For several years, blond hair was attributed to Caucasians but the Melanesians of Solomon Islands are one of the few groups with blonde hair outside Europe.
Melanesians are black island people in the south pacific that migrated over thousands of years ago, long before the blacks that came to the Americas as slaves.
Melanesia is a sub-region of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia, including the countries of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Island, and New Caledonia. The name Melanesia was first used by Jules Dumont d’Urville in 1832 to denote an ethnic and geographical grouping of islands distinct from Polynesia and Micronesia.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Until recently, the indigenous melanesian people practised cannibalism, head-hunting, kidnapping and slavery, just like the Asmat tribe, but with contact with Europeans, the population is now predominantly Christian. However, more than 90% lead rural lives.
Melanesian Blonde hair
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
The Melanesian people of the Solomon Islands are the point of interest when it comes to dark skin and blond hair. The Solomon Islands are located in the South Pacific, the very heart of Melanesia, just Northeast of Australia, between Papua and Vanuatu and is an independent state within the British Commonwealth.
Although the indigenous Melanesian population of the islands possess the darkest skin outside of Africa, between 5 and 10% have bright blond hair.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
There have been several theories on how they got their blond hair — from sun and salt whitening, high fish intake, or genetic heritage from mixed-breeding with Americans/Europeans who founded the islands.
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A geneticist from Nova Scotia agricultural college in Canada, Sean Myles, conduced a genetic analysis on saliva and hair samples from 1209 Melanesian Solomon Island residents. From comparing 43 blond Islanders and 42 brown Islanders, he found that the blondes carried two copies of a mutant gene which is present in 26% of the island’s population. The Melanesian people have a native TYRP1 gene which is partly responsible for the blond hair and melanin, and is totally distinct to that of Caucasians as it doesn’t exist in their genes.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
It is a recessive gene and is more common in children than in adults, with hair tending to darken as the individual matures.
This contributes to the theories that black Africans were the first homo sapiens and that all races came out of the black African race.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
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Daily Post – The Efate Vaturisu Council of Chiefs has mandated itself to review all its customary laws in 2019.
It says this is a priority task for the Council of Chiefs of Efate, during 2019 and will endeavor to accomplish it.
In a statement to the local media, the Vaturisu Council of Chiefs Chairman, Chief Henry Manlaewia, said the newly elected executive of the Vaturisu, had approved the full review of all Efate Customary Laws, during its recent meeting at the Shefa Provincial Council headquarters in Port Vila.
The customary laws of Efate also include all the offshore islands, their customs and traditions.
Once the full review is completed by the Vaturisu Executive Committee, it will be presented to the full Council to be formerly adopted and then presented to the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs of Vanuatu.
Some of the customary laws highlighted by the Vaturisu Council of Chiefs to be reviewed include; Efate customary land laws, custom governance, marriage, birth, adoption, death, and the related customary laws and various Efate customs, cultural and traditional ways of life.
“We encourage the Chiefs of Efate and the offshore islands to submit proposed reviews they wish to make in the overall review of the Efate Customary Review by the end of March 2019.
“These will be included on the agenda of the Vaturisu Council of Chiefs Review Meeting, scheduled to be held on the Island of Pele in May 2019,” Vaturisu Chairman Chief Henry Manlaewia, urged.
The Vatrurisu Council of Chiefs was the first Chiefly Council in Vanuatu to write and document customary laws, eleven years ago, in 2007.
Vaturisu has a new Secretary General, Chief Jimmy Meameadola, who has been instrumental in the past in assisting both the Vaturisu and the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs on many customary matters in Vanuatu.
AT least six people were killed and dozens more hospitalised following a fight on the outskirts of the Porgera gold mine in Enga last week.
There was a shooting incident last Wednesday at Kumbipara village in Porgera in which four died, followed by an ambush on the road at Aiyaka in Laiagam.
Of the injured, four were airlifted by the mine’s helicopter to the Sopas Adventist Hospital in Wabag. More than 20 were treated at the mine site clinic.
The rest are admitted at the Paiyam Hospital in Porgera.
It is alleged that violence erupted between two parties from Kandep and Paiyala.
The Kandep faction attacked two men from Paiyala and killed them.
In retaliation the Paiyala men armed themselves and blocked the road at Aumbi.
They ambushed the Kandep community residing in Porgera who were travelling in a convoy of vehicles to go and bury their dead.
Enga police commander Chief Superintendent Joseph Tondop said the ambush was unacceptable.
