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CITY WASTES PILLING UP

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Council says it’s a big issue to tackle

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

HONIARA City Council (HCC) says managing wastes within the city is becoming a major challenge as the population continues to increase.

City Clerk Justus Denni admitted this a Japanese Embassy led tour to his office last week.

“HCC waste management has become a challenge for us but we are doing our best to tackle the issue,” Denni said.

He added despite the challenge, the council is now gearing up its preparing to make Honiara a clean city ahead of next year’s Pacific Games in Honiara.

“HCC is preparing to make Honiara clean during the games.

“Plans to properly manage waste collection is already in place but then again there are also huge challenges identified.

“But with the support of the National government HCC will be able to achieve its plans in keeping Honiara clean,” Denni said.

Japan is a major sponsor of the council’s waste management efforts.

Denni said HCC is looking at getting more garbage trucks to cater for the Pacific Games event, as well as to keep Honiara clean.

In terms of the landfill at Ranadi, Denni said it is now filled up and has no space to accommodate additional wastes.

“However, HCC has a concept to identify a new landfill site.

“We are working with Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology and Guadalcanal provincial government to secure a new site.

“We are also discussing evicting people illegally occupying land around the Ranadi landfill.”

Goshen announces work plan for Malaita

Written by
Samie Waikori
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Goshen Enterprise demonstration taro farm at Gwaigeo, Malaita.

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

GOSHEN Enterprise Ltd has announced its plan to work with taro farmers in Malaita Province.

The announcement was made during a ground breaking ceremony to commence work on a taro pack house at Adaliua, which is more than a hope for the program.

Director of Goshen Enterprise Ltd, Lewi Maesimae said Goshen will soon begin its work with taro farmers with equipment provided by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAET) through EIF and ECAT program.

He said that as part of the taro program, farmers in Malaita have continued to be supported with trainings within the past two years.

Maesimae said MFAET also supported Goshen with $100, 000 taro grant money and distributed agriculture tools worth $99, 000 to taro farmers in both central and northern regions of the province.

He said along with that, MAFET provided Goshen with tiller machine and facilitated the procurement of tractor and ploughing machine.

Maesimae said with the machines provided especially the ploughing machine, Goshen plans to begin work with taro farmers within wards two, three, four and five in the province.

He said Goshen will consult farmers and schedule a working program to go from farmers to farmers assisting them by ploughing their land for taro planting.

Maesimae said the schedule is to ensure taro farmers get assisted by boosting their taro activity under the program for the province.

He said this is part of the taro program for Malaita province and it will begin with the first four wards and later roll-out to other wards.  

Maesimae also said that Goshen has started buying taro last year at $6 per kilogram and they continue at the moment as part of the taro project.

He said at the moment Goshen only does taro business locally and as the taro program grows and production entails export, they will prepare for international market.

SIIP sets to roll

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
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The bustling Gizo Market. PHOTO: SIIP

By EDDIE OSIFELO

SOLOMON Islands Infrastructure Programme (SIIP) has commenced work in approving projects and many more to be considered in coming months.

Some of the projects approved including redeveloping markets in Malaita, Isabel, Western, Guadalcanal and Honiara.

Australia High Commissioner in Honiara, Dr Lachlan Strahan told media in a breakfast event at Heritage Park Hotel yesterday those markets were selected to be geographically inclusive to make sure that SIIP reaches out across the country.

Strahan said they are also funding water and sanitation study for Bina Harbour (Malaita Province) as part of preparation phase.

He said it is so important the water needs of the local communities plus what they hope to be a Tuna processing plant and port are all met.

Furthermore, Strahan said they are funding the design detail work for the Noro Port (Western).

He said later this week they have a new set of proposals which they will put in front of them to make some decision about what they should be funding.

All SIIP activities are decided by a high-level Solomon Islands-Australia Steering Committee, co-chaired by the Secretary to the Prime Minister and the Australia High Commissioner.

Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of National Planning and Development Coordination (MNPDC), and Finance and Treasury are also members.

The committee meets quarterly to assess and agree on projects SIIP will support, and reviews progress on activities already underway.

This joint decision making ensures projects are well aligned to national priorities and coordinated within the scope of SIIP resourcing.

The SIIP is Australia’s flagship 10-year $1.5 billion partnership with Solomon Islands to create local economic opportunities through a pipeline of high priority infrastructure projects.

Launched in 2021, SIIP will:

  • Help build high quality, nation-building infrastructure focussing on inclusion, climate resilience and local jobs.
  • Work with government and industry to establish the best settings and practices to plan, finance, construct and maintain infrastructure to drive long term, sustainable economic growth across the nation.

