Gov’t officer faces fraud charges

A PUBLIC officer accused of obtaining more than $40,000 from two men under false pretence will return to court on September 9. Frank Sade Bilau faces 14 counts of false pretence. He was brought to the Honiara Magistrate Court on Tuesday evening for remand but his lawyer successfully applied for bail. Principal Magistrate Shepherd Lapo…

High Commission refutes claims it misuse funds

SOLOMON Islands High Commission in Papua New Guinea has denied accusations it misused funds the government sent for student allowances. The High Commission’s counsellor William Soaki said the claims some students levelled at their office were slanderous and portrays a negative image of the diplomatic mission. Students studying at Divine Word University in Madang alleged…

Missing bech-de-mer remains a mystery

IT has been a year now, the missing $10 million worth of stolen beche-demer remains a mystery. East Choiseul MP Mannaseh Sogavare in his supplementary question in Parliament yesterday asked the Minister of Fisheries Alfred Ghiro of the whereabouts of the consignment but received no hint. Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo in response said the…

Work on Honiara road to start late next year

WORK on the Kukum Highway Upgrading Project is expected to start late next year. That’s according to Dr Nobuyuki Tsuneoka, senior adviser to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is managing the project. Japan is funding the multi-million dollar road project, which will see the upgrading of the three kilometre road from Honiara City Council…

Taiwan release $13.5m to gov’t

TAIWAN Tuesday released $13.5 million to the government for the second payment of the 2014 Constituency Development Fund. Ambassador Victor Te-Sun Yu handed the funds to Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo. There are three annual installments of payments for 2014 Taiwan funding, which is composed of the Support to Constituency Development (RSCD), Constituency Micro-Project Fund…

Gov’t seeks extra $187m

THE Minister of Finance and Treasury, Rick Hou has introduced the 2014 Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill 2014 in Parliament on Wednesday. The Bill is to appropriate an additional $187.8 million to the service of the year ending 31st December 2014. Introducing the Bill, Mr Hou said, as a Government it has to ensure that respect…