ABG passes bill to fund priority projects

The Autonomous Bougainville Government passed a Bill on Friday to authorise expenditure from the Special Intervention Fund Trust Account to implement a range of priority projects. The fund is a grant for ABG which the Government appropriated, K200 million (US$73 million) for last year and this year under its K500 million (US$184 million) a year…

Are they still in touch? PM, DEPUTY OUT OF TOWN

PRIME Minister Lilo and his deputy Manasseh Maelanga silently left Honiara yesterday to their respective provinces, resulting in the cancellation of a planned joint press conference with visiting Australian justice minister Michael Keenan. Mr Lilo travelled out to the Western Province to attend the funeral of the founder of the Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) Sir…

A scandal that must end

Solomon Islanders have every right to demand the removal of constituency development funds from their Members of Parliament. It’s becoming clear as day that the millions of dollars channeled through the MPs each year have not be used for their intended purpose. The result is the lack of development in the rural areas. Central Bank…

Economic empowerment for Gizo women

Women on Gizo Island, Western province are in a better position to improve their economic status following the set-up of a women’s saving scheme in the Gizo township. Established in November of last year, the Gizo Environment Livelihood Governance Association (GELCA) women’s saving club was developed as the micro-finance component of the Inshore Fish Aggregating…

Former officer to be re-sentenced

A FORMER police officer will be re-sentenced in the Honiara Magistrate Courts after successfully appealing his sentence. Ubaldo Tiva was sentenced in 2010 for one count of reckless and dangerous driving and careless driving. The court has imposed a total fine of $1,500 in default of two months, twenty days. His driving licence was also…

Language difficulty delays larceny case

NO further progress has been made so far on the case of the two Chinese nationals facing larceny charges. This was because they have no interpreters to translate the court proceedings or for the prosecutors or lawyers to get instructions from them. Xu Jie Ping (fmale) and Zhau Zhen Wei (male) could only speak and…

Police arrest second murder suspect

POLICE at Tetere, northeast Guadalcanal, arrested a second suspect in relation to a murder incident at Dudula at Tasimboko area in 2011. An off duty police officer spotted the accused working on the palm oil farm yesterday morning, when he quickly alerted the Guadalcanal Police headquarters which led to his arrest. The accused saw police…

Taiwanese to face court again June 17

A TAIWANESE national accused of attempting to export tubi logs out of the country will face the court again on June 17. This is for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to serve his lawyer with the disclosures. Hsieh Chen Chin Fu was charged with one count of attempted export of prohibited goods.…

Torn Parachute here on business

BRISBANE-BASED video and photo production company, Torn Parachute, arrived Monday this week to kick start a number of local projects.  The three-man team comprised of Karl & Andrew Bouro and Sapati Gautusa. One of the important undertakings that the three-man production team will fulfil during their time here is the implementation of a joint effort…

beMobile introduces 3G here

BEMOBILE yesterday announced its 3G service is now operational. Chief executive officer Niall Downey relayed the news to the media. He said mobile subscribers with smarts phones can now access their 3G service. “Our 3G service is now operational in Honiara. So our subscribers who have smart phones can now access it,” Mr Downey said.…