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Maepioh requests extended PRT presence in West

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Former Western Province Premier Hon. Wayne Maepio

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

GIZO

WESTERN Province Premier Wayne Maepio has called for an extension to PRT’s presence in the border.

Mr Maepioh says the formidable police response team (PRT) is an integral factor to keeping the peace in the province.

He says, from experience they feel that a retaliation may happen if the PRT withdraws early from the province, while emotions are still high.

“Despite of what we have achieved so for, we do not really know what will happen next as the border is so open and no proper control of the movement of the people.

“Our fear is what next for those we repatriated. This doesn’t mean we undermine the potential of our police officers here, but we are looking at strengthening their capacity so that we can combat any other illegal happening thereafter.”

Meanwhile, Maepioh thanks the Bougainvilleans who had surrendered themselves to the police and had been repatriated.

He calls on the people of Western province to continue with normal business activities and normal living.

“We have achieved so far through this combine efforts, together with Chiefs, Church elders, government and RSIPF.

“I am pretty sure that we will further enhance the trust and confidence through working together to bring peace in our province and country as a whole.

“We thank you Chiefs and elders of Bourneville, Shortland Island, the RSIPF commissioner Mathew Valey, police officers, PRT and general public for your concern to restore peace in our beautiful Western province.”

No dumpsite in Auki

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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The old dumpsite in Auki.

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

Auki

MALAITA Provincial Town, Auki is without a dumpsite after the old area got sold.

Chief Health Inspector for Malaita Province, Ms Gloria Siwainao said currently only burning, burying and keeping wastes for recycling is practised.

Ms Siwainao said as an alternative to the matter her office has conducted awareness to people in Auki on how to manage wastes in the town.

“Despite that we continue to face the issue as there’s no dumpsite in placed so that waste can properly kept.

“As little as we go things are quietly done but this is not the solution for the matter as far as my office is concern.

“I’ve been in negotiation with land owners here and there are greenlights given on land for the new dumpsite.

“I won’t say everything is going well on land procurement for the activity since no formalities is yet made,” she said.

Siwainao said landowners recognise the importance of having a dumpsite for Auki and have consented their land. However, the fear that the province will not live up to any agreement is an underlying factor keeping LOs at a distance.

“Through my negotiation with landowners, they don’t want outright purchase of their lands, what they want is lease.

“But their fear as said is whether the provincial government will stick to any payment under the lease or not.

“This is exactly the landowners alarm, but my office still continue pushing through with landowners and province for a tangible solution for the issue,” Ms Siwainao said.

“We’ve lost two points”: Moizan

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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AS Magenta Coach Alan Moizan.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

AS Magenta coach feels to have had the impression that his boys lost two important points after yesterday’s one-all against home side Marist in match day two of the Oceania Champions League Group D competition at Lawson Tama Stadium.

Frenchman Alain Moizan was hoping for his boys to secure a win over Marist and get early qualification into the quarterfinals following the first win recorded over Lupe Ole Soaga on Saturday.

In the post-match conference, Moizan said it was a close match but feels they have lost two points.

“We have the impression that we’ve lost two points.

“In the ensemble it was a close match and probably with better control from us we could have won.

“It’s football, you need to be effectual in front of the goal and once again today we weren’t.”

In an entertaining fast-paced contest, the homeside took up earlier lead in the first five minutes through a header by Michael Boso.

Boso’s goal emerged via a well-crafted free kick which was sent from the right by Atkin Kaua.

Magenta equalized six minutes later through stunning strike by Joseph Athale from outside the area.

That 1-1 scoreline remained until fulltime.

Magenta will play their final pool match against favourites and three-time Oceania finalists Team Wellington 1pm on Friday.

Moizan and his boys ought to remain focused ahead of the final pool encounter with the aim of going after maximum points.

“We’ll play our final game with our usual high pressing tactic.

“They’re a team this year, which from what I’ve seen, is a little weaker than last year.

“We’ll do everything to win this match.

“If we win we’ll qualify and finish top of the group so we’ll do our best to recover over the next two days, then we’ll see on Friday,” the former national New Caledonia said.

It must be manageable: Suri

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Task Force 2023 Chairman Mr Gabriel Suri.

By Taromane Martin

Task Force 2023 Chairman Mr Gabriel Suri.

SOLOMON Islands 2023 Pacific Games Task Force says they want the proposed national sports stadium for the 2023 Games to be manageable after the games.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Task Force 2023 Chairman, Mr Gabriel Suri said they will need to have further discussions with the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) and King George Sixth National School, whose lands the stadium will be built on, to come to an understanding about, after the games.

“We need to sign an MOU with SINU and King George Sixth School because we are interested in their grounds,” Suri said.

