wfn.org | ACNS3518 Ten ways Australia and New Zealand can help the

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3518     |     MELANESIA	  |	21 JULY 2003 

Ten ways Australia and New Zealand can help the Solomon Islands

by The Rt Revd Terry Brown

[ACNS source: Anglican Church of Melanesia] All attention is now
focusing on the upcoming Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Island
"intervention" in the Solomon Islands. Focus is on numbers of troops and
police, strategies and possible dangers. Friends overseas tell me that
the Solomons have been portrayed with great bleakness, full of violence,
hostage-taking, anarchy and chaos. Old newsreels from 1999 and 2000 have
been dusted off and brought out to try to convey this picture. Every
recent killing has been highlighted and surmised upon. Ex-militants and
their hangers-on are interviewed but not ordinary people.

As someone who has lived safely in the Solomons for the past seven
years, including through the height of "ethnic tension", and as someone
who has known the country for almost 30 years, I would say that the
Solomon Islands has serious economic and security problems but it is NOT
in a state of anarchy and chaos.

The three institutions of Solomon Island's life are the traditional
culture ("custom"), the church and the civil state, listing them in the
order in which they reached the Solomons. Over the last century, the
first two have been strong, the third weak. This is still the case.

However, this means that when the civil state fails, as it has
increasingly done over the past few years, the other two institutions
take over - "custom" and the church. Custom and church leaders and
institutions, in rural and even urban areas, have over the past few
years often taken over functions such as conflict resolution, control of
criminal elements, education, medicine, vocational training, public
works, and strengthening of civil society.

These two institutions are very strong and sometimes not noticed by the
outside world, which concentrates on the state. For example, a few weeks
after the signing of the Townsville Peace Agreement in October 2000
between Guadalcanal and Malaitan militant leaders, a massive public
reconciliation service was held in Honiara, organised by the Melanesian
Brothers and signatories to the TPA. Guadalcanal militants, led by the
Brothers, converged on Malaita-populated Honiara from both sides. When
they met, there was a tremendous, emotional three-day public
reconciliation in which Guadalcanal and Malaitan militants and their
supporters were reconciled. This event was barely mentioned in the
international press. Since then, there has been little real "ethnic
tension" in the Solomons.

The present problems are different but related - the collapsed economy,
ex-militant leaders from both sides trying to maintain their economic
and political dominance, a very weak, demoralised and partly corrupt
police force, and the very violent campaign of the renegade Weather
Coast Guadalcanal militant leader, Harold Keke, who did not sign the
TPA, for an independent Guadalcanal.

But most of the country, including Honiara, the provincial capitals and
the rural areas (except for the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal) is
peaceful. There is the occasional killing and act of violence. There are
still many guns about. But because the vast majority of Solomon
Islanders stay close to their customary and Christian values, even if
there is no state, they generally live in peace and quietness.

Most Solomon Islanders support the coming international intervention -
because of the very violent situation on the Weather Coast of
Guadalcanal which the Solomon Island's Police cannot handle, the
weakness and unreliability of many of the local police and ex-militants
still holding guns and intimidating the government and the general
population.
I too, as an Anglican Bishop, a Canadian, working in Malaita, support
the intervention, as long as it is appropriate to the need, culturally
sensitive, addresses the real problems and is linked with a broader
Australian and New Zealand policy towards the overall economic and
political situation of the country.

Therefore, I want to make 10 concrete suggestions about how Australia
and New Zealand can help the Solomons. They are not so exciting as an
armed police and military intervention but they are crucial to the
future of the country. I list them in order of priority:

1. Support a programme for the registration of customary land

Over 90 per cent of the land of the Solomons is indigenously owned
through "customary land tenure" - that is, corporate ownership of land
by a whole tribe. There is no current system of legally registering this
land with clear boundaries, genealogies and land trusts. The result is
an endless string of land disputes, dividing communities and bringing on
violence. Cases are appealed to the High Court, which treats the land as
virtually individually owned, giving ownership to a single person "on
behalf of the tribe". That person is then free to register or sell the
land as alienated land, bringing him into conflict with his relatives
who suddenly discover they have lost their land.

The system also makes for unjust exploitation of natural resources, such
as timber; whereby unscrupulous overseas investors (usually from Asia)
are able to get control of the resources through payment of bribes to
the person whom the court declares owns the land "on behalf of the
tribe". The result is more court cases and sometimes violence. Armed
ex-militants have also pushed into this situation and claimed ownership
of customary land when they clearly have no right by custom or law.

