(L - R) Australian Deputy High Commissioner, Michael Hasset, Deputy Secretary, Penny Williams & Head Undersea Cables Task Force, Pablo Kang.
BY GEORGINA KEKEA
(L – R) Australian Deputy High Commissioner, Michael Hasset, Deputy Secretary, Penny Williams & Head Undersea Cables Task Force, Pablo Kang.
SCOPING study into the undersea cable from Australia to Solomon Islands is now complete.
Leading a high-level delegation from the Australian Government is Deputy Secretary, Penny Williams who travelled to Honiara to present the findings of the scoping study to the Solomon Islands Government.
Ms Williams and her delegation, the Undersea Cables Taskforce met with Prime Minister Houenipwela yesterday and other senior members of Government to discuss options to land the cable in Australia.
From the scoping study, a number of solutions had been provided. One of the solutions is the design of the cable system.
The cable system is proposed to connect Australia to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands.
The study identified the Coral Sea in the North East coast of Australia as the location of an undersea hub that will connect the cables from Australia to Port Moresby and to Honiara.
With the completion of the scoping study, Australia is once again reaffirming its support and commitment in ensuring this project continues into the next phase.
“At the moment all we’ve done is contracted Vocus to deliver us this scoping study, we haven’t given any companies to project manage the construction base yet,” said Pablo Kang, Head of the Undersea Cables Task Force.
Meanwhile, Vocus, had been selected by the Australian Government to engage in the scoping study because of its experience to manage undersea cables. A decision that supersedes the Solomon Islands government’s choice of Huawei. The Solomon Islands Government will formally consider the scoping study by the end of April, 2018.
Once connected via undersea cable, Solomon Islanders will be able to have access to a faster, reliable internet service presumably at a very high capacity of terabytes per second.
Head of the Australian delegation, Deputy Secretary Williams is pleased that the study has found a number of solutions that would provide Solomon Islands with a high-speed internet connection from Australia at a competitive price.
MAN facing grievous harm charge will appear again on April 24 for pre-trial conference.
Ripson Garimane was charged with one count of grievous harm in relation to an incident which occurred in Guadalcanal last year.
The case was called in the Honiara Magistrate Court yesterday but the accused failed to turn up in court and prosecution applied for a warrant of arrest, but that warrant will lie in the file and if the accused failS to turn up again on April 24, it will be executed.
Principal Magistrate Augustine Aulanga then adjourned the case to April 24 and orders that PTC documents be filed prior to that date.
Office of the Director Public Prosecution appears for the crown on the case while the Public Solicitor’s office is representing the accused.
THE court will today make its ruling on the committal hearing on the Auki BSP bank armed robbery incident.
Prosecution has made an application at the Honiara Magistrate Court on the bank armed robbery cases to be committed to the High Court so that higher penalties can be imposed on the cases.
This is the case where five men were alleged to have involved in robbing the Bank South Pacific in Auki in relation to the incident which occurred on November 27, 2015.
Police said the men were armed with dangerous weapons and one of them had a gun and fired a shot while standing outside the bank as lookout, the court was told. While other accused stayed in the getaway car
Two others went into the bank and filled up bags with about SI$200,000 and US$10,000, the court heard.
The prosecution also said that another shot was fired before the accused left the bank.
Office of the Director Public Prosecution appears for the crown.
Prosecution has not changed its charges against an accused, Rodney Tatahu, court was told yesterday.
Public Prosecutor John Zoze told the court that from instruction obtained charges against the accused will be maintained.
The court was told that investigation into the case has been completed and already served to the defence lawyer.
Meanwhile a lawyer from the Public Solicitor’s Office who represents the accused told the court that since the prosecution will maintain the charge he needs time to consult his client on the charges before a plea could be entered on both charges.
The defence then sought a week’s adjournment on the case.
The case is then adjourned for April 17 for the accused to take his plea on the charges against him.
SIG-SPONSORED students at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji have been assured their monthly allowance would not be affected, students at the Laucala Campus told Island Sun yesterday.
They said the National Training Unit [NTU] director, Clement Tito, gave the assurance when he met with the students last Sunday.
“He flew over on Saturday and met with us on Sunday,” one student said.
“The Director assured us that our allowance would not be touched. It was a huge relief and we thank Island Sun for raising our concerns,” the student said.
The Fiji visit by Mr Tito followed concerns expressed by students with some suggesting that it would be better to return home rather than continue with their studies.
Last week students were given just $800 in monthly allowance each, causing not only concerns but confusion within the SIG-sponsored student community at the Laucala as well as other tertiary education campuses in Fiji.
After paying rentals of $550, the students were left with $250 in their pockets.
