General News from Solomon Islands

The power cuts in Honiara may continue until April of this year. Two transformers have to be shipped to Australia for repair. However, Australia may supply a replacement transformer earlier, but since those transformers weigh about 30 tons, they cannot be airlifted but must be shipped by sea freight.

17.01.06 Addendum: The transformers left Honiara yesterday.

The effects of cyclone Jim are felt in Solomon Islands. Heavy rains, strong winds and high seas have beached and damaged boats in Honiara (among them the MV Ramos III, which joined the Western Queen, beached years ago), damaged food gardens, flooded streets in Honiara and villages on west Makira, damaged houses on the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal, forced some people on the Reef Islands (Temotu Province) to look for higher grounds and made villagers on Isabel worry.

See pictures from Honiara on the PFnet website.

Several villages on Makira report heavy rains, strong winds and damaged homes and destroyed food gardens.

Hutuna villagers on East Rennell also reports non-stop rain, strong winds, many knocked-down banana trees and flooded taro gardens.

Bellona reports a road blocked by uprooted trees and damaged plantations and gardens.

Small Malaita (South Malaita) reports blocked and damaged roads, damaged bridges and flooded gardens and villages..

The body of a young mother was retrieved from the sea in South Guadalcanal. She is believed to have been sweped out into the sea while crossing a river with her young child last Saturday. The child is still missing. So far, no other casualties have been reported.

The public has been warned against travelling by sea during the current bad weather conditions which are expected to continue for a few more days.

Buala, the capital of Isabel Province, is without electricity for almost two weeks. A voltage regulator broke down, it was replaced with a spare part which unfortunately failed, too. SIEA (Solomon Islands Electricity Authority) is now waiting for a new part. Meanwhile, some businesses are operating on their own standby generators.

Buala Hospital does have a standby generator, but it is old and unreliable. Furthermore, there is only one 44 gallon drum of fuel left (about 200 liters), and if that is used up the hospital may have to close. (Electric power is needed to keep the blood bank and the vaccines cool.) Due to the current bad weather and the generally bad transportation situation it is not known when new fuel and SIEA's spare part will arrive.

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) warns of counterfeit $50 Solomon Islands currency notes currently circulating in the country. They are made of ordinary paper and were most likely produced using a computer scanner and a printer or a color copier. Two such notes were recently discovered in Auki.

Genuine notes carry a hologram on the front side.

Solomon Islands Water Authority (SIWA) has confirmed that the Kongulai and Rove and Kobito surface water sources and the Panatina bore hole water source are continuously contaminated with fecal bacteria from household wastes. SIWA chlorinates the water distributed to its customers, but still advises the public to boil tap water before drinking.

The necessary spare part arrived last Tuesday and power was - at least partially - restored in Buala. The generators worked but still could not supply both feeders at the same time and so power had to be switched between the two every two hours. A specialist from Honiara arrived in Buala last Sunday and now the problem is fixed. Power in Buala is fully restored again, much to the relief of its inhabitants and the hospital.

An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 scared Honiara's inhabitants at 15:14 today. The epicenter was about 30km WSW of Honiara on the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal in a depth of about 24km. No damages or injuries were reported.

The next national election will take place on April 5, 2006. It will be monitored by some 50 international observers.

Under this heading, the Honiara City Council will start a SBD 85,000 waste reduction campaign next week. Community groups and contractors will start to remove the waste accumulated during the last six years and promotional activities will take place focusing on the theme "Be smart, reduce waste". The campaign is supported by the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

Finally, after a new transformer was installed with Australian support, power in Honiara is fully restored again and those recurring blackouts, hopefully, are a thing of the past.

The damaged transformers, which were sent to Australia, are still being repaired.

The voters could choose the 50 members of parliament among a total of 453 candidates (24 of them women) from 13 different parties. Over 340,000 voters were registered, nevertheless some voters were not on the lists. The election was peaceful and no major problems surfaced.

The voters elected 25 new and 25 former members of parliament all of them male. Some of the "new" members have been members of earlier parliaments.

• Job Duddley Tausinga, MP for North New Georgia (Western Province) and leader of the Rural Advancement Party
• Snyder Rini, MP for Marovo (Western Province), leader of the Independents Group, previous deputy prime minister and former finance minister
• Manasseh Sogavare, MP for East Choiseul, leader for the SoCred Party and prime minister for just over a year after the 2000 coup

The former prime minister, Sir Allen Kemakeza, no longer contests the PM's post.

