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People with disability lack support

Written by
Alfred Pagepitu
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BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

The Solomon Islands government has not done much for disabled people even though they are equal partners in development.

This was revealed by a number of persons living with special need in an inclusive three-day workshop which ended on Friday last week.

This was organised and funded by Oxfam in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation International Development (ABCID).

A spokesman, who requested anonymity, says there are a lot of persons like him with disability in Honiara who are without support.

He said many are walking around aimlessly and begging in the streets.

“I feel for those people with disabilities sitting along the street begging for money from the general public as beggars.

“Some of them are now regulars and the money they collect is used for their daily needs.

“These unfortunate people are neglected by their own families and friends who do not provide them food, clothing and shelter,” he said.

He said that if the government has no proper avenue to address their needs, then they should be repatriated to their respective places of origin.

“I would like to thank Red Cross, and other NGOs for recognising our need and empowering us to become equal partners in development.”

He is calling on the government, NGOs, stakeholders and the people to respect the rights of people with special needs in the country.

Former SSPM questions PMO officials

Written by
Eddie Osifelo
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By EDDIE OSIFELO

FORMER Special Secretary to Prime Minister (SSPM), Andrew Muaki has questioned the integrity of some political appointees in the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMO) after they defended Chief of Staff Robson Djokovic.

This is after the current SSPM, Albert Kabui, stated in a PMO Media statement last week that the recent High Court decision concerning the citizenship status of Djokovic in no way impacts on his appointment as the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Kabui said this is because his employment is fully compliant with all relevant laws and legislations of the Solomon Islands. In this particular case the issue of citizenship and employment are not the same.

Therefore, Mr Robson Djokovic is still the Chief of Staff.

However, Muaki posted on social media that it is unfortunate that some officials within PMO are coming to the defence of the current Chief of Staff as regards his citizenship case with the SI Citizenship Commission, the Electoral Commission and the Political Parties Integrity Commission.

“Given that these defendants are public Institutions, the public expect officials in the PMO to come to the defence of these Institutions.

“It should be noted that the Electoral Commission and the Political Parties Integrity Commission come under the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,” Muaki said.

He said the minister responsible for these two important institutions is the Hon. Prime Minister himself.

“The prime minister is expected to defend these two Institutions both in public and on the floor of Parliament.

“It should be further noted that these Institutions have limited opportunities to engage in public debates given the nature of their statutory roles and responsibilities,” he said.

“Therefore, these Institutions bank their faith and trust on their ministry (PMO) to defend and protect their success in court.

“The least they expect is for officials at PMO to downplay their court success,” he said.

“Unfortunately some officials at PMO are already going in the opposite direction.

“Is this a sign that officials within PMO are pledging their support to the Chief of Staff instead of the government and country they serve?” he asked.

Muaki said the right thing to do is to support the High Court judgment and defend the success of the Electoral Commission, the Political Parties Integrity Commission and the Citizenship Commission.

27 quarantiners

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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A briefing during graduation at Chengs Quarantine Station. Photo by NEOC

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

THE country currently has 27 persons in quarantine.

This figure is however set to increase as the country expects a repatriation flight tomorrow, and two other incoming flights in the coming month.

This was confirmed by Dr Gregory Jilini, incident controller to Ministry of Health and Medical Services on Sunday.

“At moment we have a total of 27 people are still in quarantine facilities,” said Jilini.

He said the public health team continues to do monitoring of those who are in quarantine and also do testing as per testing protocol

“Last week we have a total of three new arrivals from Brisbane flight at the same period we also discharged six and another 17 yesterday,” said Jilini.

James Bosamata, deputy secretary to Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, confirmed yesterday that 36 of the students were confirmed to come home in the last Manila repatriation flight.

These students will be accommodated at the government funded facilities, which will increase the number of quarantiners.

Covid-19 jabs to begin next week

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

THE rollout of covid-19 vaccination is set to begin next week.

AstraZeneca is the vaccine the country has received, and will be using in its first vaccination rollout.

AstaZeneca is one of the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved covid-19 vaccines which it regards as ‘safe and effective’ for human use.

Dr Gregory Jilini, incident controller to Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), in a covid-19 radio talkback show yesterday said the vaccines will arrive this Friday (March 19)

“The vaccination is expected to start in Solomon Islands next week,” he said.

Jilini said equipping of health worker who will administer the vaccine will happen this week.

“At present the first target group to receive the vaccine will be our front liners and essential staff,” he said.

Jimmie Rodgers, deputy chair to Oversight Committee and secretary to the Prime Minister, said on vaccine rollout a lot of events will be happening this week.

“On this roll out the border zones will be featured inside and during this week Ministry of Health and Medical Service will put in names of individuals who will be immunised.

“It is important for all permanent secretaries in all front-line ministries to identify who from that ministry his/her name must be on the list that will be inoculated,” said Rodgers.

TSL APPLICATIONS OPEN

Written by
Taromane Martin
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Criteria’s must be met

By Taromane Martin

Only ten teams will take part in the new seasons of the Telekom Soccer League (TSL) competition when it kicks off later in the year.

