place today.

Kings Taxi Service and Aceford Taxi Services are two fleets in Honiara that will be joining the NGO, ‘Safer cities for girls’ to commemorate this event.

20 adolescent girls including 300 taxi owners will be part of the dialogue today.

The dialogue is to provide a reflective space to talk through issues between adolescent girls and the public transport owners.

Topics will be on safety issues from adolescent girls’ experiences in public transport and what they would like to see from public transport to ensure it is safe for girls.

Kings Taxi and Aceford Taxi service were selected to be part of this dialogue because of the owners’ commitment to work as partners.

According to Safer Cities, their goal as an NGO is to build safe, accountable, and inclusive cities with and for adolescent girls (aged 13-18).

Safer Cities for Girls seeks to close existing gaps between urban programming targeting either ‘youth’ or ‘women’ by focusing on adolescent girls who are often the most excluded and marginalized populations in a city.

“I Have a Dream” for a SI National Youth Orchestra

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0

DEAR EDITOR,

In the United States in 1963, Dr Martin Luther King said, “I Have a Dream” during a speech he gave to an American civil rights gathering in Washington.

I too have a dream to encourage the formation and deliverance of a National Youth Orchestra in the Solomon Islands.

It is an idea I have very much had in mind for the past 20 years since I served as the local Police Commissioner and came to understand the talents and affinity of Solomon Islanders with music as part of their culture and tradition.

I know that Solomon Islanders music traditionally involves using percussion instruments, panpipes and flutes and various other homemade instruments.

Men often play ‘mouth bows’, using their mouths and a taunt plant fibre (now plastic fishing line), to create a harmonic effect. Large and small slit-drums are made from hollowed tree trunks, and can be used to send massages as well as for music.

In more recent years, the most ubiquitous modern music has been by string bands and panpipe dance groups.

The panpipes originally used a different tonal scale than European music, but this was modernized during the 1960s and 1970s.

Percussion orchestras play large bamboo or polythene pipes constructed of different lengths and sizes and struck with rubber thongs, often accompanying panpipes.

A unique musical, cultural talent that must never be lost.

I once invited youths to come to the Rove Police headquarters to receive training in music from the members of the Royal Solomon Islands Police band and was taken aback by the huge numbers of young people, both boys and girls, and some not so young, who descended on Rove to get help to improve their musical skills.

The training got off the ground but came to a premature close when civil disturbances saw the members of the police band deployed on guarding major strategic locations in and around Honiara as militant activities began threatening such public installations.

In those early years the police band was most often deployed in support of community policing and the members greatly contributed to the early acceptance and success of community policing initiatives that I first instituted in 1997.

Such is the background as to why I would like to fulfill my dream but today coupled with the realization that many young people are unemployed and I feel sure crave for a sense of belonging and have the need to contribute to society in a positive way.

I would dearly like to help the many talented young people find a communal sense of purpose and instill in them a renewable of pride and national identity, so often lacking and generally only witnessed by sporting achievements and prowess on the field.

In recent weeks, I was in contact with a group of highly skilled, talented and widely courted musicians in the United Kingdom with strong ties with the Commonwealth Secretariat, based in London.

To cut a long story short, this group has learned of my long held ‘dream’ to see the creation of a National Youth Orchestra in the Solomon Islands and has offered to be of considerable help in getting my idea off the ground.

It has been suggested that the group would be willing to host fund raising concerts in the UK to help cover the acquisition of any instruments needed by a local orchestra, should the youths not have any of their own.

Fund raising would also be a means of covering the expenses of the group of 5 musicians to come out to the Solomon Islands and to undertake music lessons and training to give a kick start to a local youth orchestra.

After waiting for so many years for the kind of support that now seems to be possible to pursue my desire to see the creation of a truly home grown youth orchestra, I can’t wait to get the same degree of encouragement from the SIG ministries and others most closely involved in youth affairs, culture and tourism.

In the meantime, I would really welcome reader’s views, comments and suggestions on what I have outlined. I can be contacted via the link provided in my website – www. solomonislandsinfocus.com.

I will end by referring you to the website of the UK musicians willing to go out of their way to help the Solomon Islands and especially the youth.

https://www. thedionysusensemble.com/

Yours sincerely

FRANK SHORT

State of Children’s park

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0

Dear Editor,

AS a concerned mother who usually take my children to children’s park and a concerned citizen I urge Relevant Authorities to improve the Children’s park so that it will be a safe place where children can go and enjoy.

The state of our Children’s park is not safe and conducive for our children to play in .The swings and see-saw are not safe for children to play on as parts are about to fall apart. This is very dangerous. In addition adults are using it as a meeting place where they enjoy their time there smoking, chewing betel nut and sitting on the benches the whole day taking up the space from kids. It is a place where the kids also have their lunch and where parents also sit down to watch their children play.

The Parks playing equipment needs to be fixed or even replaced. The ground around the playing equipment’s should be covered with sand so that it would be safer for the children if they happen to fall over. The park should be a smoke free and betel nut free zone where anyone caught should be penalized.

I urge relevant authorities to improve the Children’s park as it is one out of two parks where our children love to play. I also urge good citizens to be considerate when using the park and think about our children.

Velisia Lehe

USP Student

Solomon Island Campus

Police investigate fatal accident in Malaita Province

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
-
0

POLICE at Auki in Malaita Province is investigating a fatal accident that occurred in the Fulo area near Bona Village in West Kwaio on 5 October 2018.

Operation Manager Malaita Provincial Police, Inspector Michael Maebiru says, “It was a sad incident that claimed the life of a male person in his 60’s from Fulo Village. It is alleged he was travelling on a vehicle owned by the Jubilant Development Company operating in the Fulo area.

Inspector Maebiru explains: “In the early morning of 5 October the deceased and other two male persons were travelling on board a company vehicle (loader) from the Fulo logging camp to Koletutu Village some 10 to 15 kilometres away to buy beer.”

Inspector Maebiru says, “It was alleged that the trio were already under the influence of alcohol at that time. It is further alleged that the three men bought about 20 bottles of the illegally brewed alcohol (kwaso) and continued with their drinking spree as they returned to the logging camp.”

He adds: “On their way back they entered the southern end of Fulo Bridge when the incident happened. It is alleged the driver was not able to control the loader as it bounced onto the bridge. The deceased subsequently fell off the vehicle onto the road and was allegedly run over.”

“The driver upon realising what happened stopped the vehicle and went down to check on the deceased whilst the third person took off on foot for fear of being attacked.”

Inspector Maebiru says, “Upon realising that the deceased was badly injured and could not help himself the driver then assisted the deceased from the road towards under the bridge.”

“The deceased’s body was later discovered by passengers of a public transport and taken to a nearby clinic where the body was externally examined by medical authorities and pronounced dead.”

“On behalf of the police, I wish to extend our condolences and sympathy to the family and relatives of the deceased for the untimely loss of their old man,” says Inspector Maebiru.

He adds: “I call on all parties involved in this incident to allow the police to progress its investigation into the matter and not to take the law into their own hands.”

Police warn employees, members of the public and responsible owners of vehicles and drivers to stop drink and drive and the common trend of unauthorised use of company, private and government vehicles for such illegal purposes.

–RSIPF MEDIA

1...1,1551,1561,157...1,662Page 1,156 of 1,662