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Women’s hockey posts first win

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Solomon Islands went up against hosts PNG and managed to come out with a 3-1 victory at the Sir John Guise Hockey Pavilion.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

In Port Moresby, PNG

Solomon Islands went up against hosts PNG and managed to come out with a 3-1 victory at the Sir John Guise Hockey Pavilion.

THE national under-18 women’s hockey posted its first win in the Oceania Youth Olympic Hockey Qualifiers in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Opening the match day two rounds of matches, they went up against hosts PNG and managed to come out with a 3-1 victory at the Sir John Guise Hockey Pavilion.

Solomon Islands started off the match well by getting an early goal in the first period.

However, PNG bounced back to equalise before the first interval.

The second period turned out to Solomon Islands favour again when they added in two goals to seal off the victory.

A 3-1 lead was enough to secure a vital maximum point where they held off a late onslaught by PNG who mounted continuous pressure against their visitors.

The Oceania Youth Olympic Hockey Qualifiers is being attended by hosts PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Australia.

The competition is being played in a round robin format with two match rounds for each nation against each respective opponent.

The match against PNG yesterday ended the round one matches for the national under-18 women’s side.

Heading into round two yesterday afternoon, they took on Australia and succumbed to a 28-0 defeat. The result was an improvement from Wednesday’s outing where they went down by 30-1 against the Aussies.

The results attained from yesterday’s round of actions placed the women’s team on third place of the table tally behind Australia and Vanuatu, respectively.

Hosts PNG is trailing at the fourth spot.

The women’s team will play their final round two matches against Vanuatu (today) and PNG (tomorrow).

SISF VP visits Taurama Aquatic center

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Taurama Aquatic Center in Port Moresby will host the 12th edition of the Oceania Swimming Championships June this year.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

In Port Moresby, PNG

Nihal Seneviratne standing beside the pool at the Taurama Aquatic Center in
Port Moresby on Thursday.

VICE-President of Solomon Islands Swimming Federation (SISF) Nihal Seneviratne has visited the Taurama Aquatic Center in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG) yesterday afternoon.

Taurama Aquatic Center will play host to this year’s Oceania Swimming Championships which will run from June 24 to 29.

Solomon Islands have already registered to take part in the event where Seneviratne had vowed to send the country’s men and the women’s teams.

Seneviratne, who is also the President of Solomon Islands Hockey Federation (SIHF), accompanies the national under-18 hockey men’s and women’s team to the Oceania Youth Olympic Hockey qualifiers which is currently underway in Port Moresby at the moment.

Seneviratne said the visit is part of the country’s preparation toward this year’s Oceania Championship.

“The Local Organising Committee (LOC) here in Port Moresby is working around the clock in their preparations for this event.

“This event will be huge and Solomon Islands is pleased to take part.”

Taurama Aquatic Center in Port Moresby will host the 12th edition of the Oceania Swimming Championships June
this year.

Prior to the visit, Seneviratne also had the opportunity to meet with PNG swimming legend and former Commonwealth Games Butterfly champion Ryan Pini where they discussed issues of common interest regarding swimming development in Oceania region.

The 12th edition of the Oceania Swimming Championship in Port Moresby will bring together a total of 22 countries across the Pacific and other invited countries from Asia.

Fiji last hosted the biennial event in 2016.

YWCA SI launches new RiseUp manual

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Young Women Christian Association in Solomon Islands staffs with some of the young women who have contributed to the completion of the RiseUp Manual a global guide of women across the world, share the joy of the booklet launching.

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

THE Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) in Solomon Islands has officially launched a new RiseUp Manual.

It was a global guide for young women’s transformative leadership which was created by and for young women.

Speaking during the launching ceremony General Secretary of YWCA SI Mr Jocelyn Lai said this guide will help empower young women in creating their own transformation as part of their leadership journey and help them claim their rights.

“We hope that this will be the first step in empowering vast of young women across Solomon Islands,” she said.

The official launching was held in Honiara on Tuesday during the commemoration   of the YWCound the breakfast day.

Witnessing the launching ceremony were some of the Solomon Islands young women who have contributed to the making of this global manual.

Young Women Christian Association in Solomon Islands staffs with some of the young women who have contributed to the completion of the RiseUp Manual a global guide of women across the world, share the joy of the booklet launching.

Change of lifetime habits to curb CRB

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY ELLISON.T.VAHI

CONVINCING villagers in communities to change the way they manage coconut trees is a very sensitive task. This was heard in the recent SINU talk at the Kukum Campus.

A presenter in the talks, Mr Bob Macfarlane, MSc, an entomologist from Wales says it is a big issue at the moment especially trying to persuade village farmers to change lifetime habits.

“In the past, they could let a palm die and fall down and rot and it didn’t matter, you didn’t have to do anything at all and that must change now.

“Every palm that dies must either be used in some way for instance, for charcoal, for timber, for veneering or whatever.”

