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Seif Ples provides new accommodation for victims of gender violence

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Capital and Crime Prevention, Mr Solomon Sisimia

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Capital and Crime Prevention, Mr Solomon Sisimia

A new accommodation Seif Ples establishes will set right direction for women and children in Solomon Islands, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, National Capital and Crime Prevention, Mr Solomon Sisimia said.

Last week, Seif Ples commenced a groundbreaking for expansion of its new accommodation space funded by the Australian Government through DFAT under the Solomon Islands Justice Programme.

Sisimia said, “Seif Ples is set on the right direction and will always be seen as means of safety for abuse women and children today and into the future.”

He said as Solomon Islands is facing many issues relating family violence and rape, such project will upgrade two new accommodation for victims or survivor of sexual and gender base violence.

“This expansion will be a milestone for Seif Ples and its partners as well as Solomon Islands as a whole in combating gender base violence in all its forms.”

He said Solomon’s history on gender base violence is one that they will not tolerate especially under the label when country has a total population of 99 percent Christians.

On behalf of the SIG and project partners, Sisimia acknowledged the greatest support from Australia Government through DFAT under the Justice Programme for funding the refurbishment of Seif Ples’ new accommodation.

“I must be frank here that your support is not in vain but was one that place into the right cause and safety for all victims of crime within and abroad the country.”

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Police National Security and Correctional Karen Qalokale said the expansion of Seif Ples is a reflection of Seif Ples and its partners to fight gender based violence.

She said the expansion set as milestone for Seif Ples and its partners as well as country as whole in a collective fight towards gender based violence.

Gizo council calls for public support

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

GIZO

MEMBERS of the Gizo Town Council (GTC) have called on the Gizo public to support council workers in cleaning up and looking after the Western provincial capital.

A concerned GTC employer told Island Sun Gizo yesterday that most people at market and street have carelessly thrown all their pile all over at the market area rather than put them in the right places provided.

“I would like to call on the general public to keep the surrounding clean at all times to keep Gizo Town clean, safe and attractive for visitors and tourists.

“We GTC workers will not clean all your waste, but we need your support and helping hands to keep our town clean at all times.

“Please all my good people in Western Province take ownership and be responsible and be a good ambassador to take good ownership of our township with good manner and behavior of cleanliness.”

Concern raised over growing ‘fish pirates’

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

GIZO

The national fisheries development (NFD) is reportedly facing threats to its fishing fleet from fishermen who allegedly board NFD’s purse seiners by force.

It is reported that they forcefully board the ships and take off with whatever amount of fish they can carry. It is alleged that these so-called fishermen take their booty and sell them in Honiara.

And, according to sources this practice has been ‘going on for some time now’.

Along with fish they take, they sometimes make off with fishing gears belonging to the ships which they board.

It is understood that this has been reported to a high level delegation from the Western provincial government which visited Noro recently.

It is also understood NFD is also looking at means to protect its ships and employees.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a NFD employee says, “There is danger the practice could happen at Honiara harbour but a senior police officers in Gizo said they are monitoring the situation as a serious case of fish piracy which is going to be fully investigated.

“The photos of the fish pirates are available at the NFD offices in Noro.”

Police, in an email correspondence with Island Sun, confirms through its media unit that they are aware of the situation and are monitoring it.

Nineteen year-old to appear in court

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

THE 19 year -old young man charged with immigration offences will appear for an interim mention as his trial date has been set for October 15 of this year.

Paul Anga who was alleged of being living unlawfully in the Solomon Islands relating to immigration offences denies the charge against him.

The accused Paul Anga is charged for count of unlawful non-citizen and misleading immigration officer.

On previous appearances the defence said the accused is of Solomon Island citizen.

But the prosecution said that there are no documents to identify that the accused is a Solomon islander as there was no birth certificate or other documents to support that he is a Solomon Islander.

The accused Mr Anga is charged under the Immigration Act 2012 early this year.

A private lawyer Nelson Laurere is representing the accused in court.

Petitioned out for telling the truth: Tuki

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Minister for Women Youth Children and Family Affairs Freda Rotutafi Rangirei.

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

THE ousted Member of Parliament (MP) for Temotu/Vatud Constituency, Freda Tuki says she lost the petition against her for telling the truth.

She said she accept the High Court ruling yesterday and didn’t feel bad at all for losing her seat.

In a conversation with Island Sun, Tuki says she didn’t lie in court nor did she feel the need to since she had made her oath before God to tell nothing else but the truth.

She said she didn’t deny the fact that she gave $2000 to a family in need during the campaign period of the 2014 election.

She said the family had a sick child and they sought her out for assistance. She said as the family was in dire need with a sick child, she felt obliged to support them.

“I didn’t ask them to vote for me nor did I ask them to support me. I didn’t deny this in court when they asked about it. Also I had helped our local church when they asked me to support them in purchasing candles and wine.

“My officer gave to them the assistance they needed. I didn’t partake in the transaction of this assistance. However they made an announcement in church to thank me for the assistance. Those I didn’t deny doing.”

She said when the high court judge made the sentence on Monday, she accepted the decision based on the two claims.