The members of parliament elected the prime minister among the contestants. First vote: Tausinga 22, Rini 17, Sogavare 11. Second vote: Rini 27 and Tausinga 23. Snyder Rini was declared new prime minister.

Several hundred people gathered outside the parliament (many of them supporters of the opposition) were not happy with the outcome and wanted Snider Rini to resign immediately. They said they didn't want the same people as before to continue and claimed some votes for Snyder Rini were bouhgt with money from Chinese businessmen and Taiwan, which Snyder Rini (and later Taiwan) denied. When Snyder Rini left the parliament building and wanted to drive away in a car, the crowd started to throw stones, injuring several Austrialian policemen, and set police vehicles on fire. The police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Part of the crowd then moved downtown and started to attack, loot and burn Chinese shops and business buildings.

Later, the police said that the attacks in Chinatown already started before tear gas was used at the parliament building and that they did not have enough manpower to protect the buildings in Chinatown.

Minor disturbances in Auki, Malaita, were quickly controlled by the local police. 14 men were arrested.

Additional troops and police from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji are flown in this evening. A dusk-to-dawn curfew is issued for Honiara.

More than 20 police and military personnel have reportedly been injured during the riot, most of them by thrown stones. People living in Chinatown also suffered (mostly minor) injuries during their hurried escape from their shops and homes, but, fortunately, no fatalities have been reported.

About 80% of Honiara's Chinatown including the new Pacific Casino Hotel worth about SBD 60 million were destroyed. Parts of the infrastructure (e.g. telefone lines and equipment) will also have to be rebuilt or need repair.

The Pacific Casino Hotel after the riot Photo S. Forte, 2006

Prime Minister Snyder Rini was sworn in today. Some foreigners were evacuated with an Australian Hercules aircraft that had brought troops in. One reason for the evacuation was an expected shortage of food.

The opposition filed a motion of no confidence for the next parliament meeting.

Two MPs were arrested, one for intimidation, threatenig and managing an unlawful society in connection with the riot, the other for breach of the curfew. The latter was released on bail. Several hundred Chinese, some of them Solomon Islands nationals, have left Honiara.

Another MP was arrested for questioning with regard to the riot and subsequently kept in custody (and refused bail) for inciting riot, intimidation and threatening.

Prime Minister Snyder Rini resigned before the motion of no confidence after several earlier supporters (among them Manasseh Sogavare) switched sides. After his resignation, the MPs switched sides again. People in the streets of Honiara cheered.

The curfew was lifted today. A total of 135 person were arrested in relation to the riot.

• Fred Fono, MP for Central Kwara'ae on Malaita and care-taker Minister for National Planning and Deputy Prime Minister
• Manasseh Sogavare, MP for East Choiseul, leader for the SoCred Party and prime minister for just over a year after the 2000 coup

The members of parliament elected the new prime minister among two contestants. The result of the vote: Sogavare 28, Fono 22. The two members of parliament who are currently in police custody were allowed to cast their votes from the prison. Manasseh Sogavare was declared new prime minister and later sworn in. People gathered outside the parliament building were happy and people in the streets of Honiara cheered.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare appointed the ministers of his cabinet today. Two of them are currently in prison and awaiting their trials: the Minister of Culture and Tourism and the Minister of Police and National Security.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has replaced the two ministers who are currently in police custody awaiting their trials. He re-assigned the portfolios of the Minister of Culture and Tourism and the Minister of Police and National Security to two other parlamentarians as of May 8.

Clarification: the two new ministers are not really replacements for the ones in prison, they were just appointed as acting ministers until the cases of the two ministers in prison are dealt with by the courts.

According to the Solomon Star, thousands of people of all ages have helped clean up Honiara yesterday by cutting grass and collecting rubbish. New rubbish bins were colorfully painted by children and will be distributed around town to help keep the city clean.

Yesterday, June 5, 2006 was World Environment Day.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has definitely replaced the two ministers who are still in police custody awaiting their trials und have repeatedly been refused bail. He assigned the portfolios of the Minister of Culture and Tourism and the Minister of Police and National Security to two other members of parliament.

Health Services

A team of eight doctors, a nurse and a medical technician from the Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH) is currently visiting the National Referral Hospital in Honirara to provide voluntary services in the fields of calculus scaling, oral surgery, pediatric orthopedic surgery, lip cleft surgery, and consultations of cardiovascular hypertension disease and hepato-biliary-pancreatic service. They are also here to find out how the cooperation between the hospitals can be developped.

The formal agreement of cooperation between the two sister hospitals was signed today. Cooperation will comprise training and exchange of doctors, nurses and paramedics, as well as research and technology transfer.