The current 2020-2021 TSL seasons is schedule to complete on March 21st. The Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) and the TSL board say all current participating TSL clubs will also have to reapply for the 2021-2022 seasons.

“The Telekom S-League board has passed a resolution to have ten (10) teams in the new season this year and applications for club licensing is open for current and interested clubs,” SIFF media officer Simon Abana stated yesterday.

“This is a move to improve the competition and meet FIFA requirement for member associations to have at least 10 teams in their premier club competition.

“Teams need to meet certain requirements set by the TSL board and SIFF before a club license is granted.

“A team that wishes to compete in the TSL must have an Executive board, constitution, club management, bank account and training ground,” the statement said.

“Other important requirements are all TSL clubs must have a youth U-19 team to play in the new U-19 S-League and a major sponsor.

“The board after consultation with SIFF Technical department has set a requirement of OFC C-License, SIFF MA Senior Coaching Certificate or equivalent for TSL coaches.

“All current eleven clubs this season will have to apply since all their licenses will expire at the end of the season.

“Successful ten clubs will pay SBD$25,000 as registration fee for the top tier and $5000 for the U19 S-League.

“Closing date for the club licensing application for new TSL seasons is Wednesday 31st March 2021 end of business,” it adds.

Henderson Eels FC meanwhile is on course to win their first TSL title under Head Coach Eddie Marahare.

Eels play Southern United FC this Wednesday at the Lawson Tama Stadium while defending Champions Solomon Warriors FC plays Honiara City FC for this season’s title deciding match.

ASTRA THIS FRIDAY

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca, doses have been confirmed to arrive on Friday this week (March 19).

Dr Gregory Jilini, incident controller, during the covid-19 radio talkback show yesterday said this AstraZeneca vaccine is received through the COVAX facility.

AstaZeneca is one of the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved covid-19 vaccines which it regards as ‘safe and effective’ for human use.

Mr Jilini said equipping of health workers who will administer the vaccine will happen this week and vaccination is expected to start next week.

“The expected doses are expected to arrive in the country this week on Friday, March 19, 2021.

“At present the first target group to receive the vaccine will be our front liners and essential staff,” he said.

Jilini also confirms that more vaccine are yet to come and the aim is to eventually vaccinate the whole population.

He said in the past two weeks health teams have conducted awareness and close to 500 front-line workers were involved in the awareness programme.

“We will be continuing the awareness with our partner ministries. Also, the covid-19 vaccine talkback show will still be running so keep tuning in at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation for more updates,” said Jilini.

Jimmie Rodgers, deputy chair to Oversight Committee and secretary to the Prime Minister, said on vaccine rollout a lot of activities will be happening this week.

“On this rollout the border zones will be featured inside and during this week Ministry of Health and Medical Service will put in names of individuals,” said Rodgers.

He said it is important for all permanent secretaries in all front-line ministries to identify who from that ministry, his/her name must be on the list that will be vaccinated.

“Because our aim is to complete the vaccination in three weeks. Meaning there will be quite a number of vaccinations a day. And we will be carefully monitoring it at the end of each week to monitor those that will be vaccinated and those that are yet to be protected.

“People assist health Ministry to get on to the names as soon as possible,” said Rodgers.

Country pays tribute to Sir Michael Somare

Written by
Alfred Pagepitu
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Wreaths being laid infront of the PNG Chancery office in Honiara

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

THE Papua New Guinea / Solomon Islands community joined the Pacific in remembering the life of one of the most iconic leaders in the region, Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare in Honiara yesterday.

Members of the community joined hands in remembering the first Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea as a march was organized under the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force escort from the Art Gallery to the Papua New Guinea Chancery building

PNG high commissioner to Solomon Islands His Excellency Moses Kaul speaking on behalf of his government and the immediate family of late Somare said the remembrance programme thanked all those who turned up to remember this Pacific icon. 

 “We join together in unity and in solidarity to commemorate and farewell our fallen champion, our icon of the pacific, late Grand Chief Sir. Michael Thomas Somare.

He said the walk to remember Sir Michael symbolises what our countries can do together as a community, family and together as Melanesians.

Part of the crowd that turned up for the Sir Michael Somare memorial walk yesterday.

 “This is the song of unity, this is the song of the person we have, and this is the demonstration of the love we have for our countries.

Kaul adds that both Solomon Islands and PNG share reference in the spirit of Melanesians and thanked those who took the time to join them.

“I would like to make special mention and thank the RSIPF to us and support us for our programme this morning to support us.

“Thank you very much to half of the PNG community in the Solomon Islands,” he said.

“I believe our Grand Chief has demonstrated to us the path he took as being the best example of being a leader.

The PNG community also thanked the Solomon Islands community and the RSIPF for providing police escort during the tribute walk.

Apart from the Solomon Islands, Fiji also organized a memorial service on Friday to honour Sir Michael Somare. Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, parliamentarians and members of the Diplomatic corps in Suva were in attendance.

Tens of thousands of people attended a funeral procession for the late Sir Michael Somare at a stadium in Port Moresby on Friday.

