Minister of Education, Hon, Tozen Leokana, on Monday, January 13th, 2025 endorsed the release of the 2025 Solomon Islands Government scholarships recipients list. This was after the Scholarship Selection Committee Chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Franco Rodie had completed the selection process, which was based on the assessment of candidates’ applications received and assessed by the Scholarship Assessment Committee chaired by the Director of National Scholarship Division. In a statement, the Director of the National Scholarship Division, Dr. John Iromea stated that he was pleased that the Minister has endorsed the scholarship recipients’ list – given the time it took his committee to assess the scholarship applications, which eventuated in the selection of the successful candidates. “I am pleased to inform you that the 2025 SIG scholarships recipients have been approved by the Hon. Minister of Education for implementation and my division will begin to notify the successful candidates...

CONCERNS have been raised by Honiara residents over illegal water connections in certain squatter settlements in and around the national capital and many perceive this an act of injustice to the user-pay customers of Solomon Water (SW). It has been discovered that some individuals in squatter settlements in and around Honiara have illegally connected water to their homes by installing pipelines underground to avoid detection by SW officials. These illegal connections allow many to access water without paying, while eligible SW customers continue to pay their bills. “This is not a new thing here in the capital city. However, this practice is unfair as many of us work hard to pay for our water bills every month,” one concerned resident from Green Valley told Solomon Star in an interview yesterday “Many people dig into Solomon Water’s pipelines at the T-connection points to attach their illegal pipes underground to the pipelines...