Cutting of ribbon Wanderer Bay Clinic: Premier Veke joined by MPA for Wanderer Bay, GP-Provincial Secretary , GP Director of Nursing and Community leaders.
Cutting of ribbon Wanderer Bay Clinic: Premier Veke joined by MPA for Wanderer Bay, GP-Provincial Secretary , GP Director of Nursing and Community leaders.
THE people of Wanderer Bay in West Guadalcanal Constituency are celebrating their new Rural Health Clinic (RHC) official handed over to them by Premier Anthony Veke.
It is the second clinic Premier Veke opened and handed over to two communities in West Guadalcanal Constituency last week.
Wanderer Bay clinic is a culminating result of tripartite partnership between Guadalcanal Province, ADRA Solomons (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) and the local community.
The project was initiated by Dr Silent Tovosia in collaboration with ADRA Solomons and the local community with approval from Premier Anthony Veke based on felt-needs-assessment.
Premier Veke acknowledged Tovosia for his desire to set up the clinic and thanked the land owners for availing the land the facility was built on.
“Your reception of an ADRA funded project in a catholic dominant region show your level of civilisation and understanding that health care needs transcend religious denomination divides. For that, I wish to thank ADRA Volunteers from Australia who built this excellent facility together with you the local community. Please take ownership of it and look after it well.” Premier Veke told them.
“I have done my part as your leader to ensure this project eventuate when Doc Tovosia approached me with the proposal. I will continue to work for you to ensure drugs and other vital clinical supplies and a nurse is posted soon to your clinic,” he assured them.
Director of Nursing – Guadalcanal Province, Mr Japhet Honimae in delivering his speech assured the community that GP-Health Division is going to stock up the clinic and shall be posting a nurse soon.
Community Representative Mr Apolinare Parugu thanked Tovosia and his wife, ADRA Solomons for the building, Landowners for the space and commended Mr Veke for his approval of the project.
People of Wanderer Bay normally access medical attention at Fox Bay or Tangarare which is a treacherous journey by boat. Now they have the facility right in front of their doorstep.
Premier Veke delivering his speech at Wanderer Bay. Photos from GP Media
Premier Veke delivering his speech at Wanderer Bay. Photos from GP Media
GUADALCANAL Provincial Premier Anthony Veke officially handed over two new rural health clinics to the people of Kusumba and Wanderer Bay in West Guadalcanal Constituency.
It has been a long time cry of the people of Kusumba and Wanderer Bay to have their own clinic facilities. Leaders have come and go however none ever built such facilities for the poor especially mothers and children who have to brave long hours and covered miles and miles in distances to the nearest clinic either in Tangarare or Fox Bay. Crossing flooding rivers and croc infested waters, the Weathercoast rough seas and land terrains meant life is not easy when accessing medical facilities and seeking attention.
The tears of joy in the eyes of mothers and elderly during the handing over ceremony speaks volume of the love they have for such a leader like Mr Veke who felt their pain and suffering and facilitate the building of the clinics.
There is going to be great relief from hardship the people of Kusumba and Wanderer normal experienced when seeking medical attention. These two facilities are going to improve the standard of living of the beneficiaries.
A crying mother lamented that projects like; copper, solar, boats and OBM engines are fake developments, they have no impact like schools and clinics. “We are very thankful to our son and leader Mr Anthony Veke for initiating, facilitating, supporting and delivering real development to our people.”
Delivering his speech during the two occasions, Premier Veke reflected on the Poverty Report which showed that Guadalcanal province has the highest rate of poverty occurrence. With the various criteria used in measuring poverty, access to health facilities and healthy living is one of them. This drives him to believe in direct delivery of health and medical services and facilities down to rural communities.
Hence the reason he pushed for Kusumba clinic to be completed and approved Dr Silent Tovosia’s proposal for an ADRA funded clinic for Wanderer Bay community.
Kusumba RHC was funded by Guadalcanal Provincial Government under the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) whilst the Wanderer Bay RHC was built by Adventist Development and Relief Agency -ADRA Solomons with volunteers from Australia under a tripartite arrangement with Guadalcanal Province and Local Communities.
Cutting of ribbon at Kusumba Rural Health Clinic: Premier Anthony Veke, GP-Provincial Secretory Timothy Ngele, GP-Director Nursing Mr. Japhet Honimae,
Chairman of Kusumba Clinic and Contractor rep.
Cutting of ribbon at Kusumba Rural Health Clinic: Premier Anthony Veke, GP-Provincial Secretory Timothy Ngele, GP-Director Nursing Mr. Japhet Honimae, Chairman of Kusumba Clinic and Contractor rep.
