ABC: For the first time in four years, Member of Parliament (MP) will be required to pay tax on their salaries. Solomon Islands’ Parliamentary Entitlements Commission (PEC) will be gazetting the new regulations on April 1 to remove, tax exemptions that were granted in 2015. Commission Chairman Johnson Siapu has confirmed the changes with ABC,…
CONTESTING candidate for West Honiara Constituency John Kwaita says one of the two main focus he has for West Honiara is to address the land issues in West Honiara. Kwaita said currently West Honiara faces more challenges in terms of land compared to other two constituencies with probably the most populated. “We have Kakabona and…
DOUGLAS Kimi who is the Government Statistician is now the new 2019 National Census Commissioner. Caretaker Prime Minister Rick Hou officially announced this on Monday as the country is heading towards the next National Census in November. He said the announcement was made in accordance to the Census Act (Chapter 53). “I now invoke Section…
CARETAKER Prime Minister Rick Hou has announced that a total of 1,041 polling stations will be set up across the country for the April 3 polls. Hou made this announcement during his final press conference as a caretaker PM in Honiara on Tuesday “Details of the polling stations will be published in the newspapers this…
LEADER of United Party (UP) Peter Kenilorea Junior says the 2019 National General Election is a crucial one for Solomon Islands given the first election to be held after RAMSI’s departure. Kenilorea highlighted this during the launching of his counterpart Party candidate for West Honiara John Kwaita on Sunday. “Every elections is important but the…
THE former permanent secretary for the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID), Henry Murray will be sentenced on March 29. This followed the sentencing submissions and mitigation made on his case on Monday in the Honiara Magistrates’ Court. Murray was convicted last year of defrauding the government of more than 700, 000. He was found guilty…
THE witness in the fraud trial of the outgoing MP for Savo/Russell Constituency, Dickson Mua, is a foreign national. The witness is Albert Wong, owner of Honiara-based Oceanic Marine Ltd. Director of Public Prosecutions, Ronald Bei Talasasa said this is what is important for our citizens to understand. Talasasa made this clarification after he noticed…
Caretaker PM confident of securing seat By ANDREW FANASIA CARETAKER Prime Minister Rick Hou says he’s confident of securing his Small Malaita seat and returning for a third term in Parliament. Hou expressed his confidence in his final press conference as prime minister with reporters, Tuesday. He’s leaving office this week to concentrate on his…
CASE ENDS SUDDENLY By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN THE long-running case of one of the first persons to be charged in connection with the $10 million scandal in the Ministry of Health and Medical Services has come to a sudden end. This was after accused John Biliki, who faces 15 counts of false pretence and 15 counts…
Former PM stripped of knighthood title Former Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza has already lost the knighthood title he was awarded in 2001 and should not be referred to as “Sir Allan” again. The Government House clarified this on Saturday, following recent references by the media to Kemakeza as “Sir Allan”. “Following the revocation of the…