Tovosia, Veke case resumes Monday

THE cases of the Member of Parliament for East Guadalcanal Bradley Tovosia and Guadalcanal Premier Anthony Veke will resume at the Honiara Magistrates’ Court on Monday. The court will know on that day as to whether or not the trial will proceed. The trial depends entirely on the availability of all the defence counsels, including…

Report it

LCC has powers to probe unexplained wealth: Kalu PUBLIC servants possessing unexplained wealth that are far beyond their incomes can be reported to the Leadership Code Commission (LCC) for proper investigation. LCC chairman Solomon Kalu clarified this in the wake of claims certain public servants are enriching themselves through dishonest allocations of government contracts. “The…

Students safe

But they wanted to return home SOLOMON Islands students studying at University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) were evacuated from the university campus on Wednesday to a hotel after police opened fire on protesting students. And they told the Solomon Star although none of them took part in the protest or was injured in the…

PS clarifies concerns on franchise shipping

Ministry of Infrastructure and Development (MID) Permanent Secretary, Henry Murray has clarified to calls to give new shipping company’s a chance under the Franchise Shipping Services (FSS). Concern has been raised on the vessel Vatud Star, be given equal chance to operate under the franchise shipping arrangement. Vatud Star is owned by Vatud constituency in…

Lad to Buckingham for award

NOLAN Salmon Parairua will travel to Buckingham Palace in England next Wednesday to receive an award from the Queen for his leadership role. Parairua, 26 years, is among eight Pacific Islanders who will receive the awards. They are among 60 young people from around the Commonwealth to receive a Queen’s Young Leaders Award. The winners…

SI needs to encourage investment

The Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce (SICCI), the peak body representing the private sector in the country, refutes claims that overseas investment should be discouraged in the country. Solomon Island needs investment from abroad as well as encouraging domestic investments to flourish. SICCI in a statement yesterday said, like other developing and small island states,…

PSC takes tough stance on tender accountability

THE Public Service Commission is expecting details of procurements from Permanent Secretaries in their annual performance this year. This is the result of complaints in media over the widespread irregularities in government tender processes. It was claimed that there was Paper Company middlemen who submit highly inflated quotes and then use genuine suppliers to actually…

PSs briefed on state of economy

PERMANENT Secretaries have been informed on the importance of procurement management and the status of the economy at Mendana Hotel on Wednesday. Ministry of Finance and Treasury and Public Service Commission organised the one day meeting to discuss the issues with the PSs. Finance permanent secretary, Harry Kuma said procurement is important because it leads…

Opposition: intervention timely

THE Parliamentary Opposition Office applauds the government for quickly resolving the Solomon Airlines issue. But the Opposition Office maintains that the government’s intervention into airlines is only proper as government owes the airlines millions of dollars as well. “As the largest creditor of the Solomon Airlines it’s only proper that the government intervenes to allow…

Doctors trained in spinal surgery

ORTHOPAEDIC doctors in the Pacific region were recently trained on how to conduct spinal surgery in Honiara. This was piloted by the Pacific Islands Orthopaedic Association (PIOA) in training doctors from six Pacific Island countries at the National Referral Hospital. Students come from Kiribati, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, and Solomon Islands.…