IT’S all smiles, dancing and feasting last week as Guadalcanal Premier Anthony Veke officially hands over Kusumba Rural Health Clinic to the people of Tangarare Ward, West Guadalcanal Constituency.
During the handing over ceremony at Kusumba, Mr Veke expressed his satisfaction in realising the project for the people of Kusumba.
“You have longed for this health facility for so long, there are people before us who planned on such idea but it never eventuate. I myself have attempted twice before completing this project. People have written about me on newspapers and on SIBC accusing me of eating the project’s money. The rest is history, today I stand with you all to celebrate this great achievement and prove all personal and political critics wrong. We made it,” Veke said.
A mother delivering speech on behalf of all women praised Veke for his leadership, vision and passion to see his people have such a lifesaving facility.
“If we all present here today were given chance to share our story, it will be same story of hardship, tears and suffering to access medical attention. It’s dangerous having to cross croc infested rivers, its bad during floodings and also the scorching sun having to walk long hours and stretches of kilometers to Tangarare Clinic,” she lamented.
“Hon Veke our leader, the people are proud of you, you recognise to the basic need of your people for health care. No one ever thinks a clinic could be build where we are standing now. You are the champion, you are the founder and you make things happen, you make things real for people and you touched the hearts of every individual present here today.”
“This RHC facility will continue to remind us of your leadership. You have won our hearts and minds. You might not realise it but all these smiling faces are celebrating your ideals, your vision, leadership and mission to make changes and impact development. If it’s not for you, who will build this for us? No one is capable like you,” she said.
Kusumba RHC shall be an extension of Tangarare Health Centre and looked after by Guadalcanal Province Health and Medical Authority and was funded by Guadalcanal Provincial government under the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF).
Parliament resumed only to be adjourned to October
By Gary Hatigeva
Opposition Leader Manasseh Maelanga raises concern that time is short for government to deal with issues of national interest as parliament is further adjourned.
LEADER of the Official Opposition Group and Member of Parliament for East Malaita, Manasseh Maelanga is concerned that a lot of time has been wasted with so many adjournments, forcing parliament and the current government little time to deal with businesses of importance to the country.
The Opposition Leader made this strong statement during yesterday’s debate session of a Motion of Special Adjournment that was proposed by the government.
With less than three months before its dissolution, parliament was only resumed yesterday, only to be adjourned again to October 31, 2018, with intentions to give time for the government to complete its remaining businesses, which are deemed crucial for the 10th Parliament to deal with.
Before moving the Motion of Special Adjournment, the Acting Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare added that adjourning the sittings will also give a little more time for the Bills and Legislation Committee (BLC), to complete its inquiries into the remaining Bills that have been put before it for scrutiny.
“The reasons are obvious, as we intended to deal with the Traditional Governance and Custom Facilitation bill 2018, which the BLC is still working on it and there are also other bills for the committee to clear, so that parliament can sit down and deliberate on,” the Acting PM explained.
The Acting Prime Minister, Manasseh revealed that initially, the schedule was for parliament to resume and later adjourn to the 7th of November, but due to the unfinished proceedings by the BLC into some of what the PM (Ag) described as, very crucial bills, the government had to propose for an early resumption.
“We realised that if we went ahead with the earlier proposed date, we will only have about five weeks to deal with all remaining government businesses, which meant the time will be too short.”
“So by taking the date back to the 31 of October should give a little more time, where we can have at least the whole of November and two weeks into December, so that by the 17th or 18th December, parliament will be dissolved”.
The Acting PM then thanked Members of Parliament from both the Opposition and the Independent groups for their views and support towards the special adjournment, which he thought was very important.
However, the adjournment would mean the timeframe is now squeezed to exactly one and half month for the house to deliberate on all relevant businesses, which include a number of bills that have already been through their second reading on the floor of parliament.
Additionally, the adjournment will also allow for the government to deal with current pressing issues, which Island Sun understands, included the Electoral Registration process that continues to make negative headlines, since it started over three weeks ago.
The issue was also highlighted during the debates and a lot of Members are concerned that the matter has now gone out of hand as most of the activities connected to, are said to be illegal and the government is urged to deal with before matters get any worst.
With its adjournment, the Bills Committee is expected to resume its enquiries into the remaining government bills, particularly the Traditional Governance and Custom Facilitation Bill.
REQUEST for an extension of the Bills and Legislation Committee (BLC’s) enquiry into the Traditional Governance and Custom Facilitation Bill 2018 has been approved, but the challenge remains to be with getting people to be part of it.
Last week, the BLC started its hearing into the bill and received very little responses from members of the Civil Society groups, a few Non-Government Organisations that were scheduled to appear before the committee to share their views on what these groups described as, a controversial and complicated piece of legislation.