The country’s Education Attaché at the Solomon Islands’ High Commission in Fiji, Samantha Teitei Bob assured the students that their concerns would be looked into by the appropriate authorities.
The assurance by NTU director Tito appears to show a change of heart by the Government.
Three weeks ago allowance of SIG-sponsored students attending AMA in the Philippines were slashed by as much as 50 percent.
SIG-sponsored students studying in regional tertiary institutions were to follow.
The Government which on Monday passed its 2018 Budget has not made any announcement on any change in terms of the allowance.
Polling Assistants at Gizo Polling 'A' assisting voters during the voting.
Polling Assistants at Gizo Polling ‘A’ assisting voters during the voting in 2014.
THE Gizo-Kolombangara by-election is set to go ahead next month, with seven months remaining before the current parliament dissolves.
The by-election is to fill a parliamentary seat that was left vacant since December 2017.
With Parliament dissolving around the second week of December to make way for fresh national general elections around April next year, the incoming Member of Parliament to fill this seat will serve the shortest term.
This by-election is required by law to happen as it is a constitutional right of a voter to have a voice in parliament through an elected MP and it is the responsibility of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) to fulfil this.
The SIEC has confirmed that the voters’ list for the Gizo-Kolombangara by-election is ready.
The Governor General, Sir Frank Kabui, yesterday proclaimed May 23 as the polling day.
In a statement, SIEC Chief Electoral Officer, Mose Saitala, confirmed that nominations opens today and will run for 14 days.
SIEC will finalise the candidate list when the nomination period closes on April 25 at 4pm.
From April 25 to May 23, candidates are expected to go in full swing with their campaigns.
According to the statement, Mr Saitala said nomination forms can be collected from the SIEC office in Honiara or from the Returning Officer, Christian Siale, in Gizo in the Western province.
He confirmed a candidate must be nominated by three registered voters within the constituency and the nomination form must be properly completed and returned to the Returning Officer with a non-refundable nomination fee of $2,000 before 4pm on April 25.
SIEC encourages constituents and intending contestants to ensure nomination rules and legal requirements are upheld.
It is also a legal requirement that a candidate must be at least 21 years old and a citizen of Solomon Islands.
Saitala confirmed that the SIEC has made its decision few weeks ago that the by-election for Gizo-Kolombangara be held immediately.
“The Commission decision paved the way for the Governor General’s decision today proclaiming Wednesday, 23rd May, as the polling day for the Gizo-Kolombangara by-election.”
The SIEC advises people from Gizo-Kolombangara constituency to prepare to choose their representative.
The SIEC has advised people in the constituency to listen to the national broadcaster (SIBC) and Radio Happy Lagoon as well as look up other media outlets for updates regarding important activities in the lead up to the by-election.
The news of the election date being set has been received with mix reaction from members of the public. Some are concerned that the by-election is a waste of tax-payer money given the current financial situation of the country, while others are firm the by-election is a legal right of Gizo-Kolombangara constituents to have a representative even with the short time remaining.
The Gizo-Kolombangara seat was left vacant when the High Court disqualified Jimson Tanangada.
Mr Tanagada was the Minister for Home Affairs (MHA) when the Court made the ruling that he was guilty of bribing people to vote for him during the 2014 national general elections.
Losing candidate and former Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo successfully lodged the petition against Tanangada. It took three years before the Court made its ruling on the matter.
Lilo is reportedly re-contesting the seat. Tanaagada is unlikely to contest the seat.
Officers at Henderson Police Station have arrested a 30-year-old man who allegedly flattened Twin Otter’s tyre at Munda on April 7, 2018.
Supervising Provincial Police Commander (PPC), Guadalcanal Province, Superintendent Ishmael Vunagi says, “We received an official complaint, about the incident that has resulted to cancellation of four flights schedule for Munda on April 7, 2018.”
“My officers were alerted that the accused was travelling on-board Solomon Airline plane on April 8, 2018 for Honiara. He was arrested after his arrival at Henderson airport.”
The man has been formally charged for the offence of malicious damage and was released on bail to appear before Honiara Magistrate Court on April 30, 2018.
The matter is being jointly investigated by Munda police and officers at Henderson Police Station.
SOLOMON Islands National University (SINU) has clarified that lectures are continuing as normal despite SINUSA carrying out a strike to boycott classes recently.
SINU office says this following media reports which claim that students have boycotted classes in line with the ongoing strike.
“In spite of erroneous media reports published recently stating that there is a strike to boycott SINU classes, the real situation is students still access classes.
“Almost all the students have been attending lectures and other academic activities as usual.
“There was near full attendance in all the five schools in whole of last week and this week.
“The situation in all 3 campuses is now calm and all academic and non-academic staff is carrying out their usual duties.”
SINU 2018 Graduation 2018 is set for tomorrow at the Maranatha hall.
