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Munda and Gwaunaru’u airports near completion: Agovaka

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Munda airport runway.

By Gary Hatigeva

THE level of works carried out on the developments of Gwaunaru’u and Munda airports have both gone past 90 percent completion, and are now finalising, Minister of Civil Aviation and Communication, Peter Shannel Agovaka told parliament.

The Central Guadalcanal Member of Parliament and Minister of Aviation revealed this when questioned over the status of both development projects in parliament yesterday.

During a Question and Answer session, Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament for East Malaita, Manasseh Maelanga, who was also joined by the Bills and Legislation Committee and MP for Aoke/Langalanga, Matthew Wale both raised questions surrounding the nature of work on the projects.

Minister Agovaka first explained that in terms of the work contracted and carried out in Gwaunaru’u, 99 percent of the work contracted has completed.

He said the slight issue was that the contractor could not complete the remaining percentage of work, and this was because the people of the communities around the airport wanted an access road built around the airport and for a water supply to be provided for the surrounding communities.

“This is unfortunately out of our hands as it is not factored in our budget and contract, but we are working on an amicable agreement with the communities to be able to have Dash 8 flights operational by September 2018,” the minister added.

Munda airport development on the other hand, the minister told parliament that they have completed the fencing project, with set up of navigation aids at 95 percent completion rate.

He further added that in this project, the issue of land was a major stumbling block, but assured the house that the issues were resolved on July 27.

He however pointed out that there are a few outstanding five percent of the works left, which the government is anticipating for them to be completed by mid-August.

Meanwhile, parliament was told that because of its earmarked status to international, it was of paramount importance that the Munda infrastructure meets international aviation standards and of course that of the Civil Aviation of Solomon Islands (CASI) before it can host international flights as proposed in the government’s policy.

And as part of meeting the standards, the Munda project also received two fire engines donated by the New Zealand government and have been successfully shifted to what has been described as, an alternative international airport.

Also comes as part of wanting to meet the highlighted standards, the Aviation Minister told parliament that a training is also in the loop for seven new Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighter personnel.

With the proposition over Munda airport, a scheduled inaugural flight by Solomon Airlines to Munda will be made after the certification by CASI, which was revealed to be around September.

MAL ensures to achieve ECAT intended results

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

THE Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) is confident it will achieve the intended results of the Solomon Islands Enhancing Capacities for Agriculture Trade (SIECAT) project that was launched in Honiara recently.

The four-year project sought to increase investment in the cassava and taro sub-sector, improve the capacity of the Ministry of Health, MAL and the Ministry of Commerce in food safety and quality assurance to address technical barriers to trade and sanitary and Phyto-sanitary measures and increase value addition in Cassava and Taro production for export.

MAL’s PS Mr Oswald Ramo expressed that the government is pleased that the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) of the World Trade Organisation, through its funding assistance, has realised the need and so funded the ECAT project for Solomon Islands, being one of the least developed countries the EIF programme covers.

“We are delighted that Solomon Islands is part of the EIF initiatives and that MAL will be supporting this program here on. We will ensure that the intended results or outcome of the project must be achieved during its timeframe,” said MAL’s PS

Ghaubata association question NPF

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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General Manager for SINPF Mr Mike Wate

By Ezekiel Talatau

General Manager for SINPF Mr Mike Wate

THE Chairman of Valumamata Ghaubata Taovia Tribal association, which consists of five tribes, has raised concern over the land tender (fence) by SINPF with a land parcel 192-016153, that was publicised by Island Sun last month.

Mr Ben Inman said the area where the NPF tried to develop are still under high court pending.

He calls other contractors to be aware of such situation before they can bid for such tender.

The Ghaubata tribal association has given the letter to SINPF, but has not received any positive response since. It is reported that NPF is continuing with its work on the area regardless.

“Currently, the NPF are now securing the area and started to treating and harassing some land owners who once settle within this area,” Inman said.

The General Manger of SINPF Mr Mike Wate said the SINPF board has the perpetual estate (PE) title and they are protecting the land from illegal squatters to the land and they have good title to erecting the fence.

However, Inman counters that the person who had sold the land to NPF is not a landowner.

He added that the land belongs to the tribe, therefore urges NPF to be wary of this information.

Negotiation for landfill underway

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

THE Malaita Local Council has reported that negotiations are currently underway with landowners on identified sites for landfill for Auki town.

Director of the Local Council and Regional Affairs, Mr George Waleka said that there is green light on the negotiations.