The extension according to the Acting Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare when revealing the approval, explained that it will allow and give an opportunity for the committee to involve more people to share their views on the TG Bill, particularly, Chiefs and Women throughout the country.
While there is the challenge of getting people within Honiara to be part of the enquiry, the Committee is also faced with the difficulty in getting people from the islands to make it to the hearing, and Chairman had also called for the government allocate additional funding to see this program fulfil before the house resumes in October.
The Committee has argued that the consultation process into the bill was not inclusive enough as the report showed that not many women were part of it and the views captured do not reflect the hundreds of chiefs in various settings and jurisdiction throughout the country.
The responsible ministry had agreed to the argument and proposed to take the bill back to the provinces, with intention to get the specific people highlighted, but the BLC suggested for those supposedly missed out to be included in the BLC hearing to cut the cost and save time
No confirmation has yet been made by the government on the request to allocated funds to help the committee fulfil its extension of the enquiry program.
Earlier, Heads of certain Civil Society Organisations disputed the consultation programmes held, which they thought were not wide enough to capture the views of men and women throughout the country.
They suggested that the consultations were done in convenience based on the government’s terms and expectations.
Meanwhile, top officials from the Ministry of Peace and Reconciliation when presenting the bill before the BLC last week, admitted to the shortfalls, but stressed that the issue of getting people to participate was a clash of timing and venues, which was something outside of their control.
According to officials, the ministry had to depend on each provincial government’s schedules, who the ministry had engaged to spearhead, which they said had turned out good.
But the BLC thought the programme had failed to identify the actual people (Chiefs) that will be implementing the legislation if it becomes an act, and suggested that they be part of the priority people, included if the request for extension was approved.
No confirmation have yet been given on the requests for additional funding to assist in getting people from the provinces to be brought over to the capital for the inquiry, but insiders say the government will want to make sure this bill is brought back to the floor for its final deliberations, and will therefore ensure that the needed funds are made available.
THE man alleged of killing another man in an incident on June 17 this year, during the FIFA World Cup, will appear again for mention on October 8.
The case was called yesterday but the accused was yet to confirm in court his legal representation.
This is the case where police alleged that the accused, Malcolm Folia, allegedly stabbed another man to death over a joke made in relation to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Allegations said on June 17 this year the accused, the deceased, and their friends were drinking alcohol at Koloale area in Honiara.
While they were drinking beer, they were all talking about the World Cup and were making jokes about the teams they supported.
They allegedly would argue over the teams but did not take the argument seriously.
During that time, the deceased was hungry and told the boys that he will go to his house to eat and will return to them.
It was further alleged that after the deceased left, the accused and the boys continued on to joke about the World Cup teams as the deceased and the accused were supporters of Brazil.
All of a sudden, the accused allegedly punched one of the boys and then attempted to punch another who tried to calm him.
The accused then allegedly told the boys to wait for him while he went to his house to take a knife to stab anyone of them.
Having heard that, the boys allegedly moved to another location by a Mango tree after the accused left.
The boys were still sitting under the Mango tree when the accused return with a knife.
The accused was allegedly seen attempting to stab himself when one of the boys tried to take the knife away from him.
Prosecution alleged that it was at that time that the deceased arrived and tried to help one of the boys to calm the accused.
It was at that time that accused stabbed the deceased with the knife on his right chest.
The deceased left the group and walked back to his house.
He was taken to the National Referral Hospital but died that same night.
Former Premier of Malaita Province, Hon Peter Channel Ramohia.
BY GEORGE MANFORD
AUKI
Premier of Malaita Province, Hon Peter Channel Ramohia.
YOUNG men and women in Malaita stand to benefit from the CITREC programme from Canada as application forms are now available for interested applicants to try out employment opportunities in Canada.
Malaita’s Premier, Mr Peter Ramohia, recently made the announcement, inviting and encouraging young men and women of the province to apply.
The trainings and education application form under the CITREC – Malaita provincial government partnership programme, Ramohia said.
“Young Malaitan young men and women between 18-35 years are encouraged to apply.
“To apply, download the form and fill it out with relevant required informations and return it to the CITREC selection panel which has been established under the office of the Malaita provincial secretary.”
All completed application forms must reach the CITREC selection panel by Monday, October 8, 2018.
An extension of this deadline maybe possible should there be a real need for this, Premier Ramohia said.
Application scanned forms are also be downloaded in the other Malaitan based Facebook pages including Auki town forum, small Malaita constituency forum, west and East Are’are forums, and others including FSII including Iumi Tok Tok page .
Also application forms can also be obtained from the Malaita education Authority and the members from the malaita provincial assembly.
All application received before or the dead line date on October 8 will be screened and short listed by the CITREC selection panel (a five member team from the Malaita provincial administration office, executive, Malaita education authority and the youth division and women organisation.
