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Budget cut upsets kayaking project

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

KAYAKING project in Ngella (Florida) was not launched last year because the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) and the Ministry of culture and Tourism were called back to reprioritise their budget.

Facing cut on their budget for this year, there is high possibility that the kayaking project will not take place soon.

MP for North East Guadalcanal Hon Derek Sikua during the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) enquiry recently to the ministry of tourism questioned SIVB over what happened to the kayaking programme that they discussed during the past in which he thought had already been launched last year.

The ministry of tourism and SIVB in response however said that they were called back by the government to reprioritise the budget in which affected the whole programme that they were already preparing on in Ngella.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) Josefa Tuamoto said they had done all the ground work but then stopped because of the budget support they were allocated with for this year.

He expressed that the Kayaking project was very exciting because it was driven by the whole sailors.

“Unfortunately we will hold back until we get fund,” said SIVB’s CEO.

Cruise ship passenger terminal project fails

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Culture and Tourism Andrew Nihopara

BY BARNABAS MANEBONA

THE cruise ship passenger terminal project between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) has not worked out.

Confirming this was the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Permanent Secretary (PS) Andrew Nihopara to the MP for North East Guadalcanal Hon Derek Sikua when he queried the update status of the project during the ministry’s recent meeting with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Hon Sikua questioned if SIPA is still looking for a location for this very important facility being a site to use for tourists.

However according to Mr Nihopara, the project has actually stopped in terms of the scale of plan that they were looking at which was for a terminal within the Ports compound.

“Our latest discussion with SIPA was they are looking at a fully fledge terminal with an alternative site. So we are waiting for their plans and we will continue to support that but the plan for a terminal did not work out,” said Nihopara.

Cracking down of expired goods still stands

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

CRACKING down on expired goods oi shops within Honiara still stands, says George Titiulu Chief Inspector of the Honiara City Council.

He said the operation is still stands and will be rolled out as of next week, this is according to their schedule scheme.

“Now we preparing groundwork to equipped us for the operation which will be carried out next week.

“And when the time arrives team comprised of stakeholders and other key partners of government ministries for instance consumer affairs sector under the Ministry of Commerce Industry, Labour and Immigration will be deployed to carry out the operation,” he said.

He said when carrying out this operation target issues they will crack down are dating marking which captures the things like expiry dates like best-before, best-be, used-by, labeling issues in terms of imported products with foreign language.

Titulu said it’s an ongoing practice which mandated for the authority to carry out to protect consumers and business sectors and the same time its form of awareness for the general public.

23 May 2018 proclaimed for Gizo/Kolombangara by-election

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Former Governor General and chairman of SIICAC Sir Frank Kabui

BY election date for Gizo/Kolombangara constituency has been proclaimed by the Governor General, Sir Frank Kabui this morning 10th April 2018.

May 23 2018 has been announced as the election date for Gizo/Kolombangara constituency.

Gizo/Kolombangara has been without a Member of Parliament (MP) since December 2017 when the previous MP lost his seat after the High Court ruled he treated and bribed people to vote for him during the 2014 National General Elections.

2018 budget passed

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Prime Minister Ricky Houenipwela and Former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare

By Gary Hatigeva

AFTER three days of in-depth debate and scrutiny, Parliament’s Committee of Supply yesterday concluded all proceedings and passed the much anticipated 2018 Budget with an overwhelming support of votes from members of the government, opposition and the independent group.

The 2018 national total budget is $3,735,114,004 [3.7 billion] for the services of the Government in respect of the year 2018.

This was after almost three weeks of deliberation in both parliament debates and the committee of supply, on both the recurrent and development estimates and the Bill was passed following its third reading without amendments.

Contributions were made in regards to the budget including in-depth questions and answers with recommendations made on areas members of Parliament see very vital to the development programmes of various sectors in the country.

Parliament has authorised a total of $2,809,309,040 for the recurrent expenditure, a total of $224,825,632 for budget support expenditure and a total of $700,979,332 for Development budget, which also includes the total Donor funded Development estimates of $80,000,000.

The Bill had also sought to authorise the Government to borrow a total funding of $461,800,000 from both internal and external sources of Solomon Islands.

A total of $311,800,000 was borrowed for the Tina Hydro Project, while a total of $150 Million under Section 71(3) and 60(2) of the Public Financial Management Act 2013, being borrowed for other high priority infrastructure and development initiatives earmarked to start this year.

The two borrowings are sourced by the country’s multilateral and bilateral development partners, including domestic financial institutions.

Provisions relating to the issue by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Advance Warrants and Contingencies Warrants during 2018 is also included, with a total of $26 Million.

The Contingencies Warrants according the Minister of Finance and Treasury, and Deputy Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, will go towards meeting any unforeseen circumstances that may arise in the course of this year, but might not have been included in the budget.

Included in the budget is a total of $224,825,632, which are projected under the Budget Support section, anchored by mostly donor partners, for certain segments and programmes under five government ministries.