“I strongly condemn the actions of the suspects who were involved in this cold-blooded murder,” he said.
“This is an inhuman act that will spoil the good name of Enga.
“I appeal to the community leader especially the Walin Tribe and seven ward councillors to surrender the suspects from the Yapal clan to the police.”
Two women were killed in the ambush.
Neighbouring tribes assisted in taking the bodies from the crime scene to Yakend village.
Tondop said some escaped to Sirunki through bush tracks.
“At this point in time I’m yet to confirm the number of survivors plus the number of deaths,” he said.
Meanwhile, the security forces are patrolling the highway from Wabag to ensure no further killings take place.
Civil society is looking at China as the best bet for reducing illegal logging in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
PNG is China’s single largest supplier of timber, large quantities of which come from illegal operations.
A policy advisor with the environmental and anti-corruption NGO Global Witness says PNG’s government has largely failed to put the interests of landowners who depend on forests ahead of foreign logging interests.
Lela Stanley said China holds the key because it purchases at least 85 percent of PNG’s annual log exports.
“It’s a similar situation in PNG’s neighbour Solomon Islands. China just has this outsize purchasing power, this outsize influence in the business.
“Any changes that it makes in terms of what kind of requirements it places on how timber is produced, how it’s sourced, how it’s checking to make sure it’s been done legally or not, will have a really profound impact.”
PNG civil society groups have written to China’s government urging it to regulate illegal wood imports from the country.
The letter, which highlights the impacts of illegal logging on PNG rural communities, was addressed to Chinese president Xi Jinping who is in PNG this week for APEC.
Ms Stanley said it was hoped that Xi’s new Belt and Road initiaitives in the region would take heed of the need for regulations around sourcing of raw materials like timber.
“It’s going to be hard to break through other competing demands for attention this week at APEC,” she admitted.
Ms Stanley said other major economies have created laws to ensure timber they source abroad are produced legally and sustainably, and China’s lack of regulations was notable.
The Vanuatu Daily Post – A team of agriculturalists from California, United States of America (USA) were in Vanuatu recently to explore new possibilities of sourcing local labor for seasonal work on farms in the U.S.
Islands to Oasis, an Australian-based company brought 25 farmers, growers and entrepreneurs who run companies that support the agriculture sector in California to Port Vila before going to Tanna Island.
Their visit came after the Seasonal Workers Program Forum held in Port Vila in mid-2018.
Islands to Oasis is working closely with the government of Vanuatu, through the Special Envoy for Seasonal Employment,Francois Chani, to improve and expand the seasonal worker program outside of New Zealand (NZ) and Australia.
“One of those areas we have been exploring is USA”, said one of the owners of the company, Chris Luxford.
“There is a a great opportunity to explore other places around the world where farmers are in desperate need of labor. It is estimated that in California alone, there are around 450,000 people working on farms.
“So there is lots of opportunity to explore different labor sources and Vanuatu is one of those that being considered.
“The role Island to Oasis is playing is to establish an opportunity for the Vanuatu people and work with the government to formalize a structure that will allow us to open that market up as a potential destination for work”, he told Kizzy Kalsakau from Buzz 96FM Nightly News .
Islands to Oasis was engaged by the Vanuatu government to have a look at the current seasonal work program and see what improvements can be made on the superannuation and living conditions for Ni-Vanuatu workers.
On their visit to Port Vila, the agriculturalists team met parliamentarians such as the Acting Prime Minister Bob Loughman, Minister of Internal Affairs Andrew Napuat including MP Chani.
Luxford said: “The role really now is for Islands to Oasis to establish a pilot program similar to the way the seasonal worker program of NZ and Australia started.
“But it’s not going to be a small pilot. USA is a much larger market compared to NZ and USA. We are looking at a pilot of several thousand workers”.
Asked why Vanuatu was selected as one of the labor source for the USA market, Luxford replied: ” All growers in Australia that we spoke to rate Ni-Vans in terms of work ethic and productivity,efficiency, friendliness, generosity and just lovely people to have.
“They would always select Ni-Vans over everyone else if they have a choice. With that, we’ve become very passionate for Vanuatu at the same time, we also have an obligation to the growers.
“If we are going to find workers for them we have to find workers that are reliable, hardworking and, predictable and do what we need them to do.”
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is expected soon between the Islands of Oasis and the government to supply workers to USA.
