News

Tina WASH program gains momentum

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Borehole drilling for water supply at the Tina River Hydropower project communities. Work at Bahomea communities is currently underway as the Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) makes a significant push forward to provide locals clean and reliable water supplies under the Water Supply Program.  Water Supply works for Horohotu 1-3, Tina and surrounding areas, Marava, Ngongoti, Verakabikabi, Vatupaua, Areatakiki, Rate Community High School, all located within Bahomea , have commenced and are at various stages of completion. The systems, funded and coordinated by the CBSP for the Tina River Hydro Development Project (TRHDP), range from borehole systems to those tapped from natural …

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GAP team inspects Tina Campsite Facilities

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GAP Officer, Helen chatting with female employees of the Tina River Hydropower project. The campsite that will house workers and staff for the Tina River Hydropower Development Project (TRHDP) has been inspected in a first audit by the Gender Team from the Project Office. The visit was led by the TRHDP Gender Officer and a team from Tina Hydropower Limited (THL) and Hyundai Engineering Company (HEC) to determine whether female workers have safe and accessible facilities on the campsite and at the Project’s construction site at Garivera, Central Guadalcanal.GAP Gender Officer Helen Dolaiano with other staff inspecting the campsite.According to …

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CBSP/SINU sponsored students share valuable feedback

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Students through the Community Benefit Share Project, in collaboration with the Solomon Islands National University (CBSP/ SINU), completed a formal evaluation with Pasifiki HR and the CBSP team this week in Honiara. The first group of sponsored students through the Community Benefit Share Project, in collaboration with the Solomon Islands National University (CBSP/ SINU), completed a formal evaluation with Pasifiki HR and the CBSP team this week in Honiara. The University partnership with the Tina River Hydropower Development Project aims to train students from catchment communities and is a part of the Government’s commitment to building capacity and up-skilling locals …

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CBSP/SINU trade students in the field for practical work

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For their practical component, two electrical students are currently working with Solomon Power’s 11KV extension powerline Project from Black Post to several Tina communities. They are assisting with the wiring of residences to allow for access to electricity. Morris Roni, a father of two children from Pao in the Belaha community of Central Guadalcanal, is one of the students in the SINU program.  He has been amazed at how much he has learnt while working with Solomon Power, commenting that the entire experience has been an eye-opener. “I’m quite excited. Becoming an Electrician is my dream job and it’s thrilling …

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Tina Hydro marks International Women’s Day  

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Women in the Tina River Hydropower Project catchment communities came together this week to celebrate International Women’s Day. They spend time discussing and acknowledging the significant progress made to improve gender equality for rural women thanks to the Gender Action Plan (GAP) initiatives. Working with the community for over 2 years, the Project’sGender Action Plan team have regularly run activities for both women and men to promote equal opportunities and provide information on how to participate in and receive project benefits. This persistent effort despite recent challenges with COVID-19, continues to encourage women to participate in and benefit from this …

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TINA keeps moving with the implementation of COVID safe plan

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COVID Safe Management Plans for the Tina River Hydropower Development Project (TRHDP) have beenactivated as a result of the recent community transmission outbreak plaguing the country. The plans, created in 2021 by Tina Hydro Limited (THL), Hyundai Engineering Company (HEC) are helping to guide leaders and officials who are working tirelessly to implement measures to protect the National Project during these uncertain times. The activated plan forms a part of the Community Health and Disease Vector Management Plan (CHDVMP) and is one of a series of Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) that have been developed by the Project Company …

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Agricultural training to reap benefits for Belaha Community

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In the rural setting of Lungga, members of the Belaha Community are currently attending a series of Agriculture Short Training courses as part of the Community Benefit Sharing Project’s (CBSP) Technical and Vocational Education and Training Component. The tailored courses, which will run over 3 days, are designed to upskill locals in the Tina catchment with a focus in the agriculture sector to be job ready for any future opportunities to earn income from farming. The workshops, which are open to all benefit share communities and will eventually train all eligible members, will cover topics such as nursery production, compost training, …

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SIG supports landowner partnership on Tina Project as a new way forward for local business

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The Buhugaro Tribe, one of the five landowning groups of the Tina Core Land Owning Company (TCLC), have purchased a new vehicle for commercial use as part of a partnership agreement with the Solomon Islands Government’s Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification (MMERE) and the Tina River Hydro Project Office’s Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP). The vehicle, which costs more than $400,000 SBD, is currently being leased to the CBSP team for 14 months and is a great example of the Project taking community ideas on-board following consultations with landowning tribes during the Project’s preparation phase back in 2010. During …

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Team work on the Water Supply Project makes a dream come true

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Traveling long distances to fetch clean water will soon be a thing of the past for the people of Marava, Ngongoti and Valele communities in Central Guadalcanal with the installation of the first water supply system now underway. The system, which is funded and coordinated by the Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) for the Tina River Hydro Development Project (TRHDP), comprises a network of distribution pipes carrying water from a determined natural water source to storage tanks and then onto communities. In a first of its kind for the region, the system is powered by solar energy to move water …

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Health and Hygiene Awareness for Tina Communities

