Last week, with many others I attended the funeral service of Fr John Lamani. It always comes as a shock when someone you know dies.

I would like to raise some important aspects of the ‘Outcome-Base Curriculum’ or Outcome Base Education (OBE).

The belief by some Rennellese that logging will make them rich is really a joke. The truth is logging will not only going to destroy Rennell biodiversity, but it will also cause huge financial loss to the people in terms of hewing their logs and the destruction of the environment.

There might be merits in OBE but what concern me most was the lack of consultation and proper debate on OBE and the speed at which it was introduced. OBE will affect the future of Solomon Islands in a drastic way, either for good or for worse.

THE Leadership Code Commission urgently needs to be reformed.

It can choose to be transparent and reveal all or wait for the legal challenge or a Commission of Enquiry, or both, to unravel its callous handling of the Members' Fund. 

The aid sector gasped this week at the news that the Australian government would divert $375 million of foreign aid away from helping the world's poorest people towards meeting the costs of supporting asylum seekers in Australia. This decision, perversely, makes Australia the third largest recipient of Australian aid.

Australian Aid at all destinations should be reviewed, perhaps through a Royal Commission.

I THINK that the prime minister's intention to sue the Solomon Star and the Forum Solomon Islands International (FSII) for the publication of allegations of sex scandal will be personally and politically detrimental to him.

Christians in the early church, those whose doctrine included the life and example of Jesus, that of his birth, his manhood, his passion, his crucifixion, death and burial and his resurrection and ascension, Lent is an important part of their faith and practice.