The list of shortlisted applicants produced by the CITREC selection panel will be forwarded to CITREC in Canada for finalising of the list and award of placement for the successful applicants.
Upon of completion of the final list and awards made by CITREC in Canada, CITREC Malaita Province Training Programme will be officially launched and commence.
The Aoke/Langalanga MP and BLC Chair, Matthew Wale.
MEMBER of Parliament for Aoke/Langalanga and Chair of the Bills and Legislation Committee (BLC), Matthew Wale has suggested for a longer Objectiona period and called for the government to work through the Electoral Commission on it.
This comes following a recorded high in the number of transfers from different constituencies to others, the Chair of the BLC Chair thought that the period allocated for the objection period is not long enough for the legal process to take its full course on those who are involved in what was widely described as, illegal and uncalled for.
The Aoke/Langalanga MP made this comment when contributing to the Motion of Special Adjournment moved by the Acting Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, following parliament’s resumption on Monday.
He said the matter on cross border that continued to see negative reports coming out from, is clearly illegal but is worst than ever before.
He added that the matter of people transferring between constituencies is undermining the character of the country’s representative democracy and distorts the will of the electorates.
The Aoke/Langalanga MP is concerned that the illegal practice is driven by what he described as, selfish motives on the part of some people that is a blatant disregard for the spirit of the constitution and the electoral act, while at the same time, a blatant disrespect to the electorates.
“In some instance, anecdotal information suggests that it is perused by candidates who fear their electorates, so want to dilute the electorates’ votes by others coming in from elsewhere, where are not familiar with issues in that particular constituency,” Wale stressed.
He further stressed that it is so unfortunate, these activities happen straight after parliament passed the Electoral Act 2018 and this according to Wale shows the inadequacies in the provisions of the new law.
“In that some candidates who are pushing such, there should be punitive measures against any candidates where from behind, are directing others to engage in cross borders to dilute their own constituency electorates,” he said.
Wale then reminded and warned that the government must take the call into serious consideration and take action, because highlighted issue will result in diversion of constituency resources, which was what many electors expressed as one of their main concern.
He further warned that the issues highlighted may also result in social conflict, “and it cannot be good for our country, as it cannot be good for our people”.
He said the only hope to clean up that electoral role is the ‘objection process’, but pointed out that this process is too short as we are now talking about transfers and cross borders of thousands of voters from all around the country.
So I ask that the government liaises with the commission to make sure that the objections process is given more time so that the role is cleaned up.
The integrity of the role is core to the legitimacy of the will of constituencies and we have seen in this matter, that the out of constituency registration may have contributed to this and we therefore need a confirmation procedure.
With so much at stake plus the many confusion over the muddle up of the old act against the new electoral act, Lawyers spoken to suggested for the government to also come up with a bill to make clear the application of provisions in the new law to the activities at question, as most of the matters related to the cross border and transfer activities, were done prior to the act’s gazette.
In his response to this, Acting Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare assured that the government following the consistent reports on the highlighted issue, has held meetings with the responsible authorities including the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission and is working to look into the relevant provisions.
Sogavare revealed that so far, the number of newly registered has so far reached up to 15,000 which he thought is reasonable, but agreed that the number of transfers or cross border registration is concerning as it now hits over 4,000, which according to observers, the number is still expected to increase in the remaining days of registration.
He however stressed that those involved in getting people to register in different constituencies will have to be prepared to meet the many complications that will come with such illegal practices and are further warned to rethink their position in these transfer and cross border activities, so to avoid any embarrassments and legal consequences.
SENTENCING submission into the case against a hotel employee will be made today at the Honiara Magistrate Court.
This is in relation to the case against Natalie Keni who is facing a charge of uttering on which police alleged she uttered some documents involving more than $100,000 from the Heritage Park hotel.
The accused after the trial guilty of the charges and was convicted by the court.
On previous occasion the court was told that the defence will be making an application for stay on sentencing while awaiting the appeal filed in the High Court.
Sirepu Ramosaea and Freliz Fakari of the Office of the Director Public Prosecution appear for the state while Serah Karani of the Public Solicitor’s Office represents the accused.
THE Pre-trial Conference on the case against the former Member of Parliament Hypolite Taremae will be conducted today.
On the previous appearance the court heard that huge number of witnesses will be called during the trial and the court suggested trimming the witnesses list.
This is the case against the former MP who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and a PTC has been set he was arrested for allegation of misappropriation of fund in 2011 and 2013.
The allegation said Mr Taremae has misappropriated more than $200,000 for reafforestation project for Central Makira Constituency.
He was arrested and charged with conversion late in May this year.
Office of the Director Public Prosecution appears for crown while Anderson Kesaka is representing the accused.