“The MOUs we want to negotiate with them will cover ownership, management and control, and the accessibility of the facilities for the public after the games.

“These are the things we need to negotiate with the institution and have to come to a clear understanding on how to control and manage the facilities.

“All I’m asking for is for these institutions to come with an open mind and speak objectively about their intentions,” he said.

Mr Suri adds they will also try to get response from the Taiwan Embassy, whose country has openly agreed to finance the building of the facilities.

“What we are going to do and try to complete in the next days and weeks is to really settle down with Taiwan on the MOU.

“We have given them the memorandum of understanding; they have received it and we have also had dialogues with them.

“They are waiting for two things. They are waiting from response from their Headquarters in Taipei and secondly they would want the two government, ours and theirs, to settle all the financial arrangements.

“They are looking at the big package. What component for that package will be for the PG? Now we need to come up with an amount so it could be considered in the discussion.

“The other big issue we are trying to settle is the design concept we want for the national stadium. We took the biding in Vanuatu a design that was given to us by a local architect.

“But when we discuss with technical teams from Taiwan they have some concepts as well to look at and were proposed to us.

“We need to take all these design concepts and put them on one table, discuss and must agree on what concept we are to use.

“Our preference is that we want a concept that we can build at a minimum cost. We want a concept that after construction and the games, it will be able to be serviced and maintained.

“Those are the concepts and principle we want to work by and the important things we need to settle at the moment,” he said.

“We must win”: Allen

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Jerry Allen Marist FC acting Head Coach...Photo Taromane Martin.

Marist a win away from quarterfinals

By Taromane Martin

ANOTHER draw sees Marist FC sitting third in Group D in day two of the 2018 Oceania Football Champions League.

Marist drew 1-1 with AS Magenta in their second match yesterday to see them with two points after their draw with Team Wellington on Saturday.

Defender Michael Boso gave Marist the lead in the fifth minute but saw the visitors responding six minutes later through a well-timed volley by Joseph Athale.

Marist were reduced to 10 men after match referee Tahitian Kader Zitoni booked Abraham Iniga for the second time, with 15 minutes to play in the second half.

“We aimed for three points today. We started well got that goal but then gave it away. We wanted the first option but with how things turned out we had to take the second option, which is to draw,” Marist Head Coach Jerry Allen said after the game.

“Chance is there for us to qualify. The race is still on. If we win our last match convincingly then our chances of qualifying will be higher.

Allen said Iniga was unlucky to pick up the red card but is confident his other players will step up in their final game on Friday.

“We have players there. Iniga was just unlucky. The decision was a bit harsh for us but that is football, we accept it and move on.

“We must try to score. We have a lot of first timers in the team, the likes of Mathias Iani, and Tome (Davidson) who are the two upfront. Hopefully they will step up for us in our last match.

“We’ll approach our last match with the same intensity because we need to win if we are to qualify for the next stage,” he said.

Marist FC plays Lupe Ole Soaga of Samoa Friday 4pm while Team Wellington takes on AS Magenta at 1pm in the final day of the Group D action.

UDP denies Kadere-alliance media report

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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THE united democratic party (UDP) has refuted claims in Island Sun front page yesterday that it has formed an alliance with the Kadere party.

General Secretary of UDP Mr Barnabas Henson refuted the claim, describing it as erroneously implying that parliamentary members of the party are part of a UDP-Kadere alliance faction within Solomon Islands Democratic Coalition for Change Government.

Henson said the implication is absolutely erroneous and misleading and warrants a correction.

He said the UDP is now a partner in the current Opposition Coalition; the Solomon Islands Democratic Alliance Coalition after it defected from the previous Sogavare-led Democratic Coalition for Change Government last December.

Henson confirmed that 14 UDP members of parliament, including Hon Sogavare have tendered resignations from the party in November 2017.

By virtue of the PPI Act and the UDP Constitution, those MPs are no longer members of the party.

They have since joined forces with the Democratic Alliance Party to form the new Solomon Islands Democratic Coalition for Change Government (SIDCCG) led by Prime Minister Rick Hou.

“There are no UDP members in the SIDCCG so to imply UDP as part being of the SIDCCG is erroneous and misleading. There is no such thing as a UDP-Kadere alliance.

“The UDP Executive is appealing to the media verify any reports concerning the party or its members before publishing them,” the UDP Secretary said.

–UDP PRESS

RSIPF defends its recruit selection process

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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THE Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Human Resource Department explains that the police recruitment process takes applicants through several stages before a final decision is made on who will undertake the RSIPF Recruitment training.

The recruitment process is underway for the first police recruit for year 2018, which is expected to start in April.