For the Solomons to develop economically, the customary land situation
needs to be sorted out. The immediate answer is not, as some in the
World Bank would have it, to encourage more and more alienation of
customary land, including land ownership by foreigners. Before there can
be any more alienation of land, the base customary land situation has to
be sorted out - otherwise, endless conflicts will ensue. One reason
Vanuatu does not have the troubles the Solomons has is that at its
independence, all land was registered to its customary owners and leases
re-negotiated for alienated land.

Just before "ethnic tension" hit in 1999, a good programme of customary
land ownership was under way. This programme needs to be restored, as a
long-term investment in the Solomon's economic future. The temptation to
jump suddenly to individual ownership of land, registering it as
alienated land, needs to be resisted. The only reason the Solomons is
not starving is because of its customary land tenure system.

2. Rebuild the Judiciary

The country's bankrupt status means that certain fundamental
institutions have slid downward. The Judiciary (unlike in Fiji)
basically retained its independence during the period of "ethnic
tension" but local Magistrates fled and offices such as that of the
Public Prosecutor and Public Defender ceased to receive government
funding. In Auki, the provincial capital of Malaita, there has been no
Magistrate for almost four years. This means that Police have no place
to go after they make an arrest and imprison someone - there is no
Magistrate to hear the case - so prisoners are simply released after a
night in jail. Despite repeated requests from provincial government
leaders, the church and even the police, no Magistrate has appeared.

3. Help the country move to free primary and junior secondary education

With the current system of high tuition fees for all secondary students
(and now, increasingly, even primary students), more and more parents
simply cannot afford to send their children to school. As a Bishop,
there isn't a day when I am not approached about paying someone's school
fees. For a few years at least, until the country regains some of its
economy, perhaps overseas aid donors simply need to increase their
subsidies to education to make free primary and junior secondary school
possible. Otherwise, the pool of illiterate, dissatisfied, disappointed
youth will simply increase and increase. They are the pool that will
produce the "terrorists" that Australia is so afraid of.

To point the United Nations Charter of Human Rights at the Solomon
Islands government and tell it to provide free universal education does
nothing. The country has no money and is always in arrears in its
payment of salaries to teachers and grants to schools. Except for church
schools, very few schools stay open all year - there are often gaps of
weeks when there is no money to run the schools or pay the teachers.

4. Listen to what the Solomon Islands people want in the armed
intervention

My impression is that there is a fair degree of unanimity amongst the
people of the Solomon Islands about what they expect of the upcoming
intervention. They want police who will do what the Solomon Islands
police often have not done - respond quickly to crimes in progress,
patrol the streets, take evidence and pursue cases, collect illegally
held arms (including from ex-militants), arrest those making public
disturbances even if they are drunk and be actually present at the
police station, even in rural areas.

The "hands off crime" attitude of the International Peace Monitoring
Team (IPMT), even though it was their mandate, was a great
disappointment to many people in the Solomons. Whenever the IPMT were in
danger, they left the scene. They held constant evacuation exercises,
often by helicopter. The impression they left was that "we're not going
to get involved in policing or even in halting crime, and when our lives
are in danger, we're out of here". Of course, they were unarmed and
their presence was of some benefit. But it did not look very good when
the IPMT (many of them police and military) just stayed in their houses
during shoot-outs - only to go down to the police station the next
morning to count spent cartridges and chat with those who did the
shooting. By the end of their time in Auki, at their last arms
collection, they had to depend on the stolen vehicles of the
ex-militants for transport - not much different from the Solomons
police!

Another public expectation is that the police in the intervention force
will help in the investigation of serious crimes committed over the past
few years. The Townsville Peace Agreement gave an amnesty only for
killings and other military activities associated directly with the
conflict - though not for torture, major human rights abuses and war
crimes. People hope that the detectives and other police coming in will
help prosecute those who committed major human rights abuses during the
conflict. Witnesses are still alive.

The Townsville Peace Agreement also provided for no amnesty for any
criminal activity committed after the signing of the TPA on 15 October
2000. Since then there have been several serious killings in which it is
suspected that ex-militants and/or the police themselves have been
involved, not to mention assault, robbery and other crimes. It is
difficult for local police to investigate these cases. It is hoped that
the police coming in will help in these investigations and prosecute,
even if those charged are police or politicians.

