Japhet Honimae was among the 109 passengers who thanked Government for allowing a Solomon Airlines repatriation flight to take them home yesterday.

Mr Honimae, 43, a postgraduate student at the Fiji National University was stranded alongside other citizens since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“It was safe in Fiji. I have left to carry on with my research which I will continue back home and join online classes. That should be handy for me,” he said.

Mr Honimae is completing his postgraduate Master in Health Services Management at the Tamavua Campus.

He is the director of Nursing at the Guadalcanal Province, a registered nurse since 1999.

Some of the home bound Solomon Islanders outside the University of the South Pacific on May 27, 2020. Photo: Ronald Kumar

Other students Margaret Takona, Angela Isihanua and Crystal Konainao also shared similar sentiments.

Solomon Islands High Commissioner William Soaki said: “We are very grateful to the Fijian Government for giving us the approval for the repatriation flight for our citizens who have been stranded here for the last two months,” Mr Soaki said.

“Other students are still in the country. They will return home in June or July and the rest at the end of the year depending on their programmes.”

He added the body of late Bryan Abaita, who was in his late 20s was a third-year student at the University of the South Pacific (USP) was flown on the aircraft

“That is one of the sad stories, we have lost one of our students. He had a history of heart issues, which got him just at the end of him completing his studies,” Mr Soaki said.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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