THE Western province government has called on the national government to improve border control and monitoring with the SI-PNG border.
Provincial secretary Jeffery Wickham says this should one of the national government’s priorities.
He highlights last week’s incident as a fine example that should send the message of the importance of border control to the national government.
“Western Province have for too long taken the brunt of continuous illegal incursions and we call on the national government must pull up its socks to quickly address matter.
“Effective border control and monitoring is paramount. We need national security policy development and progress to establishing a national coordinating mechanism for muilti-sectorial collaboration in border security.
“Our national government must consider and prioritize to addressing boarder issues rather than misusing of fundings.”
The Chairman of the Taskforce Mr Eddie Ngava said they are aware many bus still running short route from SDA to Naha route
BY LYNTON AARON FILIA
THE short bus route from the Kukum Hot Bread Kitchen to Naha will close as the SDA church junction completes.
Honiara City Council (HCC) taskforce reassures public of this after many complaints hit social media over buses running the short route.
Chairman of the Taskforce Councillor Eddie Ngava said they are aware many buses are still running the short route from SDA to Naha.
However, he says they have allowed this to continue awaiting the completion of the SDA church junction before they come down hard on buses running that short route.
“At the moment we are liberal to buses which is one reason why people see short route continue there, and HCC Law Enforcement are not regularly seen bus stop for inspection that far.”
But, as soon as highway and roundabout completes, bus operators on that area will not have any excuses, he adds.
“So far so good, we are happy that everybody is complying, and we understand big issue now is short bus route from SDA to Naha but it is only allow while the road upgrading is there,” Mr Ngava said.
Meanwhile, HCC plans to put additional bus routes to backway roads, and this will come to effect after the highway is complete
“During our monitoring we are looking at putting additional bus route to back ways roads , for example transport services to people use Kombevatu, but we will assess it properly before we can say yes to it,” Ngava said.
HCC advices public to use their toll free number—25190 and 21191 Law Enforcement to give information relating to public transportation.
“Council also needs support from community and individuals as they cannot be seen everywhere at once,” Ngava said.
MP for Small Malaita Hon. Rick Hou is being nominated to run for PM onbehalf of the
DCC Group
By Alfred Sasako
MEMBERS of the United Democratic Party (UDP) have merged with Kadere after resigning their membership over the weekend, sources confirmed last night.
UDP Members include former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, former Finance and Treasury Minister, Snyder Rini and former Development Planning and Aid Coordination Minister, Danny Philip.
Letters of their resignations were received by the UDP this week, confirming a front page article in the Island Sun yesterday that Kadere and former UDP members have merged into a new 21-member strong Alliance.
They have made their position clear that any moves to dismiss any of them must include removing the entire group. “It’s all or none,” Island Sun was told on Tuesday evening.
As of last night, there has been a new development. There are unconfirmed reports that the new Alliance of Defiance has given the Prime Minister Ricky Houenipwela an ultimatum.
“Do as we say or we will walk out from you,” according various reports Island Sun was able to put together from various sources.
“That ultimatum could be given to the Prime Minister as early as tomorrow [today],” those familiar with behind-the-scene political developments said.
No one seems to put a finger on what the new Alliance wants from the Prime Minister, although there are suggestions this could be connected with the payment of $50 million awarded by the High Court for the Hell’s Point waste land east of Honiara.
It was suggested that both Hon Houenipwela and his Deputy and Finance and Treasury Minister, Manasseh Sogavare had struck a deal to address the payment issue.
But soon after assuming office, the Prime Minister allegedly reneged on the undertaking, a move that had been blamed for the alleged rift between the two men.
Kadere Party President and Chairman of the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF), Peter Boyers, who returned from the SINPF-owned resort of Tavanipupu two days ago, is also a strong proponent of the $50 million payment.
Prime Minister Houenipwela has however put his foot down, suggesting he might be taking legal advice on the matter from the Attorney General’s Chamber, which has reportedly advised against the payment.
Instead, it has suggested that the land be repossessed under the new Amendment to the 2016 Land and Titles Act.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
