DEAR EDITOR, a Kenyan based company, M-Kopa, has provided over 500,000 homes throughout the rural areas of that country with solar power systems sufficient to light a home, charge a phone and a solar power radio.
The company founded in 2011 was backed with initial investment by Sir Richard Branson, the Founder of the Virgin Group, including Virgin Atlantic Airways and most recently by FinDev, Canada, to the tune of $10 million dollars.
At FinDev Canada provides support to businesses in developing countries, with the aim to create a favourable impact on poverty reduction through job creation, women’s economic empowerment, and climate change action.
The latest M-Kopa 4 has an eight watt solar panel that charges cell phones, a radio and a torch, via USB includes LED bulbs with light switches, as well as a rechargeable LED torch (flashlight) and a radio,
According to the company, part of the business model’s plan is to offset the danger of kerosene (paraffin) lamps to light homes that are off electric grids. The system also helps customers who need to charge batteries and mobile phones.
In Kenya, customers pay a deposit of 3,500 KES (approx $35), take the system home then pay 50 KES (approx $0.50) a day for a period of one yearto own the solar system.
As the Solomon Islands still has a need for lighting in many rural homes the M-Kopa system could be a practical lighting solution for many people needing an inexpensive and simple to use solar unit.
Should there be local interest in the product here is the website to facilitate any enquiries. http://www.m-kopa.com.
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.
DEAR EDITOR, media reports in the Solomon Islands over the past couple of weeks highlighted the shortages of medical drugs and medical supplies at the Honiara National Referral Hospital and in several medical clinics which meant many people seeking medical attention were asked to buy their own medical drugs and medicine.
The Solomon Islands Prime Minister very quickly intervened in the crisis and assured the nation that the drugs shortage had been a ‘procurement’ problem and the shortages would soon be resolved.
The medical drugs shortages may well be getting better and thanks are undoubtedly due to the timely and generous intervention of several governments, private individuals, the Honiara Band Association, business owners and a Member of Parliament.
It is hoped the reported procurement problem highlighted by the Prime Minister can be looked into and very quickly resolved to prevent the same kind of recurrences.
One government doctor spoke out about his concerns over a shortage of essential equipment at the NRH, apart from a shortage of medical drugs, his difficulty with the hospital’s procurement system and over poor resource funding for health services.
The British Prime Minister, the Rt.Hon Theresa May, MP, gave a speech in late June this year when celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the foundation of the British National Health Service (NHS.)
During that speech the UK PM spoke about the funding needs of the NHS ( and words which I will quote because as I seethings the Solomon National Referral Hospital serving the referral patients needsof a population now said to be about 650,000) does need better funding and resource allocations with a much easier procurement system to correct past ordering and supply issues.
Readers of this article might wish to draw their own comparisons about what the British PM said and the necessity, in my view, of what the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and the NRH requires from here on.
(Quote)
“Long-term funding
”It is clear that more money is needed to keep pace with the growing pressures on the NHS.
“But it is not just a question of more money this year or next. To meet these pressures and deliver the world-class care that we all want and expect, the NHS needs to able to plan for the future with ambition and confidence.
“Over the last seventy years increases in health funding have often been inconsistent and short-term – creating uncertainty over what the funding position will be in as little as two years’ time.
“This has led to a system of planning from one year to the next, preventing much needed investments in technology, buildings and workforce.
“We cannot continue to put a sticking plaster on the NHS budget each year.
“So we will do more than simply give the NHS a one-off injection of cash.
“So the NHS will be growing significantly faster than the economy as a whole, reflecting the fact that the NHS is this government’s number one spending priority.”
DEAR EDITOR, This should serve as a friendly reminder for us. Quote – “A new solar power system on Tonga’s far north island of Niuafo’ou is giving the local hospital a constant electricity supply 24 hours a day.
“The project received funding from the Asian Development Bank, Australia, the European Union, the Global Environment Fund and Denmark.
“The principal energy officer, Kipola So’otanga, said the hospital had previously been powered by a generator which only gave it power for six hours each day.
“Equipment such as electric fans, refrigerators, lights and others can operate through the system, Mr So’otanga said.
“The project received funding from the Asian Development Bank, Australia, the European Union, the Global Environment Fund and Denmark.” Source: Radio New Zealand.