“The recruitment process is not a one off process. It has several stages that all applicants have to go through after which the best will be selected The RSIPF have standard guidelines for conducting the recruitment campaign,” says Director of the RSIPF Human Resource Department, Chief Superintendent Richard Menapi.

“So far I am happy with the progress of this year’s recruitment campaign. I am satisfied that all rules have been followed by HR staff throughout the short listing process and physical test (PT).

“On February 17, 2018 my staff conducted an entry PT test for 800 short listed candidates and this is out of a total of 1,007 applicants. Out of this 800 candidates, some were absent without any good reason provided to HR and only three provided their medical reports as being sick. They were the ones my HR staff allowed to sit the Exams on Saturday (February 24). This was a reasonable and fair decision as the candidates provided their medical reports. They will have to undergo the physical test to be fair to the rest of the applicants. This depends on whether they passed their exams.

“The RSIPF is a professional organisation and we have all the processes, guidelines and policies governing all our operational systems in place. The Police HR strives to uphold these guiding mechanisms.

“Should any candidate forged school certificates, or cheated in any way through our system along the process of selection, it will show when they do the exam as it is tailored for Form 5 or Form 6 leavers, one of the criteria for selection of candidates.

“Police welcome the comments by members of the public through the media on the current recruitment as this shows that the public is concerned for the police. There is nothing to worry about such complaints because my staff had adhered to the processes established for police recruitment. I can confirm that the complaint is being reported to the RSIPF Professional Standards and Internal Investigations (PSII) and will be investigated.”

–POLICE MEDIA

Big interest to work in overseas farms

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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By Mike Puia

AN information session about working in Australia horticulture farms held in Honiara yesterday shows the huge interest among locals to work overseas.

AgricSolutions, a licensed recruiter for the Australian Seasonal Worker Programme (ASWP), conducted an information session at the National Museum compound and was surprised with the turn out.

Jobs Australia representatives were also present at the session.

AgricSolutions’ Managing Director, based in Honiara, Simon Mannie, confirmed that the interest among locals is overwhelmed.

“Representatives of Jobs Australia doubted people would be interested. But, as you can see, the turnout is just huge,” Mr Mannie said.

About 30 males were selected during yesterday’s session out of the huge crowd that turned up. Those selected will attend an interview at the Labour Mobility Unit at Rove today and tomorrow.

Those recruited in this round will work in banana and citrus fruit farms in Australia.

Mannie said since working in banana and citrus farms requires physical strength, they only recruit males in this round.

A lot of females also attended yesterday’s session.

Mannie said once overseas employers asked to recruit locals for lighter work, then they will recruit women.

Those who are interested in working under this programme must have clear record with the police, certified by doctors to be healthy and fit, over 21 years, have a passport and has an intention to enter Australia for work and return to the country after his or her employment ends.

Workers traveling to Australia under this programme will work for 30 hours per week.

AgricSolutions confirmed it will increase its recruitment as time goes on.

Gov’t money drain

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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Customs’ decision continues to cost the government millions in lost revenue

By Alfred Sasako

A decision by Customs officials in allowing a private concern to operate Leroy Jetty along the Ranadi Coastline is costing the Government “millions” in lost revenue, shipping industry sources have revealed.

“Unless the Ministry of Finance intervenes, the government will continue to lose millions more because of similar operations into Renbel,” they warned yesterday.

Others have hinted that the decision by Customs in allowing a private concern to operate another wharf in Honiara could be illegal.

Industry sources said it is not only in Honiara that the national government is losing revenue from import and export taxes.

“Operations of foreign ships into Renbel Province are also costing the government millions more because no one knows what the overseas ships are bringing in or taking out of the country.

“The only government agents there are Customs Officials. So the government loses millions of dollars in both in-coming and outgoing cargoes from both Honiara and Renbel,” the sources said.

Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA), told Island Sun two weeks ago that since Leroy Jetty opened for businesses around November 2016, SIPA had lost millions of dollars in businesses from pilotage, stevedoring and berthing charges which overseas ships avoid paying when they use Leroy Jetty.

“In 2017 alone, SIPA lost more than $10 million in revenue from overseas ships using Leroy Jetty along the Ranadi coast,” senior SIPA officials told Island Sun in an exclusive interview.

“SIPA loses more than $600, 000 in charges each time an overseas vessel uses Leroy Jetty. It is a huge drain on SIPA revenue, which we will continue to lose until the government steps in,” one official said.

Leroy Jetty has since applied to the Minister of Finance and Treasury, Manasseh Sogavare to consider granting it a suffrage wharf status.

Officials from the Ministry’s Economic Reform Unit (ERU) held talks with SIPA management two weeks ago.

