Tuesday, September 6, 2011

NZ wants SI to prosper

BY RICHARD TOKE

NEW ZEALAND is pushing for Solomon Islands to maximise its tourism potential by investing in its infrastructure.


Prime Minister, John Key said the Government is working with other countries to upgrade tourism infrastructure, including the redevelopment of airports in Kiribati, the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and the development of an alternative marine jetty in the Cook Islands.

A public-private partnership between the Government and cruise operator Carnival Australia will help further open up the burgeoning cruise industry to the Pacific.

“The cruise industry is the fastest-growing segment of global tourism, with average annual growth at 8.7 per cent for the past decade, and the South Pacific is one of the fastest-growing markets,” said Mr Key.

Carnival Australia is working with the community in Aneityum, Vanuatu, on a pilot shore tour programme. New Zealand will support elements of this programme, which is designed to assist the Aneityum community develop their venture.

The pilot will start towards the end of the year.

“There’s a huge opportunity for Pacific communities and businesses to benefit from the rising popularity of cruise holidays.

The Government’s partnership with Carnival Australia is a solid step towards growing this market, and feeds into our wider support for tourism in the region,” says Mr Key.

“I would like to thank AusAid for developing the collaboration with Carnival Australia, and Maritime New Zealand for its work in the area of maritime safety, which will complement efforts to build on the Pacific’s tourism potential.

“The Pacific has some magic holiday destinations, and we expect these initiatives will help open up the region to the rest of the world,” says Mr Key.

Police action comes under fire

BY NIGEL SANDY

THE RECENT police intervention into the Truth and Reconciliation hearing in Taro, Choiseul province which led to the arrest of a wanted man has come under fire from TRC’s chairman Fr Sam Ata.

The criticisms come after a closed TRC hearing in Taro for members of the defunct black shark group was abruptly disturbed by RAMSI personals and local police.


According to a TRC press release, six participants were invited for the hearings.

Four people had testified before the Truth Commission when Police disturbed the hearing and arrested the wanted man.

The wanted man whom police arrested has been identified as Samson leketo.

Samson leketo is wanted by police in relation to serious offences which includes attempted murder and intimidation.

He was issued a bench warrant for his arrest by the high Court of the Solomon Islands but has been evading police for a long time.

In criticizing the action by the police, Fr. Ata said that the action taken by RAMSI and police in Taro was disrespectful to the national process.

“What RAMSI and police have done undermines the confidence TRC has with the society and seriously called into question its independence.

“The incident has also raised further concerns whether to request police participation in terms of providing security for future events,” the chairman said.

He said that the arrest of Mr. Lekoto has in fact led to TRC having to abort the closed hearings as the remaining former combatants have now refused to appear before the committee.

Fr.Sam described the intervention by RAMSI and local police as, ‘heavy handed and inappropriate’, as the authorities took advantage of TRC’s processes to achieve their own objectives.

While criticizing the actions by the police, the chairman also took the chance to apologize to the premier, people and participants of Western and Choiseul Provinces for the actions of the police.

Police presence in future TRC hearings questioned

BY NIGEL SANDY

THE FUTURE of local police and RAMSI personals providing security in any future truth and reconciliation hearings is now in tatters after an incident in Taro last week.

The incident last week which saw police disrupting and arresting a wanted man during a closed hearing session has brought TRC’s chairman Fr Sam Ata to raise questions as to whether police will still be allowed to participate in any future hearings or not.


Fr.Ata said that such actions by the police were uncalled for as it undermines the trust that people have with TRC.

The actions by the police in arresting wanted man, Samson leketo, has led to TRC having to abort the hearing as other participants had refused to participate in the hearing.

TSI probes Ministry over scholarships

BY BRIAN LEZUTUNI

ALTHOUGH IT has no judicial power to prosecute, Transparency Solomon Islands (TSI) is keen on playing it’s role as a watchdog agency over the latest Taiwan Scholarship issue.

 TSI Chairman, Bob Pollard told Island Sun that they will be asking the questions to the Ministry of Education to ascertain whether the allocation of ROC scholarships were free and fair.


Mr. Polllard said the TSI’s General Secretary and his staff are working on asking the questions.

“As in any situation we would like to ensure that allocation of resources is done in a transparent manner, free from corruption.

The chairman played down recent media article suggesting an investigation by TSI, saying the statement by the TSI General Secretary was taken out of context.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has raised serious concern over the manner in which recipients of the Republic of China (ROC) sponsored scholarship are selected.

