WEDNESDAY 10TH FEBRUARY 2010

Architectural sketch of the office complex

National Parliament of Solomon Islands yesterday witnessed the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of an office complex for the Members of Parliament.

At the official ceremony Speaker of Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea expressed his profound gratitude for the assistance committed by government and people of the Republic of China (or Taiwan) towards the constructing of the new office complex for MPs.

The office complex project was instigated by the National Parliament in 2007 with support from the UNDP Parliamentary Strengthening Project and Pacific Architects Limited. In 2008 the Republic of China (Taiwan) expressed interest in funding and therefore engaged Taiwan based Oversea Engineering and Construction Company Limited (OECC) for the construction.

Sir Peter noted in his speech that “through this project, for the first time since independence, MPs have their own offices, all located in one complex. This has many positive implications; for instance the close proximity between parliamentarians on a daily basis would foster closer healthy working relationships and camaraderie amongst members”.

Sir Peter also stated that the ground breaking ceremony marked a milestone in the history of National Parliament “since independence our MPs did not have the privileges of having separate official offices. Moreover, MPs had to struggle to carry out their national duties from their crowed homes or from floor of their hotels especially during Parliament meetings”. The ground breaking ceremony fulfilled the struggling desire of MPs to have office complex to effectively carry out their parliamentary duties with minimal disturbances.

Speaking in response to the Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, His Excellency Hon. Timothy C.T.Yang said that his government is grateful to assist in political development of Solomon Islands especially through the construction of the office complex. He further stated that funding of the project reaffirms and strengthened the cordial relationship between Solomon Islands and Taiwan and wish the Members of Parliament who will use the office complex in two years time to take care of the building and make good use of it.

The ground breaking ceremony was attended and witnessed by Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, senior government officials, members of the media and staff of the National Parliament.

WEDNESDAY 22ND DECEMBER 2009

The Special Select Committee into the quality of medical services provided at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) has tabled its report in parliament. The report was the result of a resolution passed by Parliament on 3 April 2009, on motion of Hon Peter Boyers to establish a Special Select Committee to enquire into and report on the quality of medical services provided at the NRH.

The focus of the report is specific to the medical services delivered by the National Referral Hospital as the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Committee is limited to the NRH.

The report contains the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Committee based on evidence collected during the inquiry. Generally, the report finds insufficient funds to support operation of NRH, to be the major constraint to services provided by NRH, impinging on human resources, infrastructure, assessment and diagnostic equipment. Other factors contributing to poor services at NRH include; increase demand for medical services caused by population increase and poor management processes.

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THURSDAY 12TH NOVEMBER 2009

The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands, the Hon Peter Boyers, today tabled in Parliament the report of the Foreign Relations Committee entitled Inquiry into the Facilitation of International Assistance Notice 2003 and RAMSI intervention (the RAMSI Report).

The report is a landmark report in many respects. The conduct of the inquiry was an immense undertaking without parallel for the National Parliament of Solomon Islands. It extended over almost one and a half years and involved 35 public hearings and hundreds of witnesses across the country. The report is the first of its kind by a committee of the National Parliament.

The report is also a landmark in terms of scrutiny and review of RAMSI. While there have been various external reviews of RAMSI undertaken by the Pacific Islands Forum, and reporting by RAMSI itself against its mandate, the inquiry is the first external review of RAMSI undertaken within Solomon Islands since the 2004 report of the Solomon Islands Intervention Task Force. It is also the first formal review undertaken by the National Parliament.

The report includes the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations. Broadly, the report finds that RAMSI has achieved notable success which warrants the praise of the people of Solomon Islands and the Government of Solomon Islands, the member states of the Pacific Islands Forum and of course the officers of RAMSI. At the same time, significant challenges remain both for Solomon Islanders and the Solomon Islands Government and RAMSI, requiring the ongoing commitment of all parties to RAMSI in the future.

Hon Peter Boyers MP
Chairman

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MONDAY 9th NOVEMBER 2009

The Committee Report into the inquiry of the $50,000 Terminal Grant to the Spouse of a member of Parliament can be accessed by Clicking on the link below

1. Committee Report

WEDNESDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2009

More than 10,000 people today filled National Parliament to learn more about their vote, their voice and how their democratic system of government works.

At the official opening of Parliament Open Day 2009, the Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the Electoral Commission, the Right Hon Sir Peter Kenilorea, thanked everyone for showing such a strong interest in visiting parliament.

“Parliament is the voice of the people, and people participate in shaping their parliament through casting their votes during national general elections. This is why this year’s Open Day theme is, “Vote blo iu, Parliament blo iu”, and was jointly organised and hosted by National Parliament and the Electoral Commission,” said Sir Peter.

Open Day 2009 was even bigger than last year with more people visiting, especially school students, who came to find out about the various organisations that Parliament works with.

Sir Peter said he hoped that Parliament Open Day becomes a day of national importance each year for people to come and find out more about their government and become active citizens in Solomon Islands’ democracy.

Inside Parliament building, people packed the chamber and surrounding corridor looking at information displays for answers to the Parliament Open Day Quiz.

Outside, people gathered more information from organisations like the Ombudsman, Leadership Code, Auditor-General, RAMSI, Save the Children and UN programs, while enjoying music from Sharzy, Two Good Boys, Solkiz, Paeva, Taina G.

At the Electoral Commission’s stall people found out about voter registration which will happen soon before next year’s general election and also practiced how to vote at a mock polling station.

Chief Electoral Officer at the Electoral Commission, Mr Polycarp Haununu, was delighted to see so many people asking questions about elections and how they are conducted from start to finish by the Electoral Commission.

“The focus of our awareness raising is to make people aware of how the voter registration process works, which begins soon, and give people the chance to practice voting. People learnt how to mark their ballot paper correctly - by ticking the box on the ballot paper next to the candidate name and symbol.”

Sir Peter thanked the staff of all the organisations who displayed information and answered people’s questions.

Of the 2,000 people who completed the Democracy Quiz, Joy Ghasy, was the lucky winner of two return tickets to Brisbane sponsored by Solomon Airlines.

The organizers also thanked ANZ Bank, Sullivans, One News and Coca Cola – PNG for contributing prizes for the event.