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Police still investigate MPs cases

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

POLICE Commissioner Mathew Varley confirmed that a number of cases in regards to former and current Members of Parliament are still with police for investigation.

During the weekly media conference Mr Varley said police have some files for both former and current MPs for alleged corruption cases and they are still under investigation.

“As we have said before I don’t want to comment on exactly who we are looking for, last year we charged a current MP who is currently before the court and this is a former MP so far to say. You can expect that we have other files involving both former MPS and current MPS but those are still under investigation”, Mr Varley said.

Mr Varley said police are still on their investigations but will take in due process, consultation with the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

“But the point is former MP or current MP or a public servant it doesn’t matter the fact that everyone has responsibility to use public fund properly and when there is evidence that public funds have been misused then police will investigate and this is another example of the determination to follow cases through it takes some time”, Mr Varley said.

“Obviously we have many files to work on and the Assistant Commissioner Crime and his team is progressing on those files”.

Only female MP welcomes MP elect

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

BY GEORGINA KEKEA

THE Minister of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs (MWYCFA), Hon. Freda Tuki Soriacomua welcomes the announcement made by the Governor General H.E. Frank Kabui last night of the win by Lanelle Tanangada, as MP elect for Gizo/Kolombangara.

History is made, as for the first time since Independence, two women are in the same Parliament.

Western Province also made history by being the third province to vote in a female Member of Parliament.

Hon Tuki, says the result has demonstrated the trust and confidence of the people of Gizo/Kolombangara in Mrs Tanangada.

Hon. Tuki Soriacomua congratulates the women, men, and youths of Gizo/Kolombangara.

Fled accused on displaced ATM arrested

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

POLICE has arrested a man Sunday morning, following a warrant of arrest issued by the Court on the accused. This is in relation to the alleged armed robbery incident where the ANZ ATM at the Kwaimani building was uprooted in 2014.

Police Commissioner Mathew Varley said the accused Dilo Faiga was arrested on Sunday around 4am at his home village in Manakwai.

Following an intelligent information, police went to Manakwai by boat and were shown his place. Police then surrounded the house before calling on him to come out of the house.

Commissioner Varley said Mr Faiga came out from the house with an axe in his hand and when police called out for him to drop the axe he did so as instructed. He was then arrested and transported to Auki before coming to Honiara.

Commissioner Varley said Faiga is currently in custody in relation to the case against him and his co-accused. Their cases were already been dealt with by the court and only Faiga’s case is pending because he absconds bail condition.

This is the case where police alleged that Dilo Faiga and the other co-accused were involved in the use of crow bars to lift the ATM into the waiting car and drove off to Henderson.

It was alleged that more than $400,000 was in that machine and they allegedly took more than $200,000 from the top tray as they cannot open the bottom tray.

According to police the men arrived at the building and threatened security guards by gun point and uprooted the machine.

After successfully uprooting the machine they dragged it to the waiting car and drove off to Henderson where they allegedly opened and stole the money from the top tray.

Police also alleged that the security guard who followed them on that night received $30,000 and that the money has not yet been recovered.

Solympics back on top

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Koloale's Albert Wetney tries to skip past Raphael Lea'i

By Taromane Martin

Koloale’s Albert Wetney tries to skip past Raphael Lea’i

FUTSAL Solympics are back on top of the 2018 Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) national futsal league after defeating Koloale at the Multipurpose Hall.

The national U-17 futsal team defeated Koloale 5-2 to pick up their seventh win and see them leading with 21 points in the national futsal league.

First half goals from Raphael Leai and a double from Leon Kofana saw the Stanley Puirana side leading Koloale 3-0 at the break.

Frankster Rukumana extended his sides lead with a header in the second half but saw Koloale pulling a goal back to trail 4-1.

Futsal Solympics Team Captain Junior Mana made it 5-1 after nut-megging Koloale goal keeper. Koloale had chances to level the scores but could not penetrate the national U-17 defence led by Leon Kofana.

Koloale managed to score their second goal in the final two minutes of the game but could not find enough spirit to fight back in the final seconds of the game.

Koloale Head Coach Junior Corey accepted the defeat saying their opponents were much more prepared and was much fitter.

“There’s not a lot to say. What I can only say is that the National U-17s have been in training for quite some time now.

“They are well prepared unlike our team which has been facing a lot of problems in training because of the lack of facilities.

“However, despite the problems I’m pleased the boys made it hard for the national U-17s today. I thought we should have won with the experience in the squad.

“But like I said we have not been getting enough training time due to the lack of training facilities. But that does not mean we are giving up.

“We’ll continue to work on areas that need to be improved for our remaining matches,” Corey said.

Solympics Head Coach Stanley Puirana was pleased with the three points but stressed his players mental fitness still needs improvement.

“The boys are improving a lot. Last week we’ve been working on our defence and today the boys understand it.

“But there are areas we still need to improve on such as their mindset and decision making. Physically they are okay but the mental fitness is what we’ll need to improve on.