But she denied hunting people to support and vote for her during the campaign period in 2014.

“I didn’t go round looking for people with basket of money to lure them into voting for me,” she said.

Tuki said despite being petitioned from being MP for Temotu/Vatud, she is quite satisfied with her four years as MP.

She said parliament only has two months or less to go before it dissolves thus she has no regrets.

She said she felt okay losing the petition by being honest then winning it by fabricating stories.

“I take my oath seriously. I cannot lie by the Bible. And I have nothing to lose when I lost the petition. I am okay with my status as an entrepreneur,” Tuki said.

Hailing from Nukukaisi village, Freda Tuki was elected into the National Parliament of Solomon Islands for Temotu/Vatud constituency on November 19, 2014.

She had been appointed Minister of Rural Development in 2015 and twice appointed as Minister of Women, Youth and Children Affairs.

A portfolio she held till she was petitioned out by a former MP and rival contestant in 2014, Clay Forau.

“So now I am taking this chance to relax a bit. I am satisfied with the judgement ruling. Though it is hurtful for the time being, it will pass. There is nothing else for me to say,” Tuki said.

Tuki was the Managing Director of Pacific Logging Company Limited prior to entering parliament.

The right voter transfer: SIEC

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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By Alfred Sasako

SIEC chairman and Speaker of the National Parliament Ajilon Nasiu

THE Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) has provided the definition for right or correct way for the right voter transfer.

SIEC chairman, Ajilon Nasiu told Island Sun yesterday that in the past registration exercise a voter should go and simply alter his/her voting details from wherever he/she voted in 2014 back to his/her real constituency and not just to which she/he has no connections at all.

“The right transfer is, if you were registered and voted here in Honiara in 2014 and now would like to go back and vote in your own constituency in the upcoming election in 2019, you go and simply alter your voter details and your name will be transferred,” Mr Nasiu who is also the Speaker of the National Parliament, said.

“The wrong transfer is when somebody forces you to transfer your voter details from where you voted in 2014 to somewhere to which you have no connection at all,” he said.

Meanwhile SIEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Mose Saitala reaffirmed that it is not illegal to transfer yourself as a voter to your new eligible place to vote at.

Mr Saitala said the SIEC believed the number of registrants would be reduced because we believe many people re-registered again to correct their initial transfer registration. Many may just be updates of their names.

“The Bio data Voter Registration (BVR) software will be able to correct all of these,” he said.

“Because of the high number of transfers propelled and incited by (some) intending candidates, I suspect that there will be a high number of notices of objection and claims of omission when the Provisional List of Electors is published towards the end of this month.”

MP for Temotu Vatud loses election petition

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Hon Freda Tuki

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

THE Member for Parliament for Temotu Vatud Fred Tuki Soriocomua has lost her seat following the High Courts ruling in favour of an election petition against her.

Ms Soriocomua was until yesterday the Minister for Women Youth and Family Affairs.

Former Temotu Vatud MP Clay Soalaoi Forau had petitioned Soriocomua’s election on allegations relating to bribery, treating and undue influence which were alleged to have occurred during the period of national general election in November 2014.

Soriocomua was the only female in Parliament among other 49 male MPs.

She had won the 2014 national general against other male candidates including former MP Forau.

Betty set to go

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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(LEFT)Betty Waneasi during a training session earlier this year in Honiara. Photo by Daniel Kakadi - DANZO PHOTOGRAPHY. (RIGHT), Betty Waneasi will compete at the Youth Olympic Games currently underway in Buenos Aires, Argentina this Thursday

BY ROMULUS HUTA

SOLOMON Islands’ sole weightlifting rep to the Youth Olympic Games currently underway in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires will take it to the weight stage this Thursday.

Sixteen years old Betty Waneasi will compete in the 58kg Group A class of the women’s divisions against seven other opponents from Greece, USA, Ghana, Nigeria, Tunisia, Azerbaijan and Egypt, respectively.

According to the seeding, Tunisian Ghofrane Belkhir leads Betty’s group with the highest qualification entry of 210kg and followed by Neama Said Fahmi Said of Egypt who is second with 190kg.

Peyton Brown from USA, who is a silver medallist in the 2018 Pan-American Youth Championship, qualifies with the third highest entry of 186kg and followed by Mary Kardara (Greece) and Islamiyat Yusuf (Nigeria), respectively, both at a 160kg each.

Lala Rzazade of Azerbaijan went in with 145kg in her qualification total and followed by the Solomon Islander who has a total of 130kg, just five kilos ahead of the least qualified contestant and Ghanaian Sandra Mensimah Oqusu who entered with 125kg in total.

In the recent past months leading up to last Thursday’s departure for Buenos Aires, Betty had climbed an uphill battle in her preparations where she worked so hard to lose many kilos as possible in attempts to fit into her newly-adopted 58kg class category. During the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu she competed in the 63kg.