Gov’t: Malaita MPs are not resigning

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Press Release
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MALAITAN MPs in the ruling DCGA have denied reports they are resigning en masse from the Government.

Solomon Star newspaper published the claim last Friday.

But a statement the Government issued yesterday described the article as “fallacy and sloppy journalism”.  

“The National government is intact with the full support of all Malaita MPs in the DCGA,” the statement said.

“Constituency tours and awareness by all Malaita Members of Parliament in the DCGA are ongoing and constituents have been very receptive,” it added.

“We strongly deny any rift within the Malaita MPs or government over constituency awareness.

“Tying the resignation with constituency awareness is cheap politics.”

The statement said the government will not bow down to the evil intention of a few people adding, intimidation, bullying and violence have no place in our society.

“The government will not allow elements of disunity, chaos and anarchy driven by the narrow political agendas of a very few individuals to overrun it.

“The media must not allow itself to be used for rampant speculation or being used to advance other people’s interest rather than that of the country.”

Call to fast-track state system

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Admin
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Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare

Guadalcanal Post-Conflict, Reconciliation Rehabilitation and Restoration Association (GPCRRRA) Western Region has urged the Government to fastrack the Federal system.

The association made the call after Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare promised the people of Guadalcanal last year to give federal system by 2026.

“Until now we have not received any timeline and workplan of government working towards Federal System,” GPCRRRA Western Region general secretary George Hilly said.

“So, we question whether government work on it or halt,” Hilly added.

He said the issue of China has taken over the core issue of this country.

“If there is a timeline created, this association with legal attachment to government, should have a copy of that,” he said.

Guadalcanal and Western provinces are pushing for Federal system in order to benefit immensely from their resources.

PM Sogavare told Western Province during its Second Appointed Day last December that the draft Federal Constitution takes more than 10 years and over $100 million of budgetary provisions to develop.

Sogavare strongly assured the province that his government is committed to introducing the Federal System of Government as recommended by the Imminent Persons Group.

PM Sogavare also used the occasion to dispel the rumour that government is being influenced to brush aside the issue of State Government System.

Japan donates new vehicles to police

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Ambassador Miwa hands over the keys of the Vehicle to Assistant Police Commissioner Everlyn Thugea whilst visiting the UXO site.

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

JAPAN handed over two Land Cruisers to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal team of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force in Honiara last week.

The vehicle keys were officially received by the Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

Japan’s Ambassador to Solomon Islands Yoshiaki Miwa said the vehicles are important to the work of the police in the removal of old World War II bombs.

Yoshiaki said Solomon Islands is heavily contaminated with UXO even today as a result of the battle between Japan and Allied Forces exactly 80 years ago.

“My government has been providing assistance to the National Response Department to develop capacity to deal with the UXO threats,” he said.

He stressed the Government of Japan has been and will continue to support the Government of Solomon Islands with its development plans in the years ahead.

Border site visits

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
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Police officers patrolling the Western border with Bougainville. PHOTO ABC

By EDDIE OSIFELO

AUSTRALIA Defence Force (ADF) engineers are in the country visiting the international border sites at Shortland and Temotu.

Government has identified the Patrol Board Outpost near Lofung close to Solomon Islands/Papua New Guinea international border.

However, it is still to identify the site in Temotu, in the eastern part of the country.

Australia High Commissioner in Honiara, Dr Lachlan Strahan told media in a breakfast event at Heritage Park Hotel yesterday that those projects were impeded by COVID and they could not get their personels into country that really held things up.

“But now we are moving quite rapidly with the engineers now on the ground visiting the sites and moving things forward,” he said.

Furthermore, Dr Strahan said just in the last few weeks, they have held a Security Policy Forum and Project Governance Board.

He said those two processes are joint processes as the Security Policy Forum is co-chaired by him and Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Police and National Security Karen Galokale.

Further to that, Dr Strahan said the Project Governance Board is co-chaired by Galokale and one of his colleagues in Canberra, who was responsible for their Defence Infrastructure Programmes.

“What we have done is to find serious of milestones for the design and construction work, which will unfold from now over the next 18 months of so?

“What we have done is we pull forward some of those milestones by some months?” he said.

“I keep pushing my colleagues to go faster and faster but they are also reminding of quality.

“We put little emphasis on getting cracking but there is a point where one of my colleagues call the law of physics intervening and you can’t actually move faster without building which is poor quality,” he added.