At the talks, it was heard that the Rhinoceros beetle larvae breeds and feeds on dead palm trees, a problem which the Guadalcanal Plains Palm Oil Limited (GPPOL) is now faced with.

GPPOL employs 1,500 people on the Guadalcanal plains, who mostly reside in the plains area with their families.

In order to tackle the intruder, it was heard that the company deployed 100 workers to search for larvae in their habitats and to destroy them. A dozen crate full is a good day’s work.

“if we don’t get control of the situation, I fear we might lose oil palm altogether,” says GPPOL General Manager, Craig Gibson.

In search for a virus to control the beetle, namely the silver bullet type, though, is a biological control like the virus that saved the coconuts plantations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga 60 years ago, sadly, the Solomon Islands’ coconut rhinoceros beetle is resistant to the virus that worked in Fiji so the search is on for its own biological control.

“You have to match the DNA of the strain of beetle that we have with DNA from the country of origin,” Macfarlane from the Ministry of Agriculture (MAL) said.

“There’s no certainty yet but we believe it comes from the Philippines or Indonesia or Vietnam and we have to do a DNA match and then try and identify what is keeping it under control in those countries and then import that.”

Can Solomon Islands live with the rhinoceros beetle or will it be forever changed? “It’s a big question,” Macfarlane said.

“If we can get the right disease, the right parasite, predator, population suppressing organism, whatever you want to call it into the country and we get the population down and people do change their behaviour in that they’re cleaning up the breeding sites, then yes, we can get back to something like what it was before, but there are a lot of ifs and buts along the way.”

For GPPOL, Gibson explained that the stakes are much higher than the future of his company.

“It’s a great crop for tropical countries, especially developing tropical countries and we employ a lot of people here and we support a lot of local people who have their own oil palm, and we have plans for expansion because it is a good growing region with great yields, but first we have to get on top of this beetle,” he said.

Partnership is key to develop tourism: Ragoso

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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By Mike Puia

Gizo

WESTERN Province supervising Premier, Bruce Ragoso, say partnership is key to developing the country’s tourism sector.

Ragoso made this statement while witnessing the opening and handing over of the Oravae jetty in the province.

He said the successful opening and handing over of the jetty proves that both the national and provincial governments can work together in many ways to develop the tourism sector.

Tourism had developed well in the province. Some describe tourism as the key sector in the province.

Ragoso said the opening and handing over of the jetty is an historic event as it is the first of its kind.

He said this will also enhance true partnership between government through the ministry of culture and tourism, the recipients, partners and their government.

The supervising premier said their administration will continue to support the tourism sector in the province where appropriate and possible.

Pari hands over jetty to Madekoloko community

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Newly built and complete Jetty that was handed over by the Pari Development Company to the Madekoloko community at Vonavona Lagoon. Photos Alfred Pagepitu

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

GIZO

PARI Development Company has officially handed over one of its funded projects to Madekoloko community in Vonavona Lagoon, Western province.

Yesterday’s hand-over ceremony was organised at Madekoloko with a colourful opening ceremony and dedication of the newly built jetty.

CFC pastor, William Boso dedicated the jetty while the ribbon was cut by the MPA for Vonavona ward, Rolly Panda.

Madekoloko community Jetty is one of the Pari Development Company projects on Roviana initiated mainly for the rural communities within Vonavona and Roviana Lagoon.

Director of Pari Development Company Donald Bato said that the jetty is solely funded by Pari Development Company without any support from the provincial and national government.

“This project focuses mainly to develop and support the people living in rural area,” Bato said.

He thanked constructor and community members and the builder, Sade Afu.

Chief Timothy Kaha from Madekolo acknowledges Pari Development Company for its contribution towards the completion of the jetty.

He also thanked community members and contractors for the job done well in completing the jetty.

He said that the jetty might welcome tourists and visitors who wish to visit Madekolo in the future.

He encourages locals to venture and develop tourism within Vonavona lagoon.

The project is funded by Pari Development Company. It had cost the company about $20,000 to fully complete the jetty.

Construction work on the jetty started last November. It was completed this month in time for the handing over.

Call to stop selling of land

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

A traditional landowner has called on foreign businessman Patrick Wong to stop selling land at Lungga, Henderson, Tenaru, Tenakaro and Foxwood in east Honiara.

Outspoken Gaubata tribal spokesman representing the Lungga Mamata Association Timothy Urobo jnr made the call yesterday.

He said Mr Wong who lives in Sydney, Australia has been selling land in the area without consulting the local traditional landowners.

Urobo said Wong who was in Honiara last week had caused “great disruption” to the people who live in the area east of Henderson International Airport.

He said Wong had been selling parcels of land to Asians and this too is a great source of disagreement between the landowners and Asians.

Urobo said Wong does not have any authority over the traditional land.

“Hence I hereby on behalf of the people of North Guadalcanal Plains, call on Mr Wong to stop selling our properties because if he continues there will be negative reactions from the land owners.

“Similarly where will our children build their homes if all our traditional land is being taken by foreigners?” he asks.