By Adjei-Gyamfi Yaw on November 5, 2018 — Yaw Adjei-Gyamfi explores the links between Emperor Haile Selassie and Rastafarians and considers why he remains a source of inspiration for Rastas all over the world
Recently, Ethiopia became the third African country, after Rwanda and Seychelles, to achieve gender parity in their Cabinets when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s appointments saw women taking up half of the posts. A week later, Ethiopia made history when, through unanimous parliamentary approval, Ambassador Sahle-Work Zewde was appointed president, making her the first female head of state of modern Ethiopia.
While hailing this development, Ethiopians have reflected on the days of Empress Zewditu, one of the first women to govern and represent Ethiopia in international relations in the early 20th century. However, this is not the focus of this article. On 2 November 1930, one of the largest public events ever in the world took place in Abyssinia. In his song “Blessed is the Man”, Kabaka Pyramid refers to this event: “Bowing at his feet, 72 nations; Ras Makonnen crowned Conquering Lion.” It was the coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen as the last Emperor of Ethiopia, along with his queen, Empress Menen Asfaw. He took the name “Haile Selassie” (Power of the Trinity) when he ascended the throne. We remember his commitment to advancing the cause of Pan-Africanism, as well as world peace and harmony. He is regarded as having laid the foundation for modern-day Ethiopia and for the transformation of the country. This article attempts to establish the connection between the Rastafari movement and Haile Selassie.
Coronation as “King of Kings”
Haile Selassie was born Tafari Makonnen on 23 July 1892, in Ethiopia. He was the son of Ras Makonnen, a chief adviser to Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, and the ruler became his mentor, placing him in positions of power from a young age. After Menelik II’s death, Tafari became a prominent political figure and began shaping Ethiopian government. He rapidly became known for his progressive policies. He served as a regent in the government of Empress Zewditu. Even under the conservative reign of Empress Zewditu, his progressive policies gained national attention. He won the hearts of the Ethiopian people, who described him as more globally minded, and had nationwide appeal. This love and admiration for Ras Tafari heightened when he secured Ethiopia’s entry into the League of Nations in 1923. He was the first Ethiopian ruler to travel outside of the country. Ras Tafari was crowned two years after the death of his precedessor, Empress Zewditu, in 1928. Not long after did he begin his transformation agenda with a strong belief in the power of education as an essential catalyst for the modernisation of a nation. On 2 November 1930, together with his wife, Ras Tafari was crowned the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Conquering Lion in St George’s Cathedral, Abyssinia (Addis Ababa).
Haile Selassie of Ethiopia standing in front of a throne, probably some time in the 1960s, wearing a suit, stiff collar, and boat cloak. Photo: Wiki commons
Haile Selassie and the Rastafari Movement
Haile Selassie is regarded by the Rastafari fraternity as the incarnation of God, to unify all the peoples of Africa and the human race. The name of the movement comes from “Ras Tafari”, a combination of his name and the noble title “Ras”, which translates to “prince”. Marcus Garvey’s teachings greatly influenced the formation of the Rastafari movement. Although Marcus Garvey never actually followed Rastafarianism or believed in it, he is considered to be one of the movement’s prophets, because it was his ideologies that eventually grew into the Rastafari ideology. (Martin, 2009). Garvey proclaimed that black people should look for the Black King who would be crowned in the East, because this King was the Black redeemer and deliverer. When he left for the United States, many of his followers still gathered together, but had no leader to follow. In 1930, when Haile Selassie was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia, many Garveyites had forgotten the message Garvey had told them when he left, but when Selassie was crowned it was remembered by many Rastas (Parmett, 2013). Leonard Howell, the founder of the Rastafari Movement, was a Garveyite. Howell has been considered as the first Rasta and his book, The Promised Key,launched the propagation of his message of Rastafarianism. He declared:
His Majesty Ras Tafari is the head over all man for he is the Supreme God. His body is the fullness of him that fillet all in all. Now my dear people, let this be our goal: Forward to the King of Kings must be the cry of our social hope.
Forward to the King of Kings to purify our social standards and our way of living, and rebuild and inspire our character
Forward to the King of Kings to learn the worth of manhood and womanhood.
Forward to the King of Kings to learn His code of Laws from the mount, demanding absolute Love, Purity, Honesty and Truthfulness
Forward to the King of Kings to learn His Laws and social order, so that virtue will eventually gain the victory over body and soul and that truth will drive away falsehood and fraud.
