Malaita’s Onelafa CHS burnt down, Secondary students bound to be affected by the arson incident, police confirm an investigation has been launched

ONELAFA Community High (CHS) School in East Fataleka, Malaita Province, has suffered a great loss following the burning down of its double story classroom building on Monday night.

The burning down of the modern two-storey classroom building leaves the staff, parents, and students in shock.

The burnt down building consisted of six classrooms, meaning the school will be affected with possibilities that secondary division classes will be halted.

The building was funded under Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) after the school introduced secondary classes in 2013.

All that was left of the building, which costed over $600,000.00 is concrete.

Chairs, tables and student teaching materials that were stored in the building are all gone.

Speaking to Solomon Star Auki yesterday after learning about the burning down of the building, a former Onelafa School Head Teacher Nemuel Olofisau said, “This is a sad day for education in the Fataleka constituency.”

Mr Olofisau, who was instrumental in ensuring Onelafa was elevated to also offer secondary classes said it is sad to see their hard work destroyed by people who have no concern for the future of Fataleka children who depend on the school for their education.

While the cause of the fire is yet to be known, Mr Olofisau wants police to investigate the matter and arrest those responsible.

“It was my vision to elevate the level of the school from primary to include secondary education to allow students to do their second school education at the same school.

“It is sad to learn of the burning down of the school building and the incident is an indication that some of us do not want to see good things in Fataleka,” Mr Olofisau said.

“I call on the police to investigate the matter and hold those who are responsible for the burning accountable.

“The sad reality after the burning is that secondary school students from Form One to Form Five have no place to go,” he added.

The burning incident happened just as students are about to return to school for their second semester lasses.

Attempts to get comments from the School Principal Collin Wanega on the matter on Tuesday were unsuccessful as his cell phone was switched off.

Meanwhile, the Malaita Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Superintendent Leslie Kili confirmed to Solomon Star Auki that police were made aware of the incident and an investigation is now in progress.

PPC Kili said following reports of the arson incident, Atori police visited Onelafa CHS to start the investigation.

He said a team from the Auki Police will join the Atori team soon to carry out full investigation before making any arrests.

PPC Kili said they are still to identify any suspects at the moment and therefore called on the Onelafa CHS staff, parents, students and those who may have leads into the incident to come forward and work together with police. 

Onelafa CHS’s entire secondary division will be affected as the double storey building which housed the whole secondary division was totally destroyed in the fire. The burning incident on Monday night shocked teachers, students, and parents as the building which costed over $600,000.00 was completely destroyed in just in a matter of minutes.

By WILSON SAENI in Auki