On 17th June 2016 Transparency Solomon Islands published an article titled “Anti-Corruption Commission may investigate allegations of corruption” and last week an article on the need for the establishment of Independent Commission Against Corruption being greater now than ever before with available information on approved recipients of the shipping grant 2016. The ensuring response from…
This week I met a special friend in town. Franz-albert Joku and I used to be on the editorial staff of the Murdoch-owned newspaper in Papua New Guinea, the Post Courier. I had not seen him in years. Back in the early to mid-80s, he was a senior newshound doing the political rounds in Port…
BRUSSELS, (THE JAKARTA POST) – Deception and lies have been commonly practiced to promote political interests by bad politicians. Emele Duituturaga, executive director of the Pacific Islands Association of NGOs, recently claimed she had submitted a report on the human rights situation in Papua directly to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the margins of the…
In almost one decade of its existence, the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) has shown its potential to be “the strong man of the South Pacific”. It is making the region more economically integrated while sustaining its Melanesian cultural identity. However, one issue threatens the Group’s core interests and imperils the whole MSG project. The United…
I read with interest the continuous publication in this paper relating to the proposed Fiu hydro Project on Malaita. The realisation of phases 10 and 11 and declaration of the six core tribes as appeared in an article on 27th June, 2016 draws particular interest. Whilst there is so much publicity on the aspects of…
With Britain voting in favour of leaving EU, a single market (508 m) people larger than USA (319 m), the question that looms large: “Is globalization dead?” When the consequences are slowly sinking in, it has become difficult to stomach the decision even for those who supported Britain’s exit (BREXIT) from EU, including the once…
I CAN still remember, as a young boy living in Australia in the 1970s, reading about the world’s newest independent country. It was a place in the South Pacific called ‘Solomon Islands’. I had a map of the world in my room and I could see that Solomon Islands was very close to Australia. But…
ON June 14 this year, the nation’s forestry industry regulator, Solomon Forest Association (SFA) issued a warning that illegal logging practices were “getting out of control”. The SFA called on the Government to act immediately, or it would dissolve itself so thatthere is a level playing field on corruption for everyone in this country. “The…
VANIKIRO indigenous landowners were taken by surprise on Sunday 26th June when MP Freda Tuki and her co landed their machines to clear the land for her so-called township on the island. There were no negotiations with the Vanikoro Indigenous Landowners by the Ms Tuki. She negotiated with four Tikopian settlers who claimed to be…
CAN Brexit go so far as to threaten an end to globalisation? Probably not. It’s true that Britain has voted to withdraw from the European Union and return to its former self, both politically and economically. However, the narrow margin and the voting pattern in last Thursday’s referendum in the world’s fifth largest economy seems…