The team also brought along equipment donated by Taiwan and worth more than SBD 500,000, including a brand new medical ultrasonic machine and two machines for dental hygienists to remove dental calculus.

The group will leave on Friday, another team is expected in August this year and will probably stay longer. Long-term resident doctors from Taiwan may follow in 2007, provided funds and logistic support are available.

Representatives from the Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital hope the cooperation will eventually help turn the National Referral Hospital in Honiara into a regional referral hospital.

The new Midwifery School located on the National Referral Hospital compound starts its first classes next week. More than 20 nurses are said to have enrolled in the full time one year long course.

It is increasingly difficult to find housing for public officers (among them doctors) in Honiara and the provincial capitals, e.g. Gizo. A few doctors in Honiara and Gizo are said to be living in motels, because they have not yet found a suitable home.

The probem is a long standing one, but is getting worse because more people are looking for housing and employees of private enterprises, RAMSI and non governmental organizations can afford and are willing to pay higher rents, and therefore rents are rising. The government pays from SBD 900 to SBD 5,000 housing allowance per month depending on the position of the employee. In the end, only the ones in higher positions are able to pay the rents, others have to stay with relatives or in a motel or hotel.

Furthermore, some of the government owned houses in Honiara have been sold or are in a very bad condition. The governement does not own any houses for its workers in the provinces and, at least at this time, the financial situation does not allow building houses.

The Public Service Department has now formed a working committee to look at the housing problems for public officers and find ways to improve the situation.

The Aola area Health Center in Central-East Guadalcanal was not operational for some weeks because of lack of basic supplies and goods. Success Company, a local logging company, has donated basic materials, such as assorted medicines, mattresses, pillows and bed sheets last week, which allows the Health Center to resume operation again.

Lata is suffering from an increase in stealings and robberies. During the last few weeks especially hospital workers were affected.

Thieves broke into the houses of the Principal Nursing Officer, the Psychiatric Nursing Officer, the Dental Officer, the Pharmacy Officer and the midwife. They also stole property from the Chief Nursing Officer and the Medical Registrar. Finally, on Monday, January 30, they broke into the home of the Director of the Hospital, Dr Günter Kittel, and carried away valuables worth about SBD 20,000 and a laptop with important medical data. However, nobody in Solomon Islands will be able to use it, because the operating system interface and the software are all in German (Dr Kittel comes from Austria).

Dr Kittel decided to close the outpatient clinic from Tuesday, January 31, to Sunday, February 5, and provide emergency service only. He said "This should make the public aware, that our staff cannot continue to work and serve the people of Temotu if every night their houses are robbed."

However, operation of the outpatient clinic was resumed again today, after some of the stolen goods were returned thanks to the cooperation of the public and the police.

The nationwide prevalence rate of leprosy in Solomon Islands is less than 1 per 10,000 population, the elimination target set by WHO. From 1994 until 2004, the rate varied between 0.87 and 5.86 per 100,000 population. However, Honiara-City, Guadalcanal and Temotu Provinces still have a rate above the WHO target.

Five provinces (including Honiara-City) reported a total of 30 new leprosy cases in 2005.

Leprosy is successfully treated with multidrug therapy (MDT) with no treatment failures and only a few relapses in Honiara-City and Guadalcanal so far.

To raise public awareness, the TB and Leprosy division at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services has prepared a media campaign, school talks and public health programs in clinics througout the country for this year's World Leprosy Day, deferred to February 13, 2006 in Solomon Islands (normally it takes place on last Sunday in January).

A red eye (Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis) epidemic has hit Honiara. It started a few weeks ago and there are still new cases every day. Even nurses at the hospital are affected.

A four member Interplast team from Sydney, Australia is visiting Solomon Islands for two weeks. They are working at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara since Monday. The surgeons Dr Allan Meares and Dr Graham Sellars, anesthetist Dr Joe McGuinness, and theatre nurse Ms Annie Porter have already operated on birth deformities, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, a hand injury, a burn injury, and facial defects. They are assisted by local doctors and nurses who are happy to learn from them.

The team will work at Gizo Hospital in the Western Province during their second week in the country.

Makira Ulawa Province recorded 39 new cases of tuberculosis, the highest number for several years. This is attributed to awareness workshops for nurses conducted throughout the province, which lead to more cases being recognized and reported.

On the positive side, the province has had no new leprosy cases for several years now.

