Pacific News Brief, June 21

photo: 123 RF

Solomon Islands – Pollution

Car owners will be taxed S$50 a year as part of a new “pollution fee” in the Solomon Islands, the Minister of Finance and Treasurer has announced.

this Solomon’s Star The charge is reportedly part of the government’s new measures to increase revenue and strengthen the tax system.

Minister Manasseh Sogavare said the plan would start with vehicles and then cover ocean-going vessels and other engines.

Minister Sogavare said he expects the new tax to generate about Surinamese $2 million, which will go to the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology to help them manage pollution.

West Papua – Conflict

Many residents of West Papua have sought refuge in churches following clashes between security forces and West Papuan independence fighters that left two insurgents, a soldier and a civilian dead.

Real news The Indonesian military reportedly said fighting broke out in Paniai district in Central Papua province last week after the West Papua National Liberation Army burned a public minivan and killed the driver.

Liberation Army spokesman Sebby Sambom denied that the group had committed any criminal acts in Bibida that had displaced residents.

Fiji – Drugs

Fiji Police say drug possession cases continue to occur across five police districts.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police Operations said in a statement on Tuesday that 15 people had been arrested for illegal drug possession since last Friday.

Of the 15 people arrested by East End police, six were arrested after officers found dried leaves suspected to be marijuana and a white substance suspected to be methamphetamine.

Three more people were arrested Tuesday morning after being found with a white substance suspected to be methamphetamine.

Papua New Guinea – Population Census

Nationwide The report said the deadline for Papua New Guinea’s census is June 30, after which there will be a 60-day “data cleansing” grace period.

This is done to ensure there are no duplications and everything is accurate.

The Minister of Administrative Services responded to a number of complaints, including snags at the start of the process and not allocating enough time to undertake such a massive project.

He said extending the counting period would be too costly because of the high costs of tablets, rental vehicles, logistics and other resources.

Meanwhile, technical problems with thousands of tablet computers used in Papua New Guinea’s census are being resolved.

Benjamin Haichim, assistant director of census processing, said the devices had no technical glitches and just needed to be configured correctly.

He said configuration instructions for the tablets will be shared with provincial census coordinators and their technical staff.

Vanuatu/New Zealand – Partnership

Vanuatu and New Zealand have formalized a climate flexibility finance partnership.

this Vanuatu Daily Post The partnership arrangement reportedly involves an amount of NZD 8 million, equivalent to Vt500 million.

Flexible funding means that while the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides funding, the implementation of climate change activities, projects and programs is the responsibility of the Vanuatu Ministry of Climate Change.