Illegal entry

Tala Fou reports Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa has admitted to a security lapse on the part of government Ministries.

Fiame has expressed disappointment with how certain government bodies allowed a boat that sailed from American to enter and return without approval.

At her press conference last week Fiame stressed that it should never have happened.

She added that the boat should have been seized upon entry and the crew should have been locked immediately if they didn’t have the right documentation, however local officials failed to do so.

The group from the Tasman Islands crossed over by boat to the Malaita Outer Islands on Boxing Day, allegedly to purchase the local homebrew called Kaleve.

They were arrested by police and screened by medical authorities in the outer islands before being transported to the capital.

In Honiara, they were further screened then released to police after testing negative for Covid-19.

Three 19-year-olds and a 34-year-old have been charged with illegal entry by a non-citizens under Covid-19 state of public emergency regulation.