OCTA – Pacific Island Country trade officials will meet in Vanuatu to negotiate a new comprehensive regional trade agreement that will deepen economic links in the Pacific. The tenth inter-sessional meeting on the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus negotiations will be held from 22-27 March at the Pacifik Farea Convention Centre at…
The Chair of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), Michael Forrest, Permanent Secretary of the FLNKS External Unit officially opened the two-day MSG Senior Officials Meeting which ended yesterday at the MSG Secretariat in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Mr Forrest welcomed senior officials from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu…
RNZI – The government in Vanuatu says it’s looking for partners to help modernise the state broadcaster, and fix radio transmission problems to the outer-islands. Communities rely on the radio broadcast of cyclone warnings during cyclone season. Worries have been raised over the on-going failure of the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (VBTC) to transmit…
THE City by-law on street vending of betel-nut and cigarette seem to not adhere to despite stringent measure carried out by the Honiara City Council Law Enforcement Division. Street vendors were seen at various street corners whenever law enforcers were not around. Many have ended up in court and were fined, but the practice of…
TWO officials at the National Training Unit (NTU) have been suspended last November after their fraudulent dealings with students studying at the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) were uncovered. They reportedly forged the signature of the permanent secretary on award letters they supplied to students on the premise the students will be sponsored by the…
A GIRL whose skeletal remains were found by students on a picnic trip in the upper Mataniko area in 2012 was killed on the Tuvaruhu hill top, the High Court heard on Wednesday. Flora Akwai’s boyfriend allegedly stabbed her with a knife, knocked her head with a stone, before rolling the body down the hill.…
THE leader of the Parliamentary Independent Group, Manasseh Maelanga, has called on the government to give due respect to post holders established under the national constitution. Mr Maelanga made the call in light of the recent appointments of political appointees by the Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) government. He said the appointments of the political…
PRIME Minister Manasseh Sogavare has described the Opposition Leader’s statement calling on him to justify an unconfirmed list of political appointees of his Democratic Coalition for Change Government as “unethical”. Mr Sogavare said he is stunned that the former diplomat and permanent secretary had seen it proper to render his criticism against the government on…
POLICE are urged to immediately dispatch a team to Rennell Island to investigate allegation of harassment perpetuated by Bingtang Mining Group, whose prospecting licence was recently revoked by the Mining Board and the Minister responsible for Mines. A villager Malcolm Sau at the mining site at Lavaku Bay has described the situation as tense; as…
THE by-election for ward 2, Rennell Bellona Province is scheduled for next month. Premier Collin Suatai Singamoa said the schedule was set after confirmation of budget for the election. Mr Singamoa said preparation for the by-election has been made but the delay was due to political issues faced by the assembly. He refused to comment…