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A three-day community Health and Hygiene awareness program has been completed in communities in the Mbahomea region of Central Guadalcanal.  The session were a part of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) initiative for the Tina River Hydro Development Project which has been running for the past 2 years alongside the preparation phase of the larger Project. GAP is in place to promote equal opportunities for both women and men to participate and receive projects benefits and continues to provide opportunities for women, in particular, to be involved with and be positively impacted by this nation-building project. Women and young girls in …

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CBSP’s WASH Project will start soon

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A one-day pre-construction consultation for a new Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP)water delivery system was held yesterday for community members of Ngongoti, Marava andValele in the Bahomea district of Central Guadalcanal. The construction and installation of the community water infrastructure, officially known asthe Water Supply and Sanitation Project (WASH), is a subcomponent of the Community BenefitSharing Program (CBSP) to provide water supply to eligible villages in the Tina catchmentcommunities. Construction will include a network of pipes to carry the water from the source anddistributed to communities. The objective of the consultation was to help participants understandhow the water system will work. …

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Signing Ceremony will light up Bahomea Communities

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The Tina River Hydropower Development Project is delivering more power to the people in Central Guadalcanal after the official green light was given today for a 11lkV high voltage (HV) extension and 415V low voltage (LV) distribution network at a signing ceremony in Honiara. Communities will soon see their homes light up thanks to the much- anticipated Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) which sees construction of a HV extension and LV distribution network running along the 9km road from Black Post leading up to the Tina community in the Bahomea Region. The signing of the formal collaboration agreement between the …

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CBSP supports 15 young people from the Tina River Communities to further education at SINU

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The Tina River Hydropower Development Project has partnered with the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) to enroll 15 students from the Tina River communities to upskill and train locals under the Community Benefit Sharing Program (CBSP). Starting next week and continuing into 2022/23, the students will be trained in certificate and diploma courses in fields such as Electrical, Plumbing, Business, Survey, Carpentry and Joinery, Environmental, Automotive Engineering and Secretarial studies. In a first-of-its-kind extension program, the students were identified and selected after attending the CBSP’s Pre-Employment Training which was made available to eligible members of the Tina communities. PET training …

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Tina Hydro PET training hits a new milestone

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Attending the Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) Pre-Employment Training (PET) has given 40-year-old Salome Matesaia from Tina Village an opportunity to become employed. Mrs. Matesaia is one of the early participants who joined the first PET training in April this year. Currently, 152 eligible individuals from the Tina River catchment communities have taken part in this program and have trained to be job-ready for the Project construction phase. She described the training as an opportunity to assist people in the community to find ways to earn money for themselves. “I am employed, by Hyundai Engineering Co. Limited (HEC) on the Tina River Hydro …

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Tina Hydro gets the green light

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In a historic moment for the Solomon Islands, the Tina River Hydropower Development Project has overcome its last major hurdle before construction can finally commence on the much-anticipated SBD1.5 billion renewable energy project. It has been a long and challenging journey for the flagship project with the preparatory and planning phase spanning over a decade. After a year of drafting by the Project’s holding company Tina Hydro Ltd. (THL) and its construction partner Hyundai Engineering Company (HEC), Environmental and Social Safeguard Management Plans (ESMPs) were approved by financiers last week, overcoming the last major hurdle before work can finally commence. With …

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Pre employment training commences for communities in the Tina River Catchment

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Last Monday morning after months of preparations, the first group of 30 participants joined the Community Benefit Sharing team from the Tina River Hydropower Development Project Office and facilitators from Pasifiki HR for a weeklong Pre Employment Training (PET) program. The Human Resource initiative is a component of the Community Benefit Sharing Project designed to support the members of communities in the project area in accessing employment opportunities to be created by Tina River Hydropower Development Project. The inaugural group, made up of 15 men and 15 women, were selected from a database of 700 plus people identified in the …

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Community water supply soon to be flowing from Tina

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The Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) team are out in the community this week initiating preparations for the construction of water supply systems under component 2a of the program. It is the final preparation work required before actual construction begins on this element of the Community Benefit Sharing Project worth an estimated SBD $6 million. This month several days will be spent in the communities updating residents on the agreed water designs and discussing any final community input. The team, including the CBSP community water engineer, a water consultant from the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification (MMERE) specialising …

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Tina River Hydropower Project promoting and mainstreaming gender in the Energy and Construction sectors

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International Women’s Day was honoured on Monday March 8, with members of the Project Office, Tina Hydro Limited and women leaders from the Tina River Hydropower Project catchment areas participating in a celebratory parade through the streets of Honiara. While International Women’s Day is day for celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, this year’s focus is on the theme #ChooseToChallenge – a theme that promotes “Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity and this year particularly, bringing a feeling of …

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Community Benefit Sharing Focus – History in the making

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The Community Benefit Sharing Program (CBSP) is gearing up to roll out three significant programs in the first half of 2021. With its dedicated team working within the Tina River Hydropower Project, preparations have already started for a number of initiatives to provide early benefits to affected community members and to prepare for the main project benefit sharing components in later project stages. The first phase, which is happening now to coincide with the pre-construction stage, include pre-employment training, construction of a 11Kva transmission line and rural water sanitation system. With the support of global experts guiding the team, the CBSP …

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