(LEFT)Betty Waneasi during a training session earlier this year in Honiara. Photo by Daniel Kakadi – DANZO PHOTOGRAPHY. (RIGHT), Betty Waneasi will compete at the Youth Olympic Games currently underway in Buenos Aires, Argentina this Thursday

When she began her preparations for Buenos Aires earlier this year, she was initially aiming to compete in the 53kg class and in that; she must reduce her weight by 10 kilos. However, she couldn’t afford to do it despite adhering to a very strict dietary plan.

She had to go for the 58kg class instead where from time to time she found out to have suited her.

Betty was weighed 55kg prior to her departure for Buenos Aires last week.

“From 62kg last December, I did a lot of work out over the past months and weeks to get to where I am.

“It was a massive challenge for me to have come this far and achieved the 55kg mark. I sacrificed a lot for this,” a softly-spoken Betty said.

Few months ago, her preparation received a massive boost when decorated iron lady Jenlyn Wini teams up with her as a training partner.

Betty, who hails from North Malaita, is Jenlyn’s second cousin through her maternal side and emulating the successes of her training partner and relative is her major goal.

“I think it’s a privilege working with someone such as Jenlyn and I owe her a lot through her continuous words of encouragement and advice.

“Jenlyn always remind me to maintain a high-level form of discipline if I want to become successful.

“Some of the advices are to be committed to training, refrain from smoking, drinking alcohol and chewing betelnut but focus strongly on top level discipline,” she grinned as she spoke.

Meanwhile, athletics and futsal are the two other codes representing Solomon Islands at the event in Buenos Aires.

Saving POB

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Governor of Central Bank of Solomon Islands, Denton Rarawa

CBSI governor holds top level discussion with New York Fed reserve and Crown Agent Bank

 

By Alfred Sasako

PAN Oceanic Bank’s (POB’s) inability to establish a US dollar correspondent banking relationship (CBR) has the potential for causing instability in our financial system and the economy, the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) disclosed on Monday.

This is the first time the CBSI has publicly acknowledged the seriousness of the US Dollar correspondent banking relationship issue and the implications for the country.

Governor Denton Rarawa is now in Indonesia for talks on the matter with senior executives of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Crown Agent Bank.

“I will hold discussions with senior executives of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) and Crown Agent Bank in Bali tomorrow [today] to continue our efforts to get Crown Agent Bank to set up a US dollar correspondent banking relationship (CBR) with POB.

“Why is the Central Bank doing this? Because, it is in our interest to mitigate potential instability in the financial system and the economy and because we have confidence in the operations of POB in the country,” Mr Rarawa said.

Rarawa was responding to allegations raised in a lengthy letter, which Island Sun passed on to the CBSI for comments yesterday.

Among other things, the writer Dr Eroni L Taukalo made sweeping allegations linking police, CBSI staff as well as two POB Board Members whom he said were named in the Panama Papers as international money launderer.

“Thank you for your email. I am currently travelling hence not in a position to determine the veracity of the letter but it appears it is from the same person or group that widely circulated an email with similar allegations two weeks ago.

“I am not sure what is motivating this person/group and why they are attacking POB but I can say that the allegations in the letter are not true. The Central Bank has confidence in POB’s operations and will continue to support its activities, like any other bank in the country.

“So I would like to reiterate the Bank’s earlier call for those people spreading these misleading allegations to stop doing so because they are undermining our efforts to assist POB secure a CBR to protect the stability of our financial system.”

Rarawa urged POB customers “to continue to conduct your banking business with POB as normal”.

He did not respond to a follow-up question as to what happened should the Bali talks fail.

Island Sun understands that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has given the CBSI until December to fix the POB CBR issue or face being denied the use of an US Dollar Account.

Such a scenario would spell disaster for the nation because we use the US currency for all our external trade.

Community calls for closure of Munda airport gates

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

COMMUNITY of Kekehe in Munda, Western province are calling on the Ministry of Communication and Aviation (MCA) to close two gates at the Munda airport.

Currently there are two gates on both sides of the Munda airport, which is reportedly used as a road access by members of public in Munda, who cross the runway to get to the other gate.

It has been used as such for quite a while, and the nearby community of Kekehe are sounding the alarm before any tragedy takes place.

It is understood that despite this, aviation authorities have done little to discourage public from using the gates as road access.

At the moment, construction also underway but despite the situation people are using that gates as entry for short-cut to nearby villages.

Looking at the risk it may cause, people of Kekehe community are calling for the Ministry of Communication and Aviation including other authorities involved to close the two gates.

Speaking for the Kekehe community, Mr George Benson said, “I am really concern about the two gates which has been opened at both side of the Munda airport which people are using as crossing access.

“I want Ministry of Communication and Aviation to close that gate and remind or educate people about safety measures and restricted boundaries there.”

He said the entry has open an access opportunity for people or even animals to cross the airport runway and it has becoming normal now.

People will stop crossing only when there is plane flew-in or out, he said.

Since then nothing has been done, he adds.

He said the situation may be low in hazards but it was very risky.

With that Mr Benson is urging the authorities to address such issue.

“We want Ministry of Communication and Aviation to close the gates for the safety of our people of Kekehe village and other nearby communities, some people already faces accident,” he said.

Attempts to contact the MCA throughout this week for comments have received no response.

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