5. Rebuild Rove Prison in Honiara, train prison staff and make sure they
are paid

Presently Rove Prison in Honiara is almost porous. No prisoner accused
of murder is safe from retaliation by the family of the deceased,
especially when the family also includes members of the police. After
the police worked extremely hard to arrest Edmond Sae, the accused
killer of Sir Fred Soaki, he walked out of Rove Prison and is still
loose, causing great fear around Auki. Prison conditions are often very
poor, with the government having no money to buy food for prisoners.
Last year, scurvy was discovered among the prisoners at Rove. 

6. Help rebuild tertiary education in the country, including local
scholarships for tertiary students

The Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE) has been
virtually closed for the last three years because of the government's
failure to pay a small counterpart required by the European Union for
their funding of SICHE. This closure has produced another pool of
disaffected young adults, turning them to crime, alcohol and drug abuse
and loss of hope. Surely such a situation is not in the interest of
Australia and New Zealand. SICHE has resorted to short and expensive
"summer school" courses for its own self-support but with the effect of
exploiting students and their parents with very high tuition fees. If
the present situation continues, the Solomons will have to import
skilled labour. This is ridiculous as there are many qualified people in
the Solomons who want to have technical training. Even teachers'
training is barely functioning. It would be helpful to have local
scholarships for study at local tertiary institutions, not putting
everything into overseas scholarships. Many more people and the whole
country would benefit, not just a few.

7. Help train out-of-school youths

Because of the small number of secondary schools and very high school
fees, the majority of students are pushed out of formal education at the
end of Grade 6, Form 3 (Grade 9) or Form 5 (Grade 11). Many do not even
get to grade 6 and there is much illiteracy, even among the young. Many
of these students are still highly motivated and gifted. Historically,
the government and churches focused on formal education. However, in the
last 20 years, churches of all denominations have developed "vocational
training centres", in both rural and urban areas, to teach carpentry,
home economics, mechanics, agriculture and other vocational subjects.
Officially, the government also supports "non-formal education" but has
put little resources into it. The European Union has given much
assistance in this area but more is needed as there is a demand for more
centres and the increase in capacity of the existing centres. Literacy
is a particular concern.

8. Help the Solomon Islands economy work from its strengths

It feels like Australia and New Zealand - and the Solomon Islands
government - still hope that the economic future of the Solomons lies in
the re-opening of the Gold Ridge mine and the vast oil palm and cocoa
plantations on Guadalcanal. Yet it was the land and labour arrangements
of these economic activities that largely brought on the "ethnic
tension" problem. Guadalcanal landowners, who used to grow rich on
subsistence gold mining, suddenly discovered, after their small
royalties were paid by the gold mine, that they could no longer practice
subsistence gold mining on their customary land. They also resented the
well-educated Malaitans running the mine - who reported that the mine
was also secretly producing silver, unreported to the Solomon Islands
government. Customary land ownership of the mine is still disputed -
point one above - with Weather Coast people continuing to exert their
claims. The same is true of the vast plantations. Now Guadalcanal people
are doing subsistence harvest of the cocoa plantations - the price of
cocoa is high - and they have nothing to gain from the plantation system
being reimposed.

Timber and fish remain the country's two greatest natural resources. Yet
harvest of timber (almost always round-log production, of the least
economic benefit to the Solomons and the greatest to the exporters) has
been beyond sustainable levels for years. Because of corruption and
bribes, on both the provincial and national level, the government has
lost enormous revenue and timber as a natural resource is being depleted
beyond recovery. The same is increasingly true of the sea - with illegal
fishing by overseas vessels going on with the country incapable of doing
anything. Are there not Australian and New Zealand technicians with a
conscience in these areas who can provide some help? Cannot the
Australian or New Zealand government help in the surveillance and
capture of illegal fishing boats?

Likewise, any government agriculture extension and education service for
farmers is now non-existent. Indeed, sometimes agriculture stations have
been taken over by private farmers, even ex-militants, privately
benefiting from the government infrastructure. There are all sorts of
exciting possibilities - vanilla, black pepper, spices, rice, honey,
taro, fruits etc - but no programme, no support, no sharing of
expertise.

Why cannot Australia and New Zealand sponsor Solomon Islands trade
offices in their countries to facilitate the import of Solomon Island's
products? Solomon Island exporters tell me that the Australian and New
Zealand importing rules and regulations are often very complicated and
seem more designed to keep Solomon Islands products out than in. Can one
really tell the exact weight of one's catch of fish two weeks in
advance?
The Solomon's greatest resource are its peoples, cultures and landscapes
- the friendliness and openness of its people, the beauty of their art,
dance and worship, the beauty of the country (both above water and below
water), the beauty of beaches, rain forests, rich wildlife, traditional
villages and lagoons. For many people, it still remains a beautiful
tourist destination.

