To'abaita Primary School student at White River crowned 2006 Coconut Prince

A young To'abaita student studying at the White River Primary School in Honiara has been crowned as the 2006 Coconut Prince along with his female colleague who is also crowned as the Coconut Princes, in the national competition last week.

The winning prince is Roland Batarii and the princess is Velinsa Redley. Mr Roland Batarii is related to the late Roland Batarii from Kwaiana Village in North Malaita, who used to work for the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) prior to his death a few years ago.
The winning prince and princess of White River primary school, Elinsa Redley and Roland Batarii [pic from Solstar]

The competition was hosted by the National Coconut Week organising committee and organised for the primary schools in Honiara. Unfortunately, only two of the five schools that have submitted their names to participate, turned up for the show. Only White River and Lord Howe representatives came on stage for the show, which attracted a large crowd.

The show includes a male and female from a school. It featured the prince and princess coming on stage before a handful of crowd and then present themselves in coconut dressing before making a speech about the importance of the tree. The students highlighted that coconut tree is one of the most useful trees in the country and elsewhere because it had provided useful things to the community.

A three panel member judge witnessed the show and have awarded the price to White River for its well presented appearance and speech. Solomon Tropical Products has sponsored the prizes for the competition. The winner will keep the title for this year and next year during another competition the title will be contested again.