Preparation is well underway, the SINU statement said.
Permanent secretary to Ministry of Communications and Aviation, Moses Virivolomo,
faces PAC over the issue of Solomon Islands airspace
BY BARNABAS MANEBONA
Permanent secretary to Ministry of Communications and Aviation, Moses Virivolomo, faces PAC over the issue of Solomon Islands airspace
THE Ministry of Communication and Aviation (MCA) has three years to prepare to take full control of the country’s airspace, it is reported.
Currently, Australia has a 40 percent share over Solomon Islands airspace. This is because Solomon Islands does not have the trained people to look after the space machine.
There was a $17 million project that was expected to complete by 2014, involving the machine to manage the airspace and other equipment that were installed in the provinces. To this day none of them are working.
However, interestingly the MCA certified the project as complete despite the discrepancies.
Permanent Secretary (PS) for the Ministry of Communication and Aviation Moses Virivolomo during their ministry’s recent meeting with the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) assured that auditors will find out over what happened behind the set-up then by the people tasked for the project.
He said they will be looking into analysing of what affected the project before they invest more money into it because they had already invested enough money but did not get any result out from it.
“We are giving Australia another three years to maintain their control while we try to either buy a new equipment or try and re-do the one at the airport,” said Mr Virivolomo.
He said they are getting experienced people to assist them (PNG specialists) with the equipment because they might be installing obsolete machines too.
“We will be learning from PNG in how they use their airspace machine and if we understand how to use it ourselves then we will get a hundred percent collection of the airspace.
“So we are giving Australia another three years to look after the airspace while we get ourselves ready to look after it,” said Virivolomo.
MP for North East Guadalcanal Derek Sikua during the PAC meeting said it has been a long time since they have been talking about taking over the management of airspace so that Australia does not hold to the 40 percent.
He challenged the Ministry of Communication and Aviation over why it is too hard to control the airspace.
“We should take over its management and why is it too difficult for CAASI (Civil Aviation Authority of Solomon Islands) to take over,” questioned Mr Sikua.
MP for Shortlands Hon Christopher Laore during PAC’s enquiry also raised a similar question said to be once questioned by the ministry’s Minister over how much is really earned annually by the airspace funding (ASF) and that how much is really currently in the account and where does the money go towards development.
According to PS Virivolomo in responding, he clarified that the Airspace Fund (ASF) is a special fund just like the National Transport Fund (NTF) being through process.
“The Minister approves for the budget to be used every year so that is the process in which it is tabled in Parliament,” said Virivolomo.
In elaborating, referring to annually depending on the over flights, he said they have an arrangement with Air Services Australia who are managing the upper airspace for the country in charging aircrafts according to their weights, time spend within the air as they (ministry) collect money every month.
“After Australia deducts their potion of the fee which is 40 percent, they deposit the rest to us during the end of months in which they are always up-to-date with the payments,” said the PS.
“It is around $8 Million Solomon Dollars that is annually received depending on flights seasonally. Its funds currently are used for the operation cause of CAASI as well as for compliances such as on the aircrafts, airports security and safety for passengers.”
He added that when raising funds under the normal government system, it takes time in which the airport cannot wait for such long process giving them the alternative to usually use the funds to address compliances needed in time.
Auditing will take place soon over Solomon Islands strive to control its airspace being a concern for many citizens too for quite some time now.
Chairman for GP Plains Out Growers Association Mr Stanley Holmes Vutiange
Guadalcanal plains palm oil outgrowers lash out at 2018 Budget
BY LYNTON AARON FILIA
Chairman for GP Plains Out Growers Association Mr Stanley Holmes Vutiange
OUTGROWERS of Guadalcanal oil palm plantation are disappointed with the national government’s budget for 2018, it is reported.
Guadalcanal plain farmers say they have been neglected for two years, during which government has not allocated anything for the palm-oil farmers.
Chairman for GP plains outgrowers association Mr Stanley Holmes Vutiange said they too contribute much to the industry, and the country’s economy as a whole, and it is sad and discouraging that government should choose to ignore them.
He says palm oil is a huge factor of the country’s economy, and the role outgrowers play towards palm oil is significantly huge – but government seems to not know this, or just choose to leave them (outgrowers) out of the picture.
“From our findings and follow-up on parliament hearings on this year’s budget, government did not allocate any funds for oil palm out growers and priority is set on other sectors,” Vutiange said.
He adds that the three associations covering the plains; West zone, Balasuna and central Guadalcanal, will hold an urgent meeting after which they will approach government with resolutions which government must address.
Vutiange says they might even seek the possibility that government re-looks its budget.
He adds that last year, despite assurance from the minister of agriculture, government did not allocate anything for them.
