Father to stand trial for rape

THE court has found sufficient evidence against a father accused of raping his daughter in April this year in east Guadalcanal to stand trial in the High Court. Principal Magistrate Edwin Saramo made his findings during the short form preliminary inquiry into the case of the 65-year-old father from Temotu. Michael Holara of Public Solicitor’s…

Taskforce formed to probe fraud

A TASK to investigate into allegations that it had lost millions of dollars of legally due revenue as result of fraudulent deals by logging operators and customs&exercise officials will be formed. It was a move by the current government, the Prime Ministers Office announcement on Thursday. The investigation follows revelation by former Minister of Forestry,…

Lawyer ordered to explain absence

LAWYER of one of the men accused of robbing the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) at the Kwaimani Building last year has been ordered to explain his absence from court on August 20. The matter against the three accused, Severio Sulimae, Dilo Faiga and Security Officer Joe Silas has been adjourned for a few times now…

Senseless act, community suffers

Communities in and around Burnscreek East of Honiara are currently suffering the absence of water after a disgruntled member of the community allegedly chopped off the main pipeline supplying water to most households. The action described as a senseless act was believed to have happened after the Solomon Water staff undertook the water disconnection exercise…

Gold Ridge LOs demands royalty payment

GOVERNMENT has been asked by the Gold Ridge landowners to pay their outstanding royalty without fail. In a statement, the chairman of the Gold Ridge Community & Landowners Council Dick Douglas and landowners claimed they were assured by the Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare that the royalty would be paid as soon as possible because the …

Ministers sworn-in

Three of the six Ministers reshuffled this week have taken their oath at the Government House on Thursday afternoon. They are Duddley Kopu, Augustine Auga and Jimson Tanangada. Bodo Dettke is understood to be currently overseas, Freda Tuki on constituency tour while Bartholomew Parapolo was unavailable with no reason for his absence. Government House Private…

TSI commends health procurement process

TRANSPARENCY Solomon Islands (TSI) has commended the Ministry of Health and Medical Service (MHMS) for its ambition for reform, aimed at addressing poor procurement processes that has caused devastating reputational damages to the ministry in the past. Speaking during the launching of the tender for the construction of a Pharmacy Store in Lata, Temotu Province,…

YWPG goes orange

Young Women’s Parliamentary Group (YWPG) has began its support campaign to End Violence against Women and Girls (EVAWG) starting this month. The campaign will involve members of YWPG wearing orange coloured clothing on the 25th of every month. A message has been sent out to all YWPG members on its Facebook page ahead of the…

Call to submit $500M evidence to police

THE Ministry of Forestry must do the proper thing to hand the file of hard evidence documents pointing to unaccounted government revenue of more than $500 Million in the logging industry from the period of 2008-2013, to be submitted to the police for criminal investigation and possible prosecution. Now with the public knowledge and exposure…