Solomon Star News

WOMEN selling second-hand and sewn clothes at the Honiara central market refused to back down despite a ban for them to stop by the end of October.

The Honiara City council (HCC) has warned the women in August that they have until the end of October to sell second-hand and sewn clothes at the market.

The market head mistress Martha Horiwapu earlier said by October end, the business must be stopped and that she would write a letter to remind the women.

One of the women at the market yesterday said they did not receive any letter therefore will continue because it is their only form of income.   

The Solomon Star visited the market yesterday and questioned the HCC why they failed to execute their plan.

“They should stop selling clothes now, but I think we will have to wait for the head mistress,” one officer told the Solomon Star.

He said the market head mistress is away in Fiji.

Under council market regulations, second-hand clothes and other retail products are banned from being sold at the market.

By TRIXIE CARTER

THE recent fishing access agreement signed between the Ministry of Fisheries and Korea has increased its value to $16 million, minister Alfred Giro says.

In an exclusive interview with Solomon Star, Mr Giro said this was a substantial increase from last year’s agreement.

 “We believe we have set an increased benchmark rate for our Vessel Day Scheme(VDS) as set out by Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) at a minimum rate of US$5000 (SBD$35,500).

But Mr Ghiro declined to release the exact figures of the increased VDS rate agreed upon at the recent talks with Korea.

“We don’t want to disclose the amount since we are yet to negotiate with other fishing nations like New Zealand, Japan and Taiwan,” he said.

Asked whether the $40 million access agreement signed with Korea truly reflects the value of our tuna, the minister said “not really”.

“This value is only for one particular country and does not really reflect the true value of our tuna.

“A combination of other bilateral access agreements could reflect on the value when all the values combined.”

When asked what the total number of fishing efforts the country has for the past year and this year, Mr Giro said last year the country has over 2700 VDS and that had increased to over 3,000 this year.

“This is a good indication as the country continues to show improvement in its fisheries sector and had gained more VDS, which will really benefit the country to maximise its tuna value,” he said.

In simple calculations, since the minimum VDS rate is US$5, 000, the country should be earning estimated revenue of SBD$90m (US$13.5m) last year alone.

And this year the country should expect to earn SBD$106m (US$15m).

An amount that is expected to increase further since the ministry has confirmed it has increased its minimum VDS rate above the minimum rate put out by PNA of US$5,000.

But the Solomon Star understands the ministry is charging different VDS rates for different fishing nations above the minimum rate.

By ANIEL NAMOSUAIA

AN applicant for the Japanese funded Solar Project under the Ministry of Mines and Energy questions when names of successful applicants will be announced.

The applicant, who wanted his name withheld for fear of being dropped, said under the project, there are 2000 home solar systems for rural electrification.

The man said he understands that the items already arrived in the country but the Ministry is yet to confirm recipients.

“We need to know the result because it has been quite a while now since applications were submitted.

He said recipients also need enough time to look for money to meet the $1,960 installation fee.

When contacted, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Mines and Energy confirmed that the solar sets have already arrived.

He said applicants have already been identified and they will be notified through the local media soon.

The officer said they decided to sort out the items before putting out names of the successful applicants.

“We want all things to be ready so that transporting of materials will be done soon after we announce the successful applicants.”

He added that recipients despite the short notice can still have time to look for installation fees because there will be a grace period given to allow them to look for the money.

The officer stressed that they wanted the distribution and installation to be properly done.

“These solar sets comes with 120 watts panels which costs around $10,000, thus should be properly managed.”

By JENNIFER KAKAI

PRIME Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says the opening yesterday of the new Kabui jetty in Honiara was a clear demonstration of a public and private sector partnership.

The jetty, named after the Solomon Islands Ports Authority’s longest serving general manager, Ngenomea Kabui, will enable South Seas Investment Ltd of Taiwan to off-load its catches for onshore processing, as required by the Government, before it is exported.

Mr Lilo said NCRA’s shift of policy was to ensure there was sustainable harvesting of the country’s tuna resources and to maximise profit.

The new policy states that all long line license holders are required to off-load their catches in the country whilst companies that do not own factories are required under law to supply their catches to Soltai.

The opening of the jetty was a land-mark event for the Taiwanese fishing company which has already started exporting loin tuna to Japan as of June this year.

Mr Lilo said the use of the jetty by South Seas Investment Ltd to land its catches for processing before exporting the value added items was a great leap in this industry and the country’s economy.

He said with the availability of wharf, companies will be more confident in investing in on-shore processing activities as well as creating the much needed job opportunities for Solomon Islanders.

According to the Prime Minister the jetty will be crucial in the facilitation of national and international trade given the fact that there will be increased capacity to deal with the tuna market domestically and globally.

He also pointed to the fact there was an increase in export revenue on fish in the past twelve month and there was 100 per cent increase in fish transshipment at Noro Port during the same period.

Meanwhile Mr Lilo said that the Kabui jetty is also a symbol of the Solomon Islands-Taiwan cordial relationship that has continued to grow from strength to strength and gaining new heights.

The Prime Minister also commended the Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) for building the important infrastructure as it complements government’s efforts to address the critical shortage in the infrastructure sector.

PRIME Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo yesterday commended the Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) for successfully opening another jetty.

Speaking during the official opening of a new Kabui jetty, Mr Lilo said the achievement complemented the government’s efforts to addressing the critical shortage in the infrastructure sector.

Solomon Islands Ports Authority Chief Executive Officer William Barile said the achievement adds to the continuous efforts and goals of SIPA nationally, regionally and internationally.

“SIPA had achieved many goals over the years nationally, regionally and internationally; and they would like to keep it consistent that way.

“This is despite the many challenges of the day to day operations,” Mr Barile said.

He said SIPA is working on its master plan in areas of administration and operations to ensure continuous developments in the years to come are achieved.

He added the plans were in line with successive government policies as sole partners in development.

“We would like to be responsible in implementation of policies and frameworks on our specialties on a consistent manner despite changing of regimes.”

Mr Barile said the achievement was significant in the partnership that SIPA has with the South Sea Investment Limited in building the Kabui jetty.

He expressed appreciation to the contractors and the engineers for the commitment and dedication which resulted in the completion of the jetty.

“This is a reflection of the entrepreneurship that the Ports Authority has in its capacity, having local experts in the area of engineering,” he said.

By BRADFORD THEONOMI