DEAR EDITOR, further to my recent letters in the Solomons media concerning transnational drugs trafficking occurring in neighbouring island states, it is reported today, Monday, 30 July 2018, by Radio New Zealand that another huge seizure of cocaine with an estimated street value worth $US 20 million was found in Fiji.
Quoting Radio New Zealand – 30 July 2018. “Fifty-three bars of cocaine, with a street value of more than $US20 million, have been found in Fiji
“Police commissioner, Sitiveni Qiliho, said the discovery was on the northern island of Vanua Levu.
“Brigadier General Qiliho says 58 bars of cocaine have also been found on two islands in Tonga and they are the same quality as the caches found in Fiji.
“He says worrying quantities of methamphetamine have been found in Fiji since January.
“It’s the third multi-million dollar drug bust in Fiji this month.
“Fiji and Tonga sit on what’s been dubbed a narcotics highway between the Americas and Australia and New Zealand.” Copyright @ 2018, Radio New Zealand.
LEADER of a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that has been conducting consultation in the country over the past week says the government needs to re-look at the number of scholarships it issues yearly.
Deputy Division Chief of IMF’s Surveillance Policy Division, Ms Alison Stuart, made this comment yesterday.
Stuart said the size of spending on scholarships is an issue.
She revealed the fact that it accounts for two-thirds of the education budget for 2017; this spending scale is huge compared to other countries when talking about students the government sends abroad for study.
Stuart said some good criteria need to be in place so that few selected students sent abroad achieve high completion.
She said there is a need for greater focus on primary and secondary education, as it appears primary and secondary have been given less priority.
Stuart said beside the Constituency Development Fund and the National Shipping Grant, scholarship remains high while the development budget has seen a sharp cut.
She added there is a need to re-direct spending in the 2019 budget to priority areas in line with the country’s National Development Strategy with the aim to cut spending on CDF, shipping grant and scholarship.
PERMANENET secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Andrew Nihopara says finance and limited resources are key challenges that hinder the growth of tourism sector in the country.
Nihopara was making reference to a report which noted that of the 160 accommodation providers operating in the country only 10 percent can be sold to overseas wholesalers by the Solomon Islands Visitor Bureau, as 90 percent fall well below international standards.
He said his ministry is rolling out the Minimum Standard platform to upgrade accommodations.
But, he said it depends on the availability of funding and resources to support the programme.
He explained that the cost and logistics of getting around to some of our beautiful but very remote areas is very high.
Nihopara said it is essential that the focus on the roll-out of the Minimum Standards targets facilities that are already attracting or hosting tourists and other important guests.
“This is important because we would be focusing on upgrading existing businesses that are already playing in the market.
“We would like the upgrades to be executed through partnership between the Ministry and the operators through some cost-sharing arrangements that would be mutually agreed to.”
He said having upgraded accommodations that meet globally compatible minimum standards is crucial.
“In order for us not to confuse our visitors and also to increase the competitiveness of types of accommodations that we have on offer.”
He said the main objective of having good standard accommodations is to ensure that visitors or clients are not dissatisfied with their stay while in the country.
“Having standard accommodations ensures that we are offering rooms that meet the minimum expectations of our customers and charged at a reasonable rate. Customer satisfaction and enhancing our competitiveness are two crucial reasons why having accommodations that complies with the minimum standards is important.”
The Aoke/Langalanga MP and BLC Chair, Matthew Wale in Parliament during Monday’s debates, cautioning the government of the need to see Whistleblowers are guided and groomed to take take up responsibilities as party implementers to the Anti-Corruption Act.
MEMBER of Parliament for Aoke/Langalanga and Chairman of the Bills and Legislation Committee (BLC), Matthew Wale has urged for the government to see that those charged with the responsibility to be whistleblowers, are properly equipped with laws and regulations that are relevant to the purpose of reporting acts or related matters to corruption.
This the Aoke/Langalanga MP highlighted when contributing to the debate session of the Whistleblowers Protection Bill 2016, currently being before parliament for deliberation.
With the call for equipping of whistleblowers, Wale said this should include thorough trainings and awareness in the context of Solomon Islands constitution, to relevant acts, to regulations and ordinances, and organisations’ structural policies.
He said the call is a matter that the government must take into serious consideration as it is evidently clear that a lot in government ministries do not have a clue of most or all the laws and regulations governing the system.
