Why homes were burned

THE burning of homes at Windy Ridge, central Guadalcanal, last Sunday, was retaliation to an earlier attack by youths from the area. Taxi driver Patkin Rere from Malango said youths from Windy Ridge attacked his car early Sunday when returning from Honiara to his village. “They’ve actually set up a road block near their settlement,”…

Veke dismisses claims

GUADALCANAL premier Anthony Veke says the provincial government has nothing to do with last Sunday’s burning of homes in the Windy Ridge area, central Guadalcanal. At least five homes were set alight during the incident, leaving women and children homeless. Mr Veke said his government does not have anything to do with the incident, and…

Malaita tribe supports call

KWANA’AI Tribe Board of Trustees (KBT) from north Malaita has thrown its support behind the call from the Guadalcanal provincial government to address squatter settlement in provincial territories. KBT spokesman Lency Wanefalea said his tribe supported the call. Mr Wanefalea said the concern voiced by the Guadalcanal Provincial Government Premier over the squatter issue on…

Churches told to tackle violence

FAITH and gender specialist, Maclean Dlodlo, is encouraging church leaders to take the lead in promoting equitable relations and gender-based violence reduction. Maclean, a Zimbabwean based in South Africa, will arrive here today ahead of opening of the Channels of Hope for Gender, Church and Partnership Conference at the Mendana hotel on Monday. Maclean was…

Why the delays

Police chief clarifies corruption probes POLICE Commissioner Frank Prendergast says there many factors that contribute to delays of investigating corruption cases. Mr Prendergast highlighted this during the Bills and Legislative Committee hearing in Parliament yesterday. The Committee was scrutinizing the Anti-Corruption Bill, which aims to combat corruption in Solomon Islands in all its forms by:…

Yow still CEO

“Sasako misleads, my passport is here” Colin Yow is still the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA). Responding to Alfred Sasako’s front page articles in the two daily newspapers yesterday, Mr Yow said Mr Sasako and “a few bunch of big business boys” has embarked on a media campaign to oust…

Justice served

Court: MPs tax-free salary unconstitutional MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) will  be no longer enjoy tax free wages after Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer threw out the award in a landmark ruling yesterday. Sir Albert declared the tax free salary and all other entitlements in Regulation 2015, which was amended and awarded to MPs by the…

Village mayhem

Homes torched, victims taken to safety POLICE were dispatched into the Windy Ridge area in central Guadalcanal after a brawl on Sunday that resulted in the torching of five family homes. Victims have been evacuated and put up in temporary shelters at the nearby Christian Care Centre at Tenaru and Nazareth Apostolic Centre (NAC) for…

Visitors arrival here in 2015 up

THE Numbers of international visitors into the country has steadily increased from January to December last year. An officially released figure from the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) last week, has confirmed. It stated that, Solomon Islands records solid visitor arrival increase for 2015 Rounding out a positive year for the Solomon Islands tourism fortunes,…

Locals safe following Japan’s quake

A SOLOMON Islands couple studying in Japan is safe following a serious of earthquake that struck last week. Edwin Koveke and Margaret Neko-Koveke are reportedly safe and well in Kumamoto. Polini and Alan McNeil told Solomon Star yesterday they have been in contact with the couple and can confirm they are safe after taking shelter…