File picture: Rastafarians celebrate after the South African Constitutional Court ruled that the personal use of marijuana is now legal. EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
According to Beckford and Charles (2017:119), “Garvey congratulated Ras Tafari(name of Haile Selassie before his coronation) when he ascended the Ethiopian throne in 1930.” In an article in the Blackman newspaper in Jamaica, Garvey wrote on the coronation of Ras Tafari:
The Psalmist prophesied that princes would come out of Egypt and Ethiopia would stretch forth her hands unto God. We have no doubt that the time is now come. Ethiopia is now really stretching forth her hands. This great kingdom of the East has been hidden for many centuries, but gradually she is rising to take a leading place in the world and it is for us of the Negro race to assist in every way to hold up the hand of Emperor Ras Tafari.
The Rastas accepted the idea of Ethiopia as being their saviour with the influence of Marcus Garvey. His inspiring words has created an image of God to the Rastas:
If the white man has the idea of a white God, let him worship his God as he desires. If the yellow man’s God is of his race, let him worship his God as he sees fit. We, as Negroes, have found a new ideal. Whilst our God has no colour, yet it is human to see everything through one’s own spectacles, and since the white people have seen their God through white spectacles, we have only now started out (late though it be) to see our God through our own spectacles. The God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, let him exist for the race that believe in the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. We, Negroes, believe in the God of Ethiopia, the everlasting God- God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, the one God of all ages. That is the God in whom we believe, but we shall worship him though the spectacles of Ethiopia (Garvey, 1925:44).
These words gave the Rastafarians hope and motivation to find their God in Ethiopia and have pride in their race. It encouraged the people to believe that they can be their own leaders, without the white minority telling them who to worship and follow. Haile Selassie nonetheless refuted his status as God, as claimed by the Rastafari community, during his visit to Jamaica in 1966, saying: “I have told them clearly that I am mortal, and I will be replaced by the oncoming generation. And they should never make a mistake in assuming or pretending that a human being is emanated from a deity.”
Photo: bob-marley.es
Revolutionary singer and reggae icon Robert Nesta Marley popularised the deification of Haile Selassie through his songs, declaring him the “return of the Messiah”. He adopted the famous speech of His Imperial Majesty delivered at the United Nations Assembly in 1963 in his song “War”. In his song “Selassie is the Chapel”, he expresses his intense love and reverence for the Ethiopian emperor:
Haile Selassie I is the chapel. Power of the Trinity.
Build your mind in this direction
Take your troubles to Selassie; he’s the only King of Kings
Serve the living God and live
Take your troubles to Selassie
He is the only King of Kings
Conquering Lion of Judah
Triumphantly we all must sing
I search and I search on book of Man
In the Revelation, look what I find
Haile Selassie is the chapel
Here’s all the world should know
That man is the angel
Our God, the King of Kings
Emperor Haile Selassie remains a source of inspiration for Rastas all over the world. His name has characterised several messages delivered in their reggae songs, hailing him as the pillar of the Rastafari faith. On a day to mark the 88th anniversary of his crowning as the King of Kings, Rastafari brethren in Africa have convened in Shashemene, Ethiopia, for the second All-Africa Rastafari Gathering (AARG) under the aegis of the Rastafari Continental Council. His messages of hope, progress, love and peace continue to resonate in the minds of Rastas and Africans at large. Let me end in the words of Burning Spear: “Hail Jah, the Farai. Hail Him for everything which is Good… Hail him without any apology. Hail His Imperial Majesty.”
Vanuatu’s capital of Port Vila has witnessed one of its biggest exhibitions of art, with around 5,000 carvings and woven Melanesian products presented for sale last week.
Local organiser Tyson Stanley Ghera told the Daily Post newspaper that it is the first initiative of its kind, organised between the sister cities of Honiara and Port Vila.
Mr Ghera said it was possible it would become a regular event to promote an opportunity for carvers and weavers of the two Melanesian countries to exchange skills, training and business.
Most of the products come from Marovo Lagoon in the Western Province of the Solomons, where approximately 70 percent of the people are carvers or weavers.
And changed the alarmism from global cooling to global warming, and now climate change.
Al Gore former Vice President of the United States of America
Although his science is often seriously wrong, no one can deny that Al Gore has a flare for the dramatic. Speaking about climate change in an October 12 PBS interview, the former vice-president proclaimed, “We have a global emergency.” Referring to the most recent UN climate report, Gore claimed it showed that current global warming “could actually extend to an existential threat to human civilization on this planet as we know it.”
Al Gore’s overblown rhetoric makes no sense, of course. Yet his hyperbolic claims beg the question: How did this all start?