“We have made our views known to the ERU officials. In our view it is not healthy financially for SIPA and the government and also in terms of safety and security. It is our hope that the government stands by us in this matter,” one official told Island Sun.

SIPA is planning to brief the Prime Minister, Ricky Houenipwela and his Deputy Mr Sogavare who is responsible for SIPA as a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE).

Apart from the revenue losses, there are several issues that are critical to the SIPA Management. These include international ship and port security (ISPS), safety and the need to comply with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requirements.

“These are international requirements which must be upheld or Solomon Islands risks losing its licence as declared ports. What is happening since November 2016 is that we simply do not know what sort of cargo has come in and what is going out,” one SIPA Management official said.

Others have pointed out that legally Customs does not have the authority to allow a private concern to operate another wharf which is not a declared port.

Solomon Islands has only two declared ports – Honiara and Noro in Western Province – which are recognised internationally.

“When it comes to the legality of the operations, the SIPA Act overrides any other Act in terms of declared ports,” a former senior SIPA staffer said.

Stalemate

Written by
Milton Ragaruma
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0
RED ALERT….Marist FC’s Abraham Iniga comes in hard on AS Magenta’s Jean-Christ Wajoka. Iniga was red carded for this challenge as Marist held on with 10 men for a 1-1 draw…Photo OFC.

BY ROMULUS HUTA

Marist 1, AS Magenta 1

MARIST’S hopes of progression into the last eight of the Oceania Champions League hinges on the results of the final pool play this Friday.

This follows their one-all draw against AS Magenta of New Caledonia yesterday afternoon at Lawson Tama Stadium.

The draw makes it two in a row for the Oceania Champions League Group D hosts.

In their campaign opener on Saturday against Team Wellington they also drew 1-1.

Marist currently sits third on the table with two points behind Team Wellington and AS Magenta who are occupying the first and the second places respectively with four points each.

RED ALERT….Marist FC’s Abraham Iniga comes in hard on AS Magenta’s Jean-Christ Wajoka. Iniga was red carded for this challenge
as Marist held on with 10 men for a 1-1 draw…Photo OFC.

Like the Saturday’s contest, Marist took up early lead in the first five minutes through a header from towering defender Michael Boso.

A free kick unleashed from the right by Atkin Kaua found an awaiting Boso on the far post who nodded home past the Magenta shot-stopper Mikael Ulile, sending the home crowd into frenzy.

Marist’s Koriak Upaiga and Henry Faarodo tries to stop a Magenta player during their Group D clash on Tuesday

Six minutes later, a stunning volley by Joseph Athale from outside the box silenced the home crowd and brought the scoreline to one-all.

Athale capitalized on a loose ball headed out by Marist defender Joachim Waroi via a corner where he made no mistake in hammering the ball past keeper Anthony Talo for a spectacular equalizer.

The goal livened Magenta’s fighting spirit and they began to create more chances through Richard Sele’s sneaky runs onto the Marist defense causing trouble for Koriak Upaiga, Boso and Waroi.

Talo stood out well for the homeside between the two sticks pulling out some fine saves against Magenta’s continued onslaught.

Marist also had attempts which could have changed the scoreline for a victory for the hosts but Magenta’s defense proved to be on their best yesterday as they stopped the threats mounted upon them.

Henry Fa’arodo was a tireless worker on the pitch for Marist providing well-needed support to his defenders and so as instrumental in orchestrating upfield attacking moves.

In the second spell, Marist was forced to play with 10 men following Abraham Iniga’s dismissal through a second bookable offence in the 66th minute.

Marist’s one-man down on the pitch did not cause too much disadvantage for them as Magenta’s defense had to make two goal line saves and denied Marist the chance for a winner via a perfect combination from Mathias Ian, Kaua and Davidson Tome.

Toward stoppage time, Magenta’s Maraima Tchao had a point blank range opportunity inside the six yard box which if converted could have been the goal of the day but squandered the chance with a bad touch and let the ball flew out wide.

Marist won a corner in the final act of the match but their goal opportunity was denied by Magenta leaving the scoreline to remain at 1-1 till the final whistle.

Marist’s final match is against Samoan outfit Lupe Ole Soaga at 4pm this Friday while Magenta takes on Team Wellington in the 1pm fixture.

A big win for Marist against Lupe Ole Soaga will see them earning a place in the quarterfinals but that has to depend on the result of the earlier encounter between Magenta and Team Wellington where the hosts will be hoping very much for a victory for either side.

A draw between the two sides and win for Marist will see all three finishing pool play with five points each and qualifications into the quarterfinal will have to be determined through goal difference calculations.

The winner of the Group D competition gets the advantage of playing its quarterfinal at home.

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