He says this disruptive land dealings should stop now so as to avoid future conflict in this country.

Voluntary service to children’s education recognised by HM The Queen

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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DEAR EDITOR, an article in Island Sun newspaper on Tuesday April 24, 2018, tells how Pastor Jacob Sibia, from the village of Belaha in Central Guadalcanal, has been recognised by Her Majesty the Queen for his inspirational volunteer work in providing access to education for local children in need.

Pastor Sibia is to be presented with a signed certificate from Her Majesty by His Excellency the British High Commissioner in Honiara, HE David Ward at a forthcoming ceremony.

The award to Pastor Sibia, styled the 42nd Point of Light, is an exceptional award for voluntary and inspirational service across the 52 Commonwealth countries for those making differences in their respective communities and beyond.

I am sure all will wish to congratulate Pastor Sibia on his award and to thank him for his voluntary work in aiding local children in need with an education.

Yours sincerely

FRANK SHORT

Solomon Islands’ health environment for schools

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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DEAR EDITOR, preparation was under way in Auki for the application of a MOU between the MEHRD and the MHMS setting out a planned “health environment for schools in the country,” according to the Island Sun newspaper featured article on Friday, April 13, 2018

The article went on to say that teachers from schools in the central region of Malaita were about to commence a weeklong training exercise in order to identify pressing health issues in local schools and to have the necessary knowledge to be able to pass on advice and guidance on health programmes to be introduced to schools.

I welcome the news of working towards a healthier school environment but am left wondering to what extent the planning will lead to the giving of correct nutritional advice to school children and their parents.

The increasing avoidance of traditional foods and the consumption of imported foods and drinks have led to a vast increase in non communicable diseases (NCD’s) starting from obesity and resulting in heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure in many people in the Solomon Islands, causing premature deaths in a number of instances.

I believe it should be important to incorporate nutritional advice in any envisaged school environmental plan.

A number of reviews of nutrition education programmes in developing countries have been undertaken in recent years. These have been valuable both to highlight difficulties which can occur and also to provide examples of good practice which can be shared.

Pacific Island governments are increasingly aware that rapidly rising public expenditure on NCDs has a high opportunity cost in terms of resources that could have been allocated elsewhere, both health and non-health investment, such as rural roads and electricity generation.

In respect of the training of teachers in preparation for the launch of the proposed school environmental plan, I have to say that actually bringing about behaviour change depends on many factors – probably the most critical being having behaviour change as the clear aim of a programme.

The availability of trained personnel who understand and can implement behaviour change strategies appropriately, and who can involve learners in solving their own nutrition problems is essential.

Yours sincerely

Frank Short

Partnership which supports SI medical services & NGOs

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0

DEAR EDITOR, having first linked-up with the New Zealand based Take My Hands (TMH) Charity Trust and the Solomon Islands Forest Association (SFA) in early 2015, I can reveal how TMH and the SFA have responded to appeals for help for the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Medical Services and local NGO’s with donated medical equipment and supplies, mobility aids, clothing, footwear, furniture and hospital beds which, in total to-date, has exceeded$350,819 NZD in value.

Given the value of those donated supplies, based on the extended length of life of the equipment, the number of people helped will be nearly 100,000.

In October 2015, the SFA paid SBD 25,000 for the freight and handling charges incurred in having a 20 foot container shipped by TMH with 48 hospital beds and mattresses for the National Referral Hospital (NRH)

On 2 April 2018, a further 20 foot container, also pre-paid by a donation of the SFA, arrived in Honiara containing 90 boxes of second-hand clothing and footwear for the children in the care of the Hearts of Hope Charity on Malaita, mobility aids, crutches, walking frames, walking sticks and some wheel chairs for the Association of Persons’ with Disabilities, office furniture for the Solomon Islands Development Trust (SIDT) and a micro-wave and kitchen utensils for one of the Women’s Refuge Centre.

The SFA has now agreed to pay over US11,400 to ship two 40 foot containers containing 100 hospital beds needed urgently by the NRH and two provincial hospitals, one in Isabel and the other in Malaita Province.

Some 18 months ago, a MOU was agreed and signed between the MOHMS and TMH (and myself as a facilitator/coordinator) to supply between 8 to10 20 foot containers of medical equipment to the NRH per year.

So far, in terms of that MOU, 3 x 20ft containers with a range of medical equipment have been received by the NRH.

The second phase payment of $25,000 NZD is awaited by TMH before further containers can be sent with more equipment and supplies.

I am extremely grateful to both Take My Hands and the Solomon Islands Forestry Association for pulling resources together in what has been a fine humanitarian and caring effort and one that continues.

I would also like to add a word of thanks to Lions Clubs in New Zealand that has donated 6000 pairs of re-cycled spectacles to the Honiara based Referral Eye Hospital since 2015, including 20 boxes of spectacles that were received in the container that was off-loaded in Honiara on 2 April 2018 and are awaiting transfer to the Eye Hospital.

Yours sincerely

FRANK SHORT

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