A Ministry official said they are finding it very frustrating administering this scholarship scheme.

“Every year when we meet to determine who should be awarded the scholarships on merit, ROC would in turn produce to us its list of candidates to be recipient of the scholarship.

“From history the recipients will always be in favour of children of Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament and senior Public Servants,” the official said.

However the ROC Embassy said it is not responsible for the selection of applicants to undertake studies under its scholarship.

In a statement, a senior embassy staff said the National Training Unit (NTU) within the Ministry of Education and Human Resource is responsible body for selecting the students.

The spokesperson said from an enquiry made at the NTU office, they were told that only two children belonged to MPs and not eight as previously stated in the media.

The students will be studying Mandarin language and pursuing undergraduate degrees in Taiwan, starting from early September 2011.

This includes one year of Mandarin language course and another four years of bachelor degree study.

SIG Not Aggressive

BY RICHARD TOKE

THE GOVERNMENT is doing very little or nothing at all to entice locals to be recruited as part of the workforce to be employed under the Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) scheme in New Zealand.

Statistics produced by New Zealand's Department of Labour has revealed that some countries – such as Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu – had their worker numbers increased remarkably this year, a result of both the marketing by regional governments and growing understanding and friendship between New Zealand employers and the community.

Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) National Manager, Emily Fabling said Kiribatii, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu Governments have embarked on a massive promotion to hire workers for the farms and orchards in New Zealand.

Records have shown that for the past three years, neighbouring Vanuatu with a far less population to Solomon Islands has sent a total of 6,831 seasonal workers to Zealand where as Solomon Islands can only manage 819 workers for the same period.

A worker is paid NZD$13 or SBD$65 an hour and some return to the islands after completing their term with amounts varying from NZD$1,000 (SBD$5,000) to NZD$16,000 (SBD$80,000).

Ms Fabling said Solomon Islands may be disadvantaged because of no direct flights to New Zealand and the huge cost of airfare involved but said countries like Kiribati still did reasonaly okay because of the suport rendered to them.

Sometimes New Zealand employers decide where and who to recruit in the Pacific island countries, but the Labour Department visited these employers and the workers regularly as part of their audit programmes.

Meanwhile there are a total of 72 overstayers since RSE was introduced four years ago.

Fabling could not say how many from each island, but said it was advisable for these workers to depart voluntarily rather than be deported.





Monday, February 23, 2009

Economy


GUADALCANAL COMMUNITIES BENEFIT FROM RICE PROJECT

BY BRIAN LEZUTUNI

Two Communities from the Guadalcanal Plains have benefited positively from rice projects implemented as part of the National Governments Rice Programme.
Bora and Sape communities marked the achievement last Friday marked the occasion by celebrating their first harvest at the Guadalcanal Plains area.
The Rice Projects funded through the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Rice Programme with assistance from the Taiwan Technical Mission is among ones aimed at decreasing Solomon Islands reliance on imported rice which is an economic drain to the country.
Speaking during a ceremony marking the event Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Hon Selwyn Riumana told those gathered rice import from the end of last year’s financial reading stands at $200 Million dollars with no prospect for improvement this year.
“However with such prospect in sight, growing rice locally can be seen as a way to counter for the huge loss suffered on its import.
“I am encouraged to see that more farmers are interested in the CNURA governments National Rice Programme, and we will continue to support to involve in such worthwhile form of development,” he added.
Hon Riumana said this year the National Rice Programme would be enhanced with a total allocation of $50 million for its implementation.
He thanked the Government of the Republic of China through its Taiwan Technical Mission for assisting the Ministry in implementing the project.
PANGA WANTS END TO LAND DISPUTE

BY BRIAN LEZUTUNI

Premier of Gudalcanal Province Stephen Panga has called on people of the Guadalcanal Plains to do away with land dispute as a way to further agricultural opportunities for the province.
Premier Panga when speaking at programme to mark first harvest of the Bore and Sape Communities Rice Farm spoke out against ongoing land disputes in the area.
He said the Plains with its huge landmass is an ideal place by which agricultural opportunities such as rice farming can be utilized to its full potential.
“Rice farming is a new development initiative and landowners should seize the opportunity and involve heavily in it.
“All in all the development of the Agricultural sector within the country is important if the country is to go forward in improving its economical outlook,” he added.
Hon Panga congratulated communities of Sape and Bore for involving in Rice farming challenging others to follow suit and encouraged them to work closely with stakeholders like the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and ROC through its Taiwan Technical Mission.
“Working closely with them would enable more opportunities for communities to benefit from such project,” he added.