An increase in cervical cancer in women aged between 20 and 35 was noted at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara. It is one of the most frequently seen forms of cancer at the hospital. Most women affected come from the provinces, especially from Temotu and Makira. Women are often not aware that pap smear tests are available at health centers and should be done regularly. Therefore, by the time they seek medical attention and are referred to the NRH, it is often too late, the cancer is in its final stage and nothing can be done for them. They have to be sent home and most of them do not survive.

The fact that pap smear tests cannot be analyzed locally and have to be sent to Australia, does not help matters. It takes about six to eight weeks until the results come back.

An Australian team doing ENT (ear, nose and throat) operations arrived last Saturday. The team, consisting of a surgeon, an anesthetist and a theatre nurse have been operating on local patients at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara. They will leave Solomon Islands again this weekend.

The next specialized medical team visiting Solomon Islands are said to be cardiologists.

Those visits are supported by AusAID and Rotary International, doctors and nurses work as volunteers.

Records at the National Psychiatric Unit at Kilu'ufi Hospital show a decrease in admisssions (currently nine patients, 6 male and 3 female) but an increase in the number of mentally sick patients being treated. An increasing number of those patients are young people suffering from heavy drug abuse (mainly marijuana), stress caused by social pressure often leading to drug and alcohol abuse, or trauma.

The 36 member Australian team, consisting of all necessary specialists, including doctors. nurses, technicians and support personnel from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, arrived on March 9 and will work at the National Referral Hospital until March 16 and return home a few days later. Most of the necessary equipment and supplies were airlifted to Honiara by an Australian Defence Forces Hercules C130. A cardiologist screened the patients at the NRH and Gizo Hospital and an intensive care unit (ICU) was set up at NRH. A total of more than 26 operations will be performed, most of the patients are children suffering from holes in their heart valves. To get the necessary treatment overseas would cost about SBD 200,000.

Local doctors and nurses are happy to learn from the visitors again.

All team members work as volunteers and meet their own expenses. The visit is funded and supported by AusAID, the Australian Defence Forces, the Sydney Adventist Hospital, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency ADRA and other organizations.

The last time an open heart team visited Solomon Islands was in 1997.

According to the Ministry of Health, the number of cases of gonorrhea, syphilis, and genital ulcers have gone up in all provinces since 2003.

HIV/AIDS: The first case was recorded in 1994. Five new cases were found in 2004 and one new case in 2005. Meanwhile, three of the six patients have died and three of them are HIV positive but not yet on drugs.

A nationwide measles immunization campaign was started in Honiara today. The main target is to immunize as many children aged between one and five years as possible. The campaign will last one month. Campaigns in other provinces will follow.

Fiji had an outbreak of measles recently (about 100 reported cases from February to April 2006).

Chief Surgeon Dr Chester Kuma is leaving the National Referral Hospital in Honiara and the field of surgery to take up a post as health educator at the Seventh-day Adventist Church's South Pacific Division in Sydney, Australia. His new focus will be designing and teaching health programs fitting the countries in the region.

Dr Dudley Ba'erodo is the new Chief Surgeon at NRH.

Due to the recent burning and looting of shops, food supplies at the National Referral Hospital are running low and food rationing had to be introduced. Three meals a day are only served to patients from the provinces, patients from Honiara must get their meals from their realtives.

The hospital tries to keep the number of admissions low to ease the food shortage problem.

The Rotary Club of North Balywn, Melbourne, Australia supplies Tulagi Hospital with mattresses, bed covers, furniture and other things.

The club also supports the McMahon High School with desks.

The Government House First Lady’s Charity Fund has donated medical equipment worth SBD 50,000 to the National Referral Hospital. The equipment include an intravenous infusion pump for the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department and an interpretive ECG machine, two neonatal scales and a blood pressure measuring device for the Children’s Ward.

The fund was set up in March 2005 under the chairmanship of Lady Alice Waena, a former nurse at NRH and wife of the current Governor General Sir Nathaniel Waena. After the success of last years's fund raising events, more activities are planned for this year to buy additional equipment.

An eye team from the National Referral Hospital in Honiara has visited the Helena Goldie Hospital in Munda to treat eye patients. The team arrived last Friday and is expected to complete their work today. The last such visit was eight years ago.

The team consists of team leader Dr. John Szetu, Dr. Mundi Qalo and Dr. John Hue and nurses John Tuabele, Edna Totogi, Kini Natutusai, Betani Mahetoro, and Silverio Qulizepo.

According to the hospital, more than 300 eye patients from Rendova Island, Roviana Lagoon, West and North New Georgia, and Vonavona Lagoon were waiting to see the doctors.

48 nurses, who successfully completed their training, have received their registration certificates, badges and posting notices yesterday. Most of them are assigned to work in the provinces.