Back in the 1970s, media articles warning of imminent climate change problems began to appear regularly. TIME and Newsweek ran multiple cover stories asserting that oil companies and America’s capitalist life style were causing catastrophic damage to Earth’s climate. They claimed scientists were almost unanimous in their opinion that manmade climate change would reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century.
The April 28, 1975 Newsweek proposed solutions that even included outlawing internal combustion engines.
This sounds very similar to today’s climate change debate – except, in the 70s, the fear was manmade global cooling, not warming.
TIME magazine’s January 31, 1977 cover featured a story, “How to Survive The Coming Ice Age.” It included “facts” such as scientists predicting that Earth’s so-called average temperature could drop by 20 degrees Fahrenheit due to manmade global cooling. Dr. Murray Mitchell of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned readers that “the drop in temperature between 1945 and 1968 had taken us one sixth of the way to the next Ice Age temperature.”
Global cooling gained considerable traction with the general public. But then, instead of cooling as long predicted by manmade climate change advocates, the planet started warming again. Something had to be done to rescue the climate change agenda from utter disaster. Enter Al Gore.
Al Gore Sr., a powerful Senator from Tennessee, saw to it that his son was elected to the House of Representatives, serving from 1977 to 1985, then going on to the Senate from 1985 to 1993. Gore Junior’s primary issue was his conviction that the Earth would perish if we did not eliminate fossil fuels.
Gore advanced to Vice President under President Bill Clinton, where he was able to enact policies and direct funding to ensure that the climate change agenda became a top priority of the United States Government. Gore’s mission was boosted when Clinton gave him authority over the newly created President’s Council on Sustainable Development.
It will come as no surprise then that, when the Council’s Charter was revised on April 25, 1997, the “Scope of Activities” included the following directionto the Council:
Advise the President on domestic implementation of policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Council should not debate the science of global warming [emphasis added], but should instead focus on the implementation of national and local greenhouse gas reduction policies and activities, and adaptations in the U.S. economy and society that maximize environmental and social benefits, minimize economic impacts, and are consistent with U.S. international agreements. The Council should, at a minimum, identify and encourage potentially replicable examples of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions across diverse sectors and levels of society.
Considering that the Council was tasked with advising the President “on matters involving sustainable development,” and alternative points of view on the science of climate change were effectively excluded, it was a foregone conclusion that the Clinton administration would go in the direction Gore wanted. Indeed, in their cover letter to the President accompanying their 1999 report, Advancing Prosperity, Opportunity and a Healthy Environment for the 21st Century, the Council stated: “Our report presents consensus recommendations on how America can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take other steps to protect the climate.”
A cornerstone of Gore’s strategy was to ensure that all high-ranking government officials who had any involvement with funding policies relating to climate change were in line with his vision. These agencies included the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, Department of Education, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
An example of his power was shown when physicist Dr. William Happer, then Director of Energy Research at the Department of Energy, testified before Congress in 1993 that scientific data did not support the hypothesis of manmade global warming. Gore saw to it that Happer was immediately fired. Fifteen years later, Happer quipped, “I had the privilege of being fired by Al Gore, since I refused to go along with his alarmism. I did not need the job that badly.”
Al Gore was also able to leverage his high visibility, his movie awards, his Nobel Prize, and his involvement in various carbon trading and other schemes into a personal fortune. When he ended his tenure as Vice President in 2001, his net worth was $2 million. By 2013, it exceeded $300 million.
Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, provided a series of graphic images showing the apocalyptic consequences that some had predicted if fossil fuels were allowed to continue warming the planet. Images included melting glaciers, dying polar bears, spreading diseases, coastal cities inundated by massive floods, cities wiped out by hurricanes and tornadoes, and food supplies exterminated by droughts.
This compelling propaganda played a major role in frightening an entire generation about the future, causing young people and many parents to feel guilty about the role that they and their country were supposedly having in destroying our beautiful planet.
Since then, Americans have been told constantly that they should feel irresponsible if they drive cars or use fossil fuel energy to heat their homes or power their businesses. A rapid, massive conversion away from coal, oil and natural gas to renewable energy sources such and wind and solar, we are told, is the only hope for saving the planet.
Now children are increasingly depressed about their future, thanks to the constant barrage of global warming propaganda that they receive at school. Indeed, they have become so brainwashed and cowed by their peers that they no longer dare to question any statement made about catastrophic climate change.
Yet, essentially everything in Gore’s climate change agenda is either wrong or highly misrepresented.