The “Grand Chief” died of pancreatic cancer on February 26 aged 84, with the government declaring two weeks of mourning, ending with Friday’s four-hour service at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium.

Disaster inclusive workshop held for People living with Disability

Written by
Alfred Pagepitu
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Participants who joined the inclusive disaster reporting workshop on Friday.

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

More than 10 persons living with disabilities in Honiara have for the first time participated in an inclusive three days workshop which ended on Friday.

This workshop on media and Disability Inclusion was held at the SIBC conference room and featured the attendance of by representatives of people living with disabilities, those from Disaster Management organisations, Media and Humanitarian emergency response stakeholders in the Solomon Islands.

It was organized and funded by Oxfam in the Solomon Islands in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation International Development (ABC ID).

Workshop trainer was Dorothy Wickham and staff of Oxam who conducted a workshop on disaster preparedness.

Trainer, Ms Wickham highlighted the Oxfam AHP Disaster Ready plan aims to promote timely, accurate, inclusive disaster messaging by understanding the communication needs of people with disabilities and improving linkages and interactions between disabled persons’ organisations, media, government and other local stakeholders.

She said the goal of the knowledge-sharing workshop is to allow stakeholders to understand each other’s experience, challenges/ constraints, priorities, and needs in disaster reporting, response, and resilience.

Wickham thanked the media, stakeholders participated in the workshop, representatives from the World Vision, Red Cross, the Oxfam in Solomon Islands in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation International Development (ABC ID) and participants.

“I would like to thank all of you who attended and our core funders who supported this workshop.

“We now understand disaster reporting, understanding disability inclusive messaging, establishing media guidelines and principles and determining best practice terminology for disability-inclusive reporting.

“This training was successful as participants hear direct issues affecting people living with disabilities on their needs and wants in disaster scenarios.

 “As facilitator of this workshop on disaster reporting for people with disabilities, I would like to thank Mr Alex from the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service for being part of this workshop, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) International Development for funding and Oxfam for hosting.

“I have learnt a lot from these amazing Solomon Islanders,” Wickham summed up.

Winrock holds session with Malaita Public Accounts Committee

Written by
Samie Waikori
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Deputy Chief of Party for Winrock Solomon Islands, Dr Morgan Wairiu

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under the Malaita Provincial Assembly held an information sharing session with Winrock SCALE-NRM Deputy Chief of Party, Dr Morgan Wairiu last week in Auki.

PAC chairman, and MPA for Ward three, Martin Fini said the session was held upon invitation by PAC for Dr Morgan Wairiu to share with them information on the USAID Scale programme in the province.

He said during the session, they were happy to get first hand information on the USAID Scale programme and five different entities/components which will implement the programme on Malaita province.

Fini said Winrock International as heard is one of the five bodies who will execute the USAID US$25 million on various sectors of development in the province.

He said the entities have their specific areas like agriculture, environment, livelihood and other areas that they will implement programmes on Malaita.

Fini said members of PAC have lauded Dr Wairiu for the session as it gave them the direction on how MPAs will work with people in their respective wards to prepare for the programme.

He called for cooperation from colleague leaders, community leaders, resource owners and implementing partners to support the execution of the scale programme.

In a statement from MPG following a recent information session with Dr Wairiu’s, he said the programme is designed to achieve the overarching Restorative Economy policy of the MPG.

He said the Malaita Provincial Government Restorative Economy policy is the anchor for the SCALE programme.

It stated that the different components are responding to this overarching policy direction which is to restore the economy of Malaita that in a way has been destroyed through very destructive development models. 

Therefore, it will be the priorities of MPG that the Implementing Partners (IPs) will be working in line with it. 

Under the SCALE programme, IPs are also expected to engage with a variety of stakeholders including communities, NGOs, business houses, provincial authorities, national authorities and international actors in the implementation of the programme.

MPYC supports Orea youths from Are’are

Written by
Samie Waikori
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Rep from Orea youth group receives bags of kava stalk from president of MPYC, Mr Philip Subu (right) this week in Auki

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

MALAITA Provincial Youth Council (MPYC) has yet again donated seven 20kg bags of kava stalks this time to Orea youth group last week in Auki.

The support is part of Malaita Youth’s Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) assistance, especially for the kava sector and the assistance will only be received by one youth group in the 12 constituencies of the province.

President of MPYC, Philip Subu said MPYC is very happy to support the youth group as they are one among seven youth groups that have already received the MPYC ESP assistance.

He said Orea youth group is from the highlands of East Are Are and their determination to reach Auki to receive the support shows their seriousness towards the kava programme.

Subu acknowledged the youth group for their effort and urged them to make great use of the programme for their benefit.

He said MPYC is eager to cooperate with youths in the province to empower them and become self-reliance to support the development of their communities, province and country.

He said the assistance comes in the form of kava tools and kava stalks.

“Now we are left with only five youth groups to receive their support under the programme as they have already been identified, and we are waiting for them to get their assistance,” Subu said.

He said MPYC is facilitating the programme with the $10k they applied and received under the national ESP.

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