Hou blasts $3.7M bill

Government not compel to pay compensation Member of Parliament (MP) for South Malaita Rick Hou has condemned recent Cabinet’s endorsement for $3.7 million to compensate Sun Express for the damages and boat hiring to Mbike Island, on the days before the election victory by the DCC government. In an exclusive interview with the former Finance…

Council extends REP project

Honiara City Council (HCC) has extended the Rapid Employment Project (REP) for another five years with the World Bank. The decision was made after the full council meeting last week. This was confirmed by the deputy City Mayor Eddie Ngava. “After our meeting last week, we come up with a resolution to extend another five…

Independent Group welcomes AG appointment

THE Independent Leaders has thanked the Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) Government on the declaration of the new Attorney General (AG) which was announced last month. Speaking to members of the local media in a press conference on Monday, the leader of the independent group Manasseh Maelanga acknowledged the government for finally announcing the new…

Australia supports damage assessment

Australia will support the deployment of provincial assessment teams following cyclone Raquel. A statement from the Australian High Commission office in Honiara said, the teams will assess the level of damage to households, livelihoods and infrastructure caused by the cyclone. “Australia is very pleased to support the deployment of provincial assessment teams, as a crucial…

‘Get rid of underperformed PAs’

THE Government must get rid of its underperformed Political Appointees (PA) says the leader of the parliamentary Independent Group, Manasseh Maelanga. He highlighted this when speaking to members of the media in a press conference early this week. Mr Maelanga made the call after hearing reports in the media previously that some political appointees are…

Tasiu murder suspect to enter plea

The man facing the murder of a member of the Melanesian Brotherhood in north-west Guadalcanal last year is likely to enter his plea, July 20. Maelyn Bird of Emerald Lawyers who represents Francis Au confirmed yesterday her client will possibly take his plea on the next court date. She also added that the defence would…

Group demands payment explanation

THE PARLIAMENTARY Independent group has demanded the DCC Government to explain why they are using $3.7 million dollars of tax-payers money as compensation payment to MV Sun Express. Leader of the Independent group, Manasseh Maelanga made the request during a press conference with members of the local media at his office. “I have just heard…

Undersea cable to be sourced from Sydney

The undersea cable project proposed for Solomon Islands will have its source from Sydney in Australia, where it can support high speed communications for over 70% of the Solomon Islands population, says the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Solomons Oceanic Cable Company Robin Russell. Confirming this to the Solomon Star yesterday Mr Russell stated that…