“Yes we have three months left and is still a long time for our management to work on this area.

“It’s not only me who is working with the team. We have an experienced management whom we are always working together to help the players improve on these areas mentioned,” he said.

Morgan into quarterfinal of Fiji Open

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Zorika Morgan is one of the Fiji-based netters named in the squad.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

SOLOMON Islands female tennis player Zorika Morgan has made it into quarterfinals of the open women’s category of the Fiji Tattslotto Open Tennis Championships currently underway in Fiji.

She will meet Mulan Kamoe of Fiji.

Morgan had a bye in the first round before taking on fellow country team mate Prudence Bird in the second round to win 6-3 and 6-0 in two easy straight sets.

Doreen Ningalo is the other female representative in the women’s open and she could not manage to get past the first round after losing 6-1 and 6-4 to Conatsu Kaga of Northern Marianas.

In the open men’s, no Solomon Islander managed to reach the quarterfinals after Benjamin Junior and Graham Mani experienced losses in second round.

Junior was the fourth seeded competitor and came up against Sebastian Tikaram in round one to win 6-3, 4-6 and 6-2.

In the second round, he could not come out strong by suffering two straight losses of 6-1, 6-1 against Victor Lopes of Vanuatu.

Mani came up against Ben Sonewa of Fiji and won the first round 6-1, 6-0. In the second round he lost 6-2, 6-4 against Larry Magalasin of American Samoa.

Selwyn Lam and Popai Leong were not able to get past the first round.

Lam lost 6-1, 6-1 against Kourabi Benjamin of Kiribati while Leong succumbed to a 6 -2 and 6-1 defeat against Raynal Singh of Fiji.

The losses in the open categories do not mean the end of campaign for Solomon Islanders currently taking part in the Fiji Open.

Morgan, apart from the open women’s singles, is also competing in the A Singles division where she and Bird have also earned places in the quarterfinals.

For Popai and Mani, their campaigns in the men’s A singles is also underway as well and are only a match shy of the semifinals.

In the under-16 boys singles Lachlan Guba will meet Shantani Shails of Fiji in the quarterfinal.

In the under-16 girls singles, Bird has qualified into the semifinals to meet Alison McGrath of Australia.

The championship continues today and will conclude on Sunday.

“We going to compete”.

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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National U-17 futsal squad Head Coach Stanley Puirana looks to his bench for substitution during their 5-2 win over Koloale yesterday. Coach Puirana has thanked NOCSI for giving them the green light to represent the country at the Youth Olympic Games in October. Photo Taromane Martin

Puirana thanks NOCSI for green light

By Taromane Martin

National U-17 futsal squad Head Coach Stanley Puirana looks to his bench for substitution during their 5-2 win over Koloale on Thursday. Photo Taromane Martin

HEAD Coach for the national Under-17 futsal team Mr Stanley Puirana has thanked the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) for confirming their participation at this year’s Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

NOCSI President Mr Martin Rara made the confirmation yesterday after there was uncertainty over the junior Kurukuru participation at the Youth Olympic Games.

“Hence, following the final deliberation by the NOCSI Executive Board in today’s meeting 23rd May 2018, the NOCSI Executive Board boldly agreed to send the Futsal men to compete at the Youth Olympic Games.

“The decision to pick futsal over hockey men’s is based on obvious reasons such as by merit and excellent performance, as a top number one ranked team in the Oceania, as a crowned championship in 2017 Oceania qualification event and as a competitive team at world or Olympic stage,” Mr Rara said in a statement.

Meanwhile Coach Puirana, whose side climbed back to the top of the SIPA National Futsal League yesterday, said they have been training a long time and the national futsal league has been very helpful in their preparation for the Olympic games.

“The league is really helpful towards our preparation for the YOG. Unlike previous years while I was still playing with the senior Kurukuru side where we just train, train, train and then travel to compete.

“Thank you to NOCSI for the decision they made for us to represent the country at the Youth Olympic Games,” he told SunSPORTS yesterday.

“Yes we are the champions but it is not for ourselves. It is for the nation and Oceania region as well. We will go out there and perform to a hundred and ten percent for the nation.

“We are not going to participate but we are going there to compete,” Puirana said.

Tanangada triumphs

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Lanelle Orlandrea Tanangada

Another female Member of Parliament for the round house

By Mike Puia

Gizo

GIZO/Kolombangara Constituency in the Western Province has a new Member of Parliament (MP). She is Mrs. Lanelle Orlandrea Tanangada.

Mrs. Tanangada is the wife of the former MP of the constituency, Mr. Jimson Tanangada, whom the high court disqualified last November.

The provisional result of the winning candidate was announced by the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) Returning Officer, Christian Siale, at 9pm last night and later officially declared by the Governor General, Sir Frank Kabui via the National Broadcaster, SIBC.