The Bill however revealed that from the total expenditures of $700,979,332 under the development budget, the Ministry of Women, Youths, Children and Family Affairs was allocated with the lowest development funds of only $500,000.

The Ministry of Rural Development on the other hand received almost half of the total expenditure with $320 Million.

Meanwhile, the Bill revealed that under section 69(2) of the Public Financial Management Act 2013, a 0.57 percentage of the government’s domestically sourced revenue earned in the financial year ending December 31, 2018, to be transferred into the debt service account for the purpose of discharging statutory debt.

“In addition to the amount authorised by this Act, a further $88.6 Million is forecasted to be expended through statutory charges on the Consolidated Fund, including $77.8 Million to be expended on National Debt Repayments,” it is explained in the Bill.

Following the passage of the budget, parliament resumed with debates based on the budget lead by the Prime Minister, Rick Hounipwela who made his concluding speech on the budget, where he defended and gave justifications to all the programmes and activities in it (budget).

He also defended and thanked all those that have been involved in both the formulation and funding of the budget, which includes all relevant government ministries, agencies and donor partners.

Hou also acknowledged both the opposition and independent groups including cabinet ministers for the overwhelming support into all debates an proceedings of the budget since it was introduced over two and a half weeks ago.

The Prime Minister later adjourned Parliament through a special adjournment motion he moved for all sessions to resume on Wednesday July 18, 2018.

Champions League semis set

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Auckland’s Callum Mccowatt gets the edge on Solomon Warriors Haddis Aengari.

By Taromane Martin

TOP four semi-finalists for the 2018 Oceania Champions League competition is set after the final set of quarter final matches yesterday.

Quarterfinal matches yesterday saw reigning champions Auckland City FC eliminating Solomon Warriors FC 2-0 curtesy of an Emiliano Tade and Micah Lea’alafa goals while Fiji side Lautoka FC eliminated Tahiti reps AS Dragons 2-1 courtesy of a Praneel Naidu first half goal and a late winner by Brian Kaltack to despite a Tamatoa Tetauira  second half equalizer for dragons.

Yesterday’s results means Auckland City FC will take on Team Wellington who eliminated Toti City FC 11-0 on Saturday while Lautoka FC will meet Marist FC who eliminated Nalkutan FC 2-1 also on Saturday.

Semifinals for the competition will kick off on April 21 with teams set to play home and away matches to determine who will be the grand finalists for this year.

Iron lady Jenly Wini thankful

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Jenly Wini (third from left) on the podium

By Taromane Martin

WEIGHTLIFTING Iron Lady Jenly Wini has thanked her trainers, coaches and her supporters after winning Solomon Islands first ever Commonwealth Games medal on Friday.

The 35 year old won bronze medal at the Gold Coast games lifting a total of 189kg in the women’s 58kg division to finish behind Canada’s Tali Darsigny who lifted a total of 200kg and Australia’s Tia-Clair Toomey who lifted a total of 201 Kg.

Jenly said she was absolutely thrilled but at the same time humbled by the win which she said came after months of dedicated training.

“I am just a simple girl from Fishing Village who just wanted to do my country proud. I am blessed that I have a family, a son and a country that always cheers me on every time I put on the blue, yellow and green,” she said.

“I am a proud Solomon Islander. Thanks to my family for supporting me. Thank you goes to NOCSI, OWF and CTOS.

“Big thanks go to my coach Paul Coffa and his wife for all the hard work they have done to bring me up to this level, and to the people of Solomon Island friends. “Thanks for your prayers and support,” Wini said.

The Iron Lady meanwhile said she will take some time off after the games to consider her future in the sport.

“I have dedicated a good part of my life to weightlifting and it has not been easy because I had to make a lot of sacrifices,” she said.

Solomon Islands weightlifting Federation is represented by three athletes, Jenly Wini, Mary Lifu and David Gorosi at this year’s Commonwealth Games.

Solomon Warriors out

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Warriors starting line up. OFC Champions League 2018, Quarter Final.

Auckland City qualifiers for semis

By Taromane Martin

TELEKOM Soccer League (TSL) Champions Solomon Warriors FC is out of the Oceania Champions League football competition.

They were defeated 3-2 by reigning OFC champions Auckland City FC in their quarter final match yesterday at Kiwitea Street in Auckland, New Zealand.

Goals from Emiliano Tade and Micah Lea’alafa were enough to send the defending champions through for a semi-final date with Team Wellington later this month.

Solomon Warriors FC Head Coach Moses Toata was disappointed in his assessment of his team’s performance saying the difference the goals.

“The difference today was they scored two goals and we didn’t,” he said.

“It comes down to how we create our opportunities. We didn’t create enough today and we lacked the support play, especially in the attacking third.

“We created some good chances especially in the first half. We could’ve scored a couple and I thought there was a handball as well. But it didn’t come our way,” Toata said.

Auckland City Head Coach Ramon Tribulietx said they were pleased with the result and will now regroup for their semi-final with Team Wellington.