“So, we have some teams of the Australia Defence Force who are doing scoping study at both sites, in Shortland and looking at whole range of sites in Temotu.

“We haven’t selected a site yet in the East but this will be very much the decision of the government here,” he said.

At the request of the Government, the Western Border and Patrol Boat Outpost will be constructed near Lofung at the entrance to Kulitanai Bay on Shortland Island and provide safe vessel access and mooring for the two RSIPF Guardian-class Patrol Boats.

The facility will be a sovereign Solomon Islands asset and will be owned and operated by the national government.

It will include accommodation for up to 30 RSIPF officers and other government officials deployed to the region on a temporary basis.

The Outpost will facilitate wider, whole-of-government operations, including Customs, Health, Immigration and Biosecurity agencies.

Customs and Immigration personnel will be able to manage border controls for people entering Solomon Islands’ western border region more effectively.

Plastic Wise Gizo champion of wastes

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Members of Plastic-wise Gizo showcase Hand bags made from rope which normally wraps around carton of noodles

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

PLASTIC WISE Gizo has been identified as a local NGO to pilot rubbish recycling in the country.

The project is funded by the government of Australia through Strongim Bisnis program.

Founder and Chair of Plastic Wise Gizo, Rendy Solomon said his company is buying empty aluminum cans at $2.00 per kilos.

She said the target is to fill 18 tons of aluminum plastics but so far the project only managed to fill 5tons.

Mrs Solomon said the project will roll out to other provinces if the pilot project in Gizo is successful.

She said one of the core objectives of Plastic Wise Gizo is to change the behavior of people and add value to solid wastes.

“Stop arguing for royalties which comes from development like logging. Your royalty is to add value to solid wastes and benefit from your own hard work,” Mrs Solomon said.

She said COVID has posed challenges to the project but Western Province especially Plasticwise Gizo is proud to lead the pilot project.

Mrs Solomon said Plastic Wise Gizo will continue to be a beacon of hope for solid waste management.

Konofilia wants his case progressed

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Admin
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A MAN accused of participating in last November’s riots in Honiara wants the prosecution to quickly deal with his case.

Moffat Konofilia told the court yesterday that his case has been delayed for almost two months awaiting investigation.

He also questioned the prosecution why the investigation has been prolonged.

Konofilia is charged with one count of Sedition contrary to section 4 (1) (a) and 3 (1) (iv) of the Sedition Act and one count of unlawful assembly contrary to section 74 of the Penal Code, Cap 26.

Public Prosecutor Samuel Tovosia said partial disclosures have already been provided to the accused, only the video footage is yet to be obtained from investigators.

Tovosia also ask for further time to sort out other relevant outstanding evidence to be served to Konofilia.

The matter was then adjourned to next week to allow the Crown serve full and complete disclosures to the defendant.

Japan commits to remove old bombs

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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0
EOD Operator remove the UXOs.

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO 

JAPAN says it is serious with its intention to assist Solomon Islands in the safe removal of Unexploded Ordinance to secure safe life.

Japan’s Ambassador to Solomon Islands Yoshiaki Miwa reiterated this last week.

Miwa said on March 15 this year, a grant contract of SBD$6, 267,000 was signed to provide important equipment such as excavator, special purpose vehicles and boats required to widen the scope of the EOD to reach other islands.

“In order to proceed the urgent and dangerous operation of EOD effectively and safely, the equipment donated to the Solomon Islands is playing an important role.

“It is our government’s intention to develop the cooperation with our partners in this particular project to secure a safe life in the Solomon Islands,” he said.

He confirmed that Japan has been and will continue to support the Government of Solomon Islands with its development plans in the years ahead.

In response, Police Assistant commissioner Everlyn Thugea said for the past years they have heard of a significant increase of fatal incidents involving UXO.

“The corporate funding support from our donor partners like Japan, Australia and the US will greatly assist the RSIPF to deal with this UXO threats,” Thugea said. 

“We are fortunate to have a support package from the Embassy of Japan office in SI through the Japan grant assistance for grassroots and human security projects,” she added.

Thugea said the socioeconomic impact of explosives remnants of war is felt in many countries around the world and cannot be understated and although the Solomon Islands may not always have the resources to address it, it remains one of the main goals of the RSIPF.

“As you all may know, this support package will boost the capability of the EOD Teams and help them to keep our citizens safe.

“Your Excellency Ambassador Yoshiaki Miwa, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police I wish to sincerely thank your good office for this generous support and the facilitation of these equipment,” Thugea said.

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