He told this paper yesterday that so far there are about four sites identified, but two had been struck out due to land issues.

Waleka said the sites identified include, a site near Aimela School, another in Kunu, Molou and at Bablokana towards south of Auki town.

However, he said the other two sites of Kunu and Molou were omitted whilst focus is now on the site near Aimela School and Bablokana site.

Waleka said currently his office is gearing to carry out survey on the two sites and when resources required for the work are at hand they will begin.

He said upon the report of the survey and other related information concerning the land the sites were located they will chose the site for the landfill.

Waleka said currently the town is using a temporary dumpsite however acquiring either of these sites will become the permanent dumpsite for Auki town.

He said the issue of dumpsite for Auki town went back to around 1994 when the dumpsite use by the town was closed due to development.

Waleka said the issue remained since than until now where ideas now put together to pursue and address the area.

A little bit of learning is a dangerous thing

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

By Alfred Sasako

TRUTH is what everyone seeks – in court and or in other jurisdictions of authority – in order to satisfy those who seek it.

It is, at times elusive. In most times, though, it catches the unprepared off guard. A case in point is a Mr Tepuke Pautangata’s writings on the outcome of HCSI-CC 243 of 2015.

As it turned out, Alexander Pope’s statement has been proven to be true again by Tepuke Pautangata, the law student from Honiara.

In his letter which was published in the Solomon Star on July 24, 2018, Pautangata who was apparently unconstrained by the facts or law, sought to set out his understanding of proceedings to which he was not a party and which would appear to have been written without reference to the documents which were filed and are able to be reviewed, if the Court file was in fact inspected by him.

If that was not enough, Pautangata saw fit to assert “suspicions” about the trampling of the case from his imperfect state of knowledge and to seek an explanation by either the Court or the AG of what occurred.

If the time was taken to understand Court process or to inspect the Court file for HCSI- CC 243 of 2015, Pautangata would have been confronted with the truth that the proceedings had in fact been commenced by APID, not the AG. As the proceedings were commenced by APID, they could be discontinued by it at any time.

Pautangata would have ascertained that the issue in the case was a show cause notice that was issued to APID and that at no stage of the proceedings was APID’s mining lease ever at risk of being cancelled. He also would have observed that the registration of the land in West Rennell was not mentioned.

The Court file shows that the AG did not seek any relief in the proceedings which would maintain any injunctive orders of the kind stated in Pautangata’s letter and the orders recited by him in his letter were set aside, following an application and appeal. Accordingly, they do not stand and cannot be relied upon

The Court does not provide explanations of cases to bystanders in answer to their letters to the editor of newspapers.

It makes judgement and orders which are published and are able to be inspected by those who care to know what happened.

Guadalcanal undergoes reparation scoping and consultation workshop

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

AS Guadalcanal celebrates its 34th Second Appointed today, men, women, youth and ex-combatant representatives from around the Province have converged into Honiara to be part of a reparation scoping workshop organised to share ideas on helping the National Government to address outstanding issues and claims arising from both the Bougainville crisis and the recent ethnic tensions.

Ideas and resolutions reached during the workshop will provide a guideline for the national Government to design a comprehensive policy and legislation to address issues that gave rise to the ethnic tensions from 1998 to 2003 including impacts of the subsequent violence as well as the Bougainville Crisis.

The scoping workshop aims to gather collective views and to inform ex-combatants, victims, women, youths and other important stakeholders that the National Government in partnership with the UNDP is committed to start addressing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report pertaining to Reparation.

Legal Consultant, Francis Waleanisia at the workshop

The consultation process begins the Government’s first step to address outstanding issues of the social conflict as well as to discuss key issues necessary to assist in creating a new legislation to address all reparation-related issues.

The scoping and consultation process also looks at introducing legal frameworks and to identify avenues within existing legal frameworks where reparation issues can be addressed.

The current Solomon Islands Democratic Coalition of Change Government (SIDCCG) places emphasis on post-conflict rehabilitation focusing on the TRC Report implementation, which includes Reparation as one of key priority policies.

Workshop Participants

The scoping workshop was funded by the UNDP through the UN Peacebuilding fund, the UN Women and the Solomon Islands Government through the Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace (MNURP).

Similar workshops will be held for both Western and Choiseul provinces and Malaita province in coming weeks.

–GCU

New Zealand’s Winston Peters speaks out about stability in the Pacific

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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DEAR EDITOR, New Zealand Foreign Minister, Hon. Winston Peters, has said the world is beginning to understand how crucial stability is in the Pacific.