“It was going to be tough because of a number of things. Coming back from last week the mental side of things might not have been at the best and maybe the energy levels weren’t as high but we tried to play a good game in the circumstances and we competed well.

“We played a very good team – Solomon Warriors have some very difficult players to cope with in transition.

“When we try to keep the ball that’s when some of these teams can hurt you on the counter. And they had two or three very good chance to be fair to them. They’re a very good side and we’re very happy with the result,” he said.

Tade gave City the lead 20 minutes into the first half beating an outstretching Warriors goal keeper Izomo Bird.

Leading a goal up Auckland looked to keep possession to disturb Warriors impressive counter attacking, 40 minutes in the first half.

Micah Lea’alafa found the back of the net for the City against his former club 56 minutes in the second half to double the home side’s lead.

Moses Toata made his first change of the game in the 78th minute replacing Jerry Donga with Molea Tigi.

Auckland City goal keeper Enaut Zubikarai was called into action a minute later to deny John Alick’s goal bound shot outside the box.

Tribulietx brought Lea’alafa off in the 85th minute replacing him with Kris Bright as City dominated possession in the final minutes of the game for the win.

West Honiara new volley champs

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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West Honiara players celebrating their victory....Photo Taromane Martin.

By Taromane Martin

WEST Honiara men’s volleyball team are the champions of this year’s National Easter Volleyball Championship.

They claimed the volleyball title after defeating provincial side Western Province 3-1 (25:13, 25:27, 25:17, 25:22) in the grand final match on Sunday.

West Honiara eliminated defending champions Rebelle Ink in the semifinals while Western Province eliminated Lauru 3-2 in a thrilling five set match.

Western Province team captain Tata Kaitu blamed fatigue for the loss but is proud of his boy’s performance.

“I appreciate the effort put in by the boys this competition and we accept the result because it was any body’s game,” he said.

“We were a bit affected of the lack of time to recover and the urge to board the ship back home today.

“But apart from that it was a very good game; all of us really enjoyed it. We look forward and will continue with our training for other competitions,” Kaitu said.

West Honiara Head Coach Thomas Tebaubau and Team Captain Junior Hunter were both pleased with the win crediting their defensive game plan as the decisive factor in their successful campaign this year.

“I feel happy and I’m proud of the boys,” he said.

“Since we began training we’ve been aiming for the top prize and I’m pleased we managed to fulfil our dream to win the competition.

“After losing out in the semifinals last year, Coach Tebaubau said he is pleased his boys managed to improve and move on from last year’s disappointment.

“Last year it was Western and Rebelle Ink that met in the finals and we were determined to win the competition this year,” he said.

Hunter said the key to their victory this year was their defense which they have been working on in preparation for the competition.

“I’m really happy. The boys played really well all throughout the competition. Thank you to the boys and to our supporters for coming out and cheering us.

“Defense that is the key and the topic we’ve been working on during our training and it paid off for us this year.

Final standings:

1st place- West Honiara $6000 plus trophy

2nd place- Western 1 $4000

3rd place- Rebelle Ink $3000

4th place-Lauru 2 $2000

Champions league semis coming

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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We are through:Marist FC players and Head Coach Jerry Allen celebrating after their win on Saturday...Photo OFC.

Jerry Allen excited

By Taromane Martin

MARIST FC Head Coach Jerry Allen says he is excited after his side qualified for the semi-finals of the Oceania Champions League.

Marist defeated Nalkutan FC 2-1 in their quarterfinal match at the Korman Stadium in Port Villa on Saturday.

Goals from Abraham Iniga in the 25th minute and another by Davidson Tome in additional time of the first half were enough to secure Marist a spot for their first semi-final appearance in the competition.

Coach Allen credited his boys for their execution saying it was spot on both defensively and offensively.

“I am really excited. We were here to win, obviously everyone is, but I’m excited we did it,” Marist coach Jerry Allen said.

“I think I should say thank you to all the players, everyone, especially in the second half. There was a bit of pressure coming but we stuck to the plan and defended well.”

Nalkutan FC Head Coach Moise Poida said the biggest downfall for his side was underestimating their opponents.

“We did not follow the plan. If you see the game, the goals conceded they weren’t concentrating on the game, on marking, there wasn’t enough communication.

“We came here with a high expectation of winning this game but we were punished in the first half.

“It was a 50-50 chance for us, but we were lacking physically, lacking experience but I think ultimately we underestimated this Marist team,” he said.

Meanwhile Marist FC Team Captain Henry Fa’arodo was also pleased with the result thanking God for the glory, honour and victory on Saturday.

“As one door closes, another opens. I am so proud of my boys today, who played like men. This is how it feels when you push yourself to the limit. Thank you lord for the victory. All honour and glory to you,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

That victory for Marist also means football fans in Honiara will once more get the opportunity to witness actions from the 2018 OFC Champions League again when Marist plays Benjamin Totori and Lautoka FC in their home and away semi-finals clash.

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