Temotu Province's measles vaccination campaign was started in Lata last Friday. The main focus of the campaign will be on Duff, Vanikoro and Utupua islands. About 2,600 children are expected to be immunized in the province this year.

The measles vaccination campaign in the Central Province was started last week. Hundreds of children are said to have been immunized already. The campaign will continue into the first week of June.

Food that came into the possession of the Royal Solomon Islands Police following the recent riot in Honiara has been donated to the National Referral Hospital and the Christian Women's Refuge. Instead of destroying 50 bags of rice, 18 bags of flour and 30 boxes of assorted perishable foodstuff whose owners could not be determined, the police decided to donate the food for the benefit of the community.

NRH was quite happy to receive the donation, as there are still a few problems with food supply.

A nationwide survey comprising demographic, health and women's issues questionnaires will be done in August or September this year. About 4,000 households will be surveyed and people will be measured and weighed. The results of the survey are expected to be available by May next year.

The survey is said to be the first of its kind in the region.

A new clinic on the Atoifi Hospital compound was officially opened on Monday. People from the region (East Kwaio on the east coast of Malaita) provided material and labor for the construction of a traditional building for an outpatient and labor ward. The clinic was specifically built for the people living in the mountains who have avoided going to Atoifi Hospital for years. They are still strongly attached to their traditions and the hospital's setting (particularly the modern buildings) does not fit into their norms and beliefs. As a result, many people unnecessarily died of curable diseases.

Atoifi Hospital is administered by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The water supply system for Kilu'ufi Hospital built in the colonial days is in bad shape and does not deliver enough water for the given number of patients and staff. The pipes are rusting and leaking and the pumping system broke down. According to Director Dr Kako, measures are being taken to address the problems.

A hospital patient had recently complained that patients had to take their baths from rusted drums and that the toilet facilities were filthy.

If the Ministry of Health does not find an anesthetist in the next few days, the National Referral Hospital will be without one soon. Last spring, a local anesthetist had left the country for further studies overseas and Dr Joshua Rubin from Israel was contracted to head the department for a year. He extended his contract by three months, but the extension expired today and he will go home on June 22.

For quite some time, the Minstry of Health has tried to find a replacement, so far without success. Not surprisingly, some applications the ministry had received were withdrawn after the recent riots in Honiara.

Two local anesthetists are currently being trained overseas and (hopefully) will return to Solomon Islands after completing their training. But, according to Dr Rubin, at least three anesthetists are required for NRH and a few more for the provinces.

Applications from qualified specialists are most welcome!

Kirakira Hospital in the Makira Ulawa Province is without a doctor for two months already. A doctor with surgical skills is urgently needed for the 37,0000 people living in the province.

There is a shortage of condoms in some clinics in the northern part of the province. New supplies have been ordered, but are currently out of stock at the National Medical Store in Honiara.

Furthermore, the distribution of treated bednets to pregnant women and children under five does not seem to work the way it should: at least one village in the northern part did not get any. Makira has a high malaria incidence in some parts. Treated bednets are an effective protection and are sold to families for SBD 5 to 10 depending on net size.

The Rotary Club of North Balwyn in Victoria, Australia has approved the following projects recommended by five of its members who visited Tulagi Hospital early last year:

• renovations, including replacement of guttering
• provision of
  
  • 2 new water tanks
  • 5 hospital beds and mattresses
  • a hospital examination couch
  • a portable defibrillator
  • latex gloves
  • computers and office chairs

Much of this has already been completed or is near completion.

Meanwhile, the following projects have been recommended for completion in the next 12 months:

• provision of medical equipement
  A list of much needed equipment, compiled by medical director Dr Michael Vavala, will be sent to public and private hospitals in Victoria for support.
• construction of a new ward for another 20 beds
• provision of a new emergency power generator

Besides the hospital, the Rotary Club also supports the McMahon Community School in Tulagi.

The former local head anesthetist who is currently working overseas writes about his working situation at NRH in a letter to the editor of the Solomon Star.

Media and Reports

Another filled in questionnaire: MS0505.

A picture taken at the aperitif at Viviane von Orelli's exhibit in Hersiau in November last year.

Another filled in questionnaire: FS0502.

Another filled in questionnaire: MS0506.

Another filled in questionnaire: MR0601.

A new report by S. Forte: A Working Adventure.

Two new books on our books page: "THE WHITE HEADHUNTER", an interesting book by Nigel Randell and Birds of The Solomons, Vanuatu & New Caledonia, a field guide for bird-watchers.

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