Now that he is President Donald Trump’s Senior Scientist for the National Security Council, Dr. Happer needs to show there is no “scientific consensus” on these issues, rekindle informed debate on climate and energy issues, and help bring hope, common sense and real science back into the discourse – to help end the dangerous mythology of dangerous manmade global warming.
A COUNTERFEIT operation involving the repacking of poor quality rice into Solrais packs has been uncovered in the Western Province resulting in the arrest of the shop owners.
The operation came to light after the SolRice management recently worked with undercover agents and the Seghe police to close down to the alleged counterfeit packing operation which has been operating from a store in Seghe, Marovo Lagoon.
The shop was alleged to have 19 cartons of counterfeit packaging and packing equipment ready to fool more consumers in the region into thinking they were eating Solrais, it was revealed.
“In fact, they were buying a poor quality substitute rice from Asia believing it to be Solrais which is an Australian rice of a much higher quality,” the report claimed.
The bags are clearly copies of the Solrais 1kg pack, as per the picture shown in this report.
General Manager of SolRice Nick Ellis told the Solomon Star while confirming the illegal operation said “this is an unforgivable, fraudulent act which intentionally deceives our consumers and we will not allow this to happen.”
He said they will track down all counterfeit operations and will, with the assistance of the police prosecute the offenders to the limit of the law.
Mr Ellis indicated that SolRice is aware of other counterfeit operations and is building a case against each prior to working with the police to raid the stores and arrest those involved.
“Let the Seghe example be a warning to these unscrupulous retailers and importers, that we are aware of what you are doing and we will protect our brand and loyal consumers at all costs.
“We advise strongly that the counterfeiters, no matter where you are in the country, to cease this highly illegal trade immediately as we will close you down and ensure you face court and the full force of the law,” he said.
When asked why the packaging is illegal, despite some subtle changes to the brand name, Mr Ellis said “these despicable people think that by making small changes to the packaging, they are protected.
“This is not the case. SolRice and our parent company, Ricegrowers of Australia, have trade mark and copyright protection and this allows protection from copies that may not be the same but look similar.
“This includes brand names, symbols, icons, logo’s, pack details and a number of other protections. In this case, removing an ‘s’ from the name Solrais, does not protect the perpetrators of this illegal act,” he said.
Mr Ellis said he was very impressed with the support shown by the Seghe Police team and the police prosecution unit in shutting down this illegal operation and capturing the evidence needed for a successful prosecution to come.
“Police in Seghe were helpful and proactive and were very professional in their dealings with my team and the alleged counterfeiters, who are currently in jail.
“However, I believe there are more people involved in this case and the other cases under observation.
“We want to arrest and prosecute everybody involved, particularly the big guns who supply the packaging and the poor quality rice that goes into it,” he said.
The SolRice General Manager also told the paper SolRice is aware of and watching very closely other cases, including a similar illegal operation in China Town, Honiara, one in Gizo and one in Noro.
He hopes to gather enough evidence to bring the police in on these cases also.
The Company boss said the public have also been critical to the SolRice success in closing down these operations so far, by reporting the fake Solrais to their team when they find it in shops across the country.
He warned Solrais consumers to be careful when purchasing Solrais 1kg and ensure they purchase only the original Solrais.
He asks that consumers gather evidence and report any suspicious activity or packaging, to SolRice if they see it or buy it.
POLICE and soldiers contained a tribal fight that broke out in Hela last week in which three men were killed, says provincial police commander Martin Lakari.
He said police and soldiers were sent to Tari when the fight started between two tribes.
“It is best for everyone to contain law-and-order by living in peace,” Lakari said.
The cause of the fight is known to them but they are not telling us.”
Meanwhile, deputy governor Thomas Potape has praised the work of soldiers and police officers engaged in the PNG LNG project sites in the province.
Potape said the first lot of soldiers engaged in the disaster operations in the PNG LNG operation sites at Angore, Yuni, Hides Four and Komo airfield had done a tremendous job in addressing law and order, particularly tribal fights.
Potape, the president of the Komo local level government, said tribal fighting was a serious hindrance to progress and development.
He said the engagement of soldiers and members of the police mobile squad based in and around the PNG LNG sites had really helped in reducing tribal fights.
“Now school children can move freely and the mothers can go to the market without fear,” he said.
“Warlords who moved around with guns and weapons like bush knives are now rare.
“That is what the people want. They want to live in a peaceful society that is free of threat and intimidation.”