He said over the years, during inquiries into various standing committees of parliament, he has been very impressed with what he described as, “the lack of in-depth in the knowledge of many senior public officers about their responsibilities under the constitution and the various laws charged to their departments”.
“In each ministry sir, it is very important for all officers to have an in-depth knowledge of all the laws and regulations they are tasked with implementing.
“When an officer is transferred to another ministry, Mr Speaker, it is important that that particular officer undergo training to quip him or her with in-depth knowledge of the laws that the new ministry he or she moves go and is also charged with implementing,” the Aoke/Lanagalanga MP pointed out.
He added that a Whistleblower is supposedly a person within an organisation or agency with knowledge of illegal, unethical or corrupt conduct in that agency and is willing to expose that conduct, and such a person has a higher loyalty to the constitution, the laws, the values to public trust and principals that government is founded on.
“It is important that there’s training so that public officers better understand the constitution, the laws, the mechanism and process and the boundaries that must b respected in their particular government agency.
“So it is also important that all public officials are trained to understand, respect and protect the public trust placed in government.
“The whistle blowers higher loyalty, Mr Speaker is to the public’s trust in government,” the BLC Chair reiterated.
Wale further added this higher loyalty demands that when those possessing and exercising government, and public office and statutory powers, when they abuse, misuse or otherwise misdirect such powers, that such conduct is reported to law enforcement for investigation and prosecution.
He further pointed out and stressed that by equipping the mandatory or authorised whistleblowers with thorough training, or training, it should be able to give them thorough knowledge of applicable laws.
He then highlighted that in this way, public officers will be more likely to see clearly when breaches occur, and then are able to report them, and that he said, makes good governance and effective laws, especially with the Anti-Corruption Act, which aims to help the country fight corruption head on.
The Whistleblowers Protection Bill 2016 was laid on the floor for debates yesterday and resorted into the Committee of the Whole House, but committee proceedings were suspended and Parliament was adjourned.
Parliament according to its provisional order paper, will resume this morning with a Question and Answer Session before going straight into a highly anticipated, whole day of committee proceedings of the Bill.
The house is also expected to receive the second reading of the Strata Titles Bill, which the government is hoping to have it debated, laid before the Committee of the Whole House, and put for its third reading by Thursday.
TRAFFIC offences recorded in Honiara have decreased to 21 cases from July 20 to 26, 2018.
This is compared to 77 cases during the previous week.
“It’s good to see that traffic incidences decreased from the previous week recording a decrease of 56 cases,” says Director National Traffic Department, Inspector Brian Surimalefo.
“Apart from other offences careless driving seems to be an issue here. For this reporting week we have charged eight offenders for careless driving.
“We are starting to experience drivers driving too fast given the good road conditions. I urge vehicle drivers to drive with care and with safety.
“We will continue to carry out our duties on our roads, and I want to remind the general public to continue to work together with us.
“Abide by our traffic laws, they are imposed to safe guard us. By doing this we will have safer roads for our communities.”
AUSTRALIA is supporting the Solomon Islands Government in a SBD16.6 million upgrade of its Financial Management Information System.
Australia funded the initial roll-out of the Financial Information Management System in 2011 which has led to significant improvements in the delivery of government services.
This includes the automation of payment and financial reporting processes, and more timely access to accurate financial information for the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and line ministries.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Treasury, Manasseh Sogavare said, “We are grateful to Australia’s ongoing support to strengthening public financial management.
“The upgrade will bring much needed improvement to government business processes across whole of government which will lead to improved service delivery.”
Upgrading the Financial Management Information System will have many benefits for a range of Solomon Islanders.
The upgraded system will be designed to meet the government’s financial business processes and help to automate and improve the efficiency of these processes.
It will also make financial information more readily available to line ministries, and be more secure and user friendly.
The upgraded system will improve interface with other SIG information management systems such as Customs asycuda and Inland Revenue management system and transport management system.
This integration will allow for quicker processing times for customers.
The Australian High Commissioner, his Excellency Roderick Brazier noted ‘we’re happy to support this project as it fits with the Australian Aid programmes’ support to public financial management and will enable the government to more effectively deliver services to all stakeholders.
The project will be implemented over three years, with the upgraded system to go live in 2020.
