Don’t expect much from gov’t, says Kwaiga

MALAITA Province should not expect the national government to deliver any of the big projects it promised the province, this year. That’s according to Malaita Provincial Assembly ward seven member Leslie Kwaiga. “The budgetary provisions under the national budget did not make any remarkable changes at all,” Mr Kwaiga said. “The provisions remained the same…

City by-election Feb 29

HONIARA City Council will conduct a by-election for Vohukesa Ward on February 29. This is to elect a new councilor to replace Jack IgiMaeli, who passed away late last year. City clerk Charles Kelly confirmed the date. I would like to publicly announce that the date for the Vohukesa ward by-election He said the Ministry…

PM shown samples of new e-passport

PRIME Minister Manasseh Sogavare and the Minister for Commerce, Industries, Labour and Immigration Elijah Doromuala were on Friday shown samples of Solomon Islands electronic passports and given a demo on how electronic passports are produced by the IRIS Group contracted to produce electronic passports for the country. The IRIS Group is a Malaysian company, which…

New schools established

THE Ministry of Education and Human Resources has created another 34 schools to accommodate an estimated 630 students this year. This includes 18 schools to accommodate Form 1, 10 schools for Form 4 and six schools for Form 6. Director of Teaching and Learning Department, Linda Wate said this will create more spaces to accommodate…

Gov’t approves more scholarships

THE Government approved additional pre-service and in-service scholarships that will cater for more than 300 students who missed out in the initial awards due to lack of funding. The decision will ensure more Solomon Islanders undertake tertiary studies at the Solomon Islands National University and Pacific regional institutions. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made the announcement…

New report: need to address inequality

A NEW report published by the Equal Rights Trust exposes the extent of discrimination and inequality experienced by groups including women; persons with disabilities; lesbian, gay and bisexual persons; and persons living with HIV in Solomon Islands. Stand Up and Fight: Addressing Discrimination and Inequality in Solomon Islands also concludes that a tendency for people…

Big drop out

Only few students make it to form 7 due to lack of space ONLY 663 students of the 2,875 who sat for the Solomon Islands National Form Six Certificate exams last year are able to make it to form 7 this year. The other 2,212 students dropped out due to lack of space. Director of…