Quoting extracts from a late news bulletin broadcast last night, Tuesday, 31 July 2018, by Radio New Zealand this is what was reported.

“Mr Peters is travelling to Singapore to attend a regional forum including a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“The New Zealand government is set to raise foreign aid by more than $NZ700 million over the next four years, as part of its Pacific reset strategy.

“Mr Peters said the government signalled to the world that they needed to address the “new ball game” in the Pacific.

“He said his government showed where it stood when it announced its Pacific reset strategy.

“We made it very clear to the Australians, the Japanese, the French and the Americans, the British and the European Union, that it was a new ball game that had to be addressed in the Pacific and the sooner they stepped up on that, the better, because we were going to do that and try to persuade them.

“So I’m very glad to the see that the French and the Americans and the British have all rediscovered the Pacific because for far too long they had not.” Copyright @ 2018, Radio New Zealand

Yours sincerely

Frank Short

Honouring a pledge to lead and serve

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

DEAR EDITOR, last week the acting Honiara City Mayor, Eddie Ngava, called on all members of Parliament to step in and render support in what was a national issue concerning the ongoing medical drugs shortages at the NRH and clinics.

Mr Ngava referred to one MP having donated medical drugs and supplies to three clinics in West Honiara and he called upon the other 49 MPs to render the same degree of support to the clinics in their respective constituencies.

I would appeal to those 49 MPs to follow the challenge set by Mr Ngava to demonstrate to the country and their constituents their concern for the crisis over drug shortages and to fulfill their responsibilities to the constituents they were elected to represent.

So often one has read of allegations concerning the lack of constituency development and alleged misuse of the constituency development funds each MP receives annually and now would be the ideal time to set aside any such allegations and to help by generously donating money to buy medicines in the national interest or to donate adequate medical drugs and supplies, following the example set by the West Honiara MP, to his constituency clinics.

In the present climate resulting from medical drugs shortages it is more than ever necessary, in my view, to demonstrate “to lead is to serve,” or regrettably be judged in the court of public opinion has not having lived up to the expectations of a serving Member of Parliament.

Please, Honourable Members, do help the nation at this difficult time and those who put you in office for many in the constituencies are suffering illness and need treatment and access to medical care and medicine.

Yours sincerely

FRANK SHORT

A commendable re-forestation programme to be encouraged country-wide in the Solomon Islands

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

DEAR EDITOR, as the Solomon Islands has lost so much of its indigenous forests over the years due to logging practices, I highly commend the Malaita Provincial Forestry Unit in again initiating a school re-forestation programme for secondary schools in the province.

The programme is aimed at getting school children to become aware of the importance of reforestation and planting trees and to teach the younger generation of the importance of forests and especially its management.

Ecosystem restoration is the process of actively managing the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed.

I believe that such a school-led conscious intervention based on traditional local knowledge and forestry understanding is the goal the Solomon Islands greatly needs to restore the country’s ecosystems to be resilient and self-sustaining.

It is my hope that similar re-forestation programmes will be introduced at all local secondary schools and perhaps supported by the help of the Taiwanese Government through its Embassy in Honiara.

Yours sincerely

FRANK SHORT

IMF commends government on ACB passage

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0
IMF team leader Ms Alison Stuart (RIGHT)

BY MIKE PUIA

IMF team leader Ms Alison Stuart (RIGHT)

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended the government for passing the country’s Anti-Corruption Bill (ACB) 2017.

The government, led by Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela, passed its long-awaited bill last Wednesday.

The commendation from IMF comes from the leader of an IMF team that has been in the country holding discussions on the 2018 Article IV Consultation.

IMF team leader, Ms Alison Stuart described the passage of the bill as a “positive step forward”.

“The government’s focus on anti-corruption and the passage of the Anti-Corruption Bill is a positive step. Staff strongly supported the authorities’ intent to move forward with resolute and effective implementation of the bill,” Stuart.

She said the other bill the government needs to pass is the Whistle-Blower Bill (WBB). This bill has just been passed in parliament yesterday.

Stuart said robust and effective policies are also important to sectors that are providing revenue for the government.

She said enforcement of policies and transparencies are critical to the sustainability of these sectors.

The bill includes provisions for the establishment of an Independent Commission against corruption.

According to Prime Minister Hou, the bill will target both the public and private sectors- including the churches.

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