Loopholes in Acts need tightening, says Hou By ANDREW FANASIA The oil spill disaster at Rennell Island should prompt future governments to rectify loopholes in many of our current legislations. Caretaker Prime Minister Rick Hou admitted that this is a big lesson for his government and the future government. “This incident has demonstrated to us…
DRUGS ARE COCAINE By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN TESTS carried out in Australia on a large consignment of drugs seized from a yacht in Honiara late last year are confirmed to be cocaine. Police Commissioner Matthew Varley confirmed this to reporters, Thursday. “I can confirm for you that the testing process in Australia has been completed,” Varley said.…
BAUXITE DISASTER By CARLOS ARUAFU TWO barge-full of bauxite were thrown overboard on the day the stricken bulk carrier Solomon Trader ran aground on Rennell island. Villagers relayed this to the Solomon Star during a visit to the disaster site over the weekend. Hong Kong registered Solomon Trader was at Rennell to load bauxite from…
THE operation to salvage the grounded MV Solomon Trader to safety is being boosted with the arrival of three more international specialists from the United Kingdom and United States over the weekend. That’s according to bauxite miners Bintan Mining. The company said the specialists were immediately flown over to Rennell Island to join other salvage…
TRANSPARENCY Solomon Islands (TSI) has called for greater transparency in the National Training Committee (NTC) and National Training Unit (NTU) when awarding scholarships. It added scholarship awards must be based on merit, not preference. “Recent termination of 179 students studying in USP at Laucala Campus in Fiji is a clear manifestation of awarding scholarship to…
New Zealand (NZ) is preparing to assist Solomon Islands during the National General Election (NGE) on April 3. New Zealand High Commissioner to Solomon Islands His Excellency Don Higgins told Caretaker Prime Minister Rick Hou at a courtesy call in Honiara yesterday, the assistance will include providing helicopter services during the election and sending over…
SOLOMON Islands National University (SINU) on Monday announced its new –Chancellor. He is Dr Ganeshwar Chand. Dr Ganeshwar Chand, better known as Ganesh Chand, is a Fijian academic and former politician of Indian descent. He is a founder of the University of Fiji and serves as a trustee of the Fiji Institute of Applied Studies…
CARETAKER Prime Minister Rick Hou has met the visiting Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan, Dr Su-Chen Hsu in Honiara, Monday. The two leaders have re-affirmed the friendly relations between the two countries while also discussed areas of mutual interest that could potentially broaden existing development programmes, particularly, in the areas…
FAIR Trade Company Yard at Henderson was on fire yesterday afternoon, after a wild fire from the nearby bushes caught to a corner of its fence and razed four vehicles. It was 2 in the afternoon when the fire coming from the nearby bushes caught the corner of the fence. An eye witness said…
Oil spill affects people’s livelihood By CARLOS ARUAFU THE oil spill from the ship, Solomon Trader which was loading Bauxite at the Lughu Bay in West Rennell has had a big impact on the lives of villagers. Solomon Trader ran aground at Lughu Bay while loading bauxite during a strong wind on February 4th. A…