Mrs. Tanangada, a teacher by profession, polled 2,580 votes out of the 5,201 valid votes casted. Six votes were spoilt.

Her strong rival and former Prime Minister, Gordo Darcy Lilo, polled 1,593 votes.

Peter Soqoilo polled 598. Kenneth Bulehite polled 243 votes while Ronald Dive polled 187 votes.

Out of the 12 polling stations counted, Mrs. Tanangada topped eight polling stations. Lilo and Soqoilo topped two polling stations each.

Mrs. Tanangada contested along four male candidates. This is the first time a female won the Gizo/Kolombangara parliamentary seat.

Despite having only seven months remaining before parliament dissolved, Mrs. Tanangada has created history for the current parliament for being the first house to have two female MPs in one term.

There was tenseness when the results were announced to the crowd that waited eagerly outside the police compound.

When the announcement of the winning candidate was made, the crowd dispersed peacefully.

SIEC’s Chief Electoral Officer, Moses Saitala thanked staff of SIEC officers who completed the task despite the delay.

Saitala said he hope everyone will accept the result as it is almost like a landslide.

SIEC’s chairman and speaker of parliament Ajilon Nasiu, SIEC’s Commissioner Taeasi Sanga, the SIEC advisor and overseas observers also preside at the 12-hour counting.

Women with special needs showcasing their creativity 

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Women with special needs during workshop.

BY ELLISON.T.VAHI

Women with special needs during workshop.

WOMEN with special needs attended a workshop at YWCA showcasing their talents.

The women, in their late teens and early 20s, were busy putting the finishing touches to clothes colouring that were to go on show before a select audience at the YWCA.

While all of these young people have special needs, not even the closest examination of their work would give a potential buyer the slightest inkling of this fact.

From the selection of material and accessories to the mixing and colouring, everything about their creations look extremely professional.

Participants said that they are all excited as they gently touched their lovely embellishment.

After all, it was the product of many hours of their own work although anyone looking at it would not imagine that it was created by other person.

“All our children love art, it’s a way of expressing themselves. The colourful clothes displayed are all done by our students,” says a representative.

This the second time that the YWCA hosts such a workshop training for those that with special needing ability.

One of the women showcasing her creativity.

The students’ approach is very collaborative, a comment from the YWCA staff said.

“The finished products are not the work of one person. Before starting on a project we task-analyse. If we take a product, a handbag for instance, there are certain steps that are simple, certain steps that require more skill, and there are certain steps that require a high degree of skill.

“But all these steps are necessary to ensure that the final product is good. After we task-analyse, we then see which children are capable of doing what, and they are assigned their jobs. So, it is a collective effort.”

Jocelyn says she was impressed with their teamwork.

“I wanted to do something together that would really focus the children’s learning and also help to bring about awareness of their abilities, because they are so talented. I wanted to involve them in a business programme, either working in our head office or in retail, to make them independent.”

PM Abe committed to extend humanitarian support across Pacific

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe at the opening of the Leaders Summit.

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

JAPAN’S Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he is committed to continue extending humanitarian assistance/disaster relief in times of crisis triggered by natural hazards across the Pacific Islands countries (PIC).

This was highlighted in response to the shared views of the Pacific Island leaders on the vulnerability of the Pacific region to natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, floods and typhoons/ cyclones

Leaders said it is important to share lessons learned from past experiences in disasters, and the need for continued collaboration, welcoming initiatives such as the gender-based training on women in disaster management.

They also mentioned the necessity of enhancing cooperation on disaster risk reduction, especially for building resilience.

Moreover, in reaffirming the importance of sustainable development, management and conservation of environment, the leaders expressed their commitment to comprehensive and integrated efforts to address environmental issues, including promotion of environmentally sound waste management and 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) policies, conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development of natural resources.

Pacific Islands leaders praise efforts towards North Korea

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

PACIFC Island leaders (PIL) have appreciated the efforts to date by the international community towards the current development surrounding North Korea.

This was highlighted at the recent 8th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM8) at Iwaki city, Fukushima Prefecture in Japan.

The leaders welcomed the “Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula” issued at the Inter-Korean Summit in late April 2018, which confirmed their common goal of the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and expressed hope that the planned US-North Korea Summit in June would deliver North Korea’s concrete actions for such goal.

The leaders strongly called on North Korea to immediately take concrete actions in accordance with UNSC resolutions.

In particular, they (PIL) expressed deep concerns about North Korea’s sanctions evading tactics including “ship-to-ship transfers” and emphasised the need to accelerate their own efforts in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions, including deregistering North Korean trading or fishing vessels currently flagged on their shipping registers, with development partners supporting FICs in their efforts.

The leaders stressed the importance of seeking a peaceful and diplomatic resolution towards complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including biological and chemical weapons, and ballistic missiles as well as related facilities of North Korea.

They expected that the announcement by North Korea to discontinue nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) test fires and dismantle its nuclear testing facility would soon lead to its concrete actions in this regard.

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