An appeal to Gov’t

Dear Editor – The website www.solomonislandsinfocus.com which I established just two months ago to support the Solomon Islands and to try to aid charitable causes has had a wide local and international following and prompted a good deal of feedback from people of all backgrounds and social status in the Solomon Islands in particular. The…

Composition of PEC

Dear Editor – The Parliamentary Entitlements Commission (PEC) would like to briefly respond and clarify some incorrect statements made by the Solomon Star regarding PEC Membership as published in its newspaper issue # 5798 of Friday 17th April, 2015. Firstly, the Chairman of PEC is NOT a politician as stated in the report. The truth…

Sub-regional hub needed to tackle child labour

Child labour and trafficking is a cross-cutting issue in the Pacific Islands that needs a sub-regional hub to seriously look into and find ways of addressing the issue. International Labour Organisation sub-regional director David Lamotte highlighted this at the close of an ILO sub-regional Child Labour and Trafficking in Nadi, Fiji, Friday.  “We all want…

Women here participate in Nadi forum

Two Solomon Islands women participated in a round-table community Radio discussion in Nadi, Fiji, last week. The discussions centred on various sustainable development goals. Stella from Voice Blo Mere and Sr. Sesilia Sala, Director of Catholic Communication, were the voice for the women of the Solomon Islands through the work they do in their respective…

New footage shows Indonesia atrocities

New video footage showing the bloody aftermath of the Paniai massacre in West Papua highlights the urgent need for Indonesia to hold an independent and transparent investigation into the tragedy, says Minority Rights Group International (MRG). In December 2014, four unarmed Papuan teenagers were killed and 17 more Papuans were injured when the Indonesian army…

Except for one thing

Water woes for Kobito residents   Residents of Kobito 1, 2, and 3 and Gilbert Camp on the outskirts of east Honiara have almost everything basic things they need in life. Except for one important commodity – clean piped water in their homes. This is not a new problem though. Handy Saelea, 27, a resident…