Overseas travel advisories and the events of the past few years have
frightened off the majority of the tourists. But one aim of the
intervention should be to make the country again safe for visitors. I
believe they are basically already safe. We in the Diocese have been
hosting many overseas visitors, including students, without incident. I
am sure the Solomons remain safer, both in Honiara and rural areas, than
many popular global tourist destinations, including some in the
"developed" world. So as the country becomes safer and safer, overseas
countries and media should recognise this and not labour to find yet
another horror story with which to paint the country. We are amazed that
Australia and New Zealand have no murder, rape, theft, violence or
crime.

9. Assist the country with its transportation and communication needs

If the Solomons are to have any economic future, they need greatly
improved communication and transportation. The Solomon Telekom monopoly
provides poorer and poorer telecommunication service to the country at
higher and higher rates. The company is seeking a 25-year monopoly from
the Solomon Islands government in all communications services including
telephone, fax, email, Internet and television. Telephone services
during the day between Honiara and provincial capitals are almost
non-existent. Pay-card calls within Honiara and beyond are often
impossible to make. Internet and email are often impossible to access
from congestion. The whole system is overloaded and often breaks down.
True, Solomon Telekom lost many assets during "ethnic tension" but it
has not bounced back well and is very user-unfriendly. It could use some
competition.

The privatisation of the Post Office has been a disaster. The
government's Post Office debts were also privatised to the new Postal
Corporation but all government financial support withdrawn. Many
provincial post offices receive mail only once every few weeks, despite
daily flights and ships. Overseas mail piles up in Brisbane or Honiara
as the Postal Corporation apparently has no money to pay freight or take
mail to the airport. The Solomons Postal Corporation must be the only
one in the world where you have to pay to receive your mail. The Post
Office could use a bit of outside administrative expertise.

Similarly, the privatisation of government shipping has been a disaster.
Remote provinces and outer islands no longer have regular shipping,
contributing to the loss of national unity. Honiara has become the hub
of all provincial shipping companies as they all seek the most lucrative
routes. The MV Temotu seldom sees Temotu Province; the MV Ysabella
seldom sees Ysabel Province, etc. People become stranded in Honiara,
draining their relatives dry and contributing to social tension. The
country's national airline also struggles, with usually only one or two
planes operating on its domestic services. The Solomons could use some
help in appropriate ways in which the government might intervene to put
all provinces on an equal playing field in terms of transportation and
communication. Otherwise, the Solomon Islands will eventually break up
into more countries.

10. Cut down the racist rhetoric

The Solomon Islands I hear described in the Australian, New Zealand,
Canadian, British and American media is not the Solomon Islands I
experience. Yes, there are problems and they are serious ones. But
amongst the general population there is an incredible richness of
peaceful relationships and friendships that is often lacking in
so-called "developed" countries, where personal alienation is often the
rule. For example, in Vanuatu, where tourism has succeeded, tourists
often find themselves taken into people's homes and hearts. That also
happens in the Solomons. With very few exceptions, to paint Solomon
Islanders as militants, potential terrorists, rapists, hostage takers,
criminals and masters of corruption is simply wrong. Journalists write
about the country without ever having visited it. They put imaginary
motivations into events they read about. They confuse the past and the
present. 

The Solomon Islands are an incredible web of friendships, relationships,
family ties and cultural ties which, despite "globalisation", are
holding up well. But social change has brought up a small group of
militants who are themselves quite capable of being reintegrated back
into their communities. The upcoming intervention should help strengthen
the Solomons in its positive human resources and community life. It
should also assist in its economic development - not engender more
racist highlighting of problems without any solutions, which has often
been overseas countries' and media's view of the Solomons. Finally, come
to the Solomons; get out of Honiara, into a country that is incredibly
beautiful, in its peoples, cultures and landscape, despite its very 21st
century problems.

The Rt Revd Dr Terry Brown is Bishop of Malaita in the Church of
Melanesia. He first came to the Solomons in 1975 as a theological
lecturer on Guadalcanal for six years. He returned to Canada where for
11 years he was Asia/Pacific Mission Coordinator of the Anglican Church
of Canada, based in Toronto. He returned to Malaita to become bishop
there in 1996. He lives in Auki, the capital of Malaita Province. The
Diocese includes some 34,000 Anglicans in Malaita Province.

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