BY JENNIFER KUSAPA
FOUR Papua New Guineans from Tasman island have been remanded in custody for illegal entry into the country via Pelau in the Malaita Outer Islands on 26 December 2020.
The four accused are Thomas Poraka, Lester Kapua, Frensly Keapu and Steven Atoka.
They faced with one count each of illegal entry into Solomon Islands under the covid-19 regulation.
Office of the Director Public Prosecution successfully applied to the court to remand all four accused yesterday.
The men will appear again in court for mention on 4 February 2021 at the Honiara Magistrate Court.
The incident occurred on 26 December 2020 at Pelau and nine others from Pelau came in contact with them.
However, this week the Ministry of Health and Medical Services said that the four persons who illegally entered the Solomon Islands border from Tasman Island to Pelau (MOI) on the 26th December 2020 and 9 others who came into close contact with them, returned negative.
Last week a team of three health workers under the lead of Dr Jackson Rakei were deployed to the MOI with the Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIPF) and support from the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in a joint operation.
The deployment was a follow up to an initial deployment on the 27th of December where contact tracing, initial swabbing, community engagement and risk communication was conducted due to the incidence.
