Solomon Islands News - Be the First to Know, Participate | Honiara Local Time: Friday, 16 November 2018 5:51 AM
Dr Derek Sikua is proving to be a strong, confident, honest and loyal servant of the peoples of the Solomon Islands.
The world is watching this Bill and the international investment community is hoping Dr Sikau will get this Bill thru.
It is a very robust Bill that will provide political stability and one that is sorely needed to provide confidence to international investors.
If there was ever a moment in Solomon Islands history to be celebrated it would be the passing of such a bill.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this letter/article are those of Richard Maye and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Solomon Times Online.
Solomon Islands News - Be the First to Know, Participate | Honiara Local Time: Friday, 16 November 2018 6:47 AM
The government should turn to the Prerogative of Mercy in its efforts to allow former Prime Minister Sir Allan Kemakeza time instead of using the Parliament.
Honiara businessman, Ferris Fera, raised the suggestion following a motion moved yesterday by the Prime Minister Dr Derek Sikua seeking approval to delay the time for which the Parliamentary seat of former prime minister Sir Allan Kemakeza is declared vacant, until such time the Court of Appeal decides on his conviction.
Dr. Sikua said Sir Allan has done a lot for the country and it is fitting that Parliament accord him the opportunity to pursue his appeal.
But Mr. Fera says Solomon Islanders will see this as an effort by the Parliament to interfere into the activities of the judiciary.
He says it will also set a bad precedence because it will allow MPs who have committed crimes to continue lodging appeals to enable continuation of their Parliamentary entitlements, even when they serve prison terms.
Mr. Fera says government has all the reason and powers to recommend to the Prerogative of mercy to pardon the former prime minister for the reason stated in Parliament by the Prime Minister when he moved the motion.
He says many Solomon islanders will see that with these Parliamentary standing orders, MPs are above the law unlike ordinary Solomon Islanders.
Mr. Fera says this is why he had suggested to the Constitution Reform team that the Opposition should have a good number of MPs to oppose such motions.
He says as it is, the Opposition is not in any position to oppose such bills because it does not have the number and the government knows that it can push through any bill or motion as it likes.
Solomon Islands News - Be the First to Know, Participate | Honiara Local Time: Friday, 16 November 2018 5:47 AM
Twenty five police officers are attending an intelligence course conducted at the police academy at the Police Headquarter starting today.
Commissioner of Police, Peter Marshall, said the course was designed to train police officers involved in investigations within units such as the CID and the Intelligence Unit of the Royal Solomon Islands Police force.
He said trainers for the two weeks course are qualified overseas facilitators provided under the assistance of RAMSI.
Commissioner Marshall said such training will improve the capability of the officers in dealing with situations happening in the country.
"The organization wants to improve and educate the officers because as time goes by, things that happen in the country becoming harder and worse and as people who are responsible for the security of the country, police officers have to be trained to further their understanding and get new ideas on those matters as they may arise in the future."
He adds that such training will build on the confidence of officers to serve the people in the communities within Solomon Islands.
Eight countries in the region have taken the important step of banning foreign fishing vessels from two zones in an effort to combat over-fishing.
According to Greenpeace, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu have all come together in a new agreement.
The agreement states that firstly, these countries will ban 'foreign fishing vessels licensed to fish in their waters from fishing in two regions of the Pacific Commons adjacent to them'.
Secondly, it also 'requires foreign fishing vessels to retain their full catches'. This means that it will 'cut the time fishing boats spend at sea and the amount of tuna they catch' as 'at present they throw away non-tuna species to make room in their holds for the more valuable catch'.
'Fish aggregation devices (used to attract juvenile bigeye and yellowfin tuna) will be banned in these countries' waters for three months of the year. This conservation measure will discourage harvesting of these highly migratory species'.
According to a report by the Telegraph (Telegraph.co.uk), the two fishing-free zones will be firstly, between Papua New Guinea and Palau and the second 'bounded by PNG, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, the Solomon Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia'.
However, the Telegraph reports that the Pacific 'holds the last relatively robust populations of tuna and provides half the tuna consumed globally' but 'the fish are under threat from Asian fishing fleets which have exhausted their own waters. European boats are also turning to the Pacific, as Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks dwindle as a result of a decade of over-fishing'.
Concern has also been raised with regards to how these new rules will be implemented especially by countries who largely depend on aid, especially from neighbours Australia and New Zealand.
But the fact still remains that this is a major step in preserving the region's marine resources, which like any other resource, can be depleted with overuse.
And of course, completely banning fishing in the region is not a solution as it must not be forgotten that many countries in the region depend on fisheries for income and the fisheries sector also provides employment.