J. Roughan in Honiara.   jroughan@solomon.com.sb
2 April 2003 

Solomon Islands teeters on the brink of sinking below the waves. Over the
past four years different groups have used the gun in its many
forms--threats, intimidation, brute force--to get their own way.
Guadalcanal's militants at the end of 1998 decided that force was the only
way to make the government of the day listen to their pleas for the Better
Life. It was soon followed by other groups doing much the same thing! 

In 1978 our 'olos' took a big gamble . . . they joined their common
strengths together, asked the colonial power, UK, to leave our shores and
they were determined to make their own way in this big world. By 1998,
however, many villagers experienced a poorer, more difficult life than the
one they had dreamt of 20 years before. The Guale villagers decided that
the only way of getting government attention was to take matters into
their own hands . . . rebel. After successfully driving many thousands of
'foreigners' from their land, they found that what they had gained was a
worse life, one of more misery than with what they had started off with. 

Malaita's response was a coup! They thought that by taking over the
government the economy would be theirs and the Better Life would begin for
them. Just the opposite happened! By illegally taking over the government
not only had they destroyed the state but the national economy as well.
Everyone, but especially the poorest, suffered and continue to suffer. 

In both cases, the Guale and Malaita leaders had chosen the
competition-game plan to gain the Better Life. Each side thought that by
competing with others rather than cooperating with them would bring their
side the Better Life. What began in late 1998, unfortunately, continues to
this very day. The original groups, the Isitabu and Eagle forces, no
longer operate the competition model but that same way of acting continues
on. Elements of the police force, the special constables and even
parliament members themselves are now the ones who think that competing
with the rest of Solomons' society brings their small group the Better
Life. Unfortunately our young nation's recent history is currently being
repeated worldwide.

Once the gun dominates the human story, it is hard for those holding on to
it to negotiate. Gun power makes the gun holder think that for their own
survival only what can be achieved by force guarantees their future. As in
the wider world, gun power is terribly limited. In the long run, the gun
and its many other forms--force, violence, power--make cooperation less
and less attractive.

We have three years left to save the Solomons. The gun over the past four
years has clearly proven one thing: It doesn't bring the Better Life to
anyone, even to those who use it. Guale villages have grown poorer since
their expulsion of 'foreigners' in 1999. Malaitans lost out twice: once in
1999 when 20,000 were forced to leave Guale and the second time in the
2000 Coup when it was they especially who lost out on jobs. The following
two years, 2001-2002, have been a disaster not only for the two island
groups involved in the beginning of our Social Unrest, but for the rest of
the Solomons as well. Education has seriously wilted, medical attention
grows steadily less reliable, jobs are disappearing rapidly and the nation
feels less secure each month. Do our leaders need any more persuasion that
competition hasn't worked and the only road out of our problems is for all
of us to cooperate?

Negotiation is the key to a future for all of us. Demanding our rights in
the face of a disaster is not a clever tactic. When a ship is sinking, it
makes little sense to demand your right to your salary, your right to the
cabin you paid for. What is needed during crisis time, when the ship is
sinking, is to learn to negotiate with all others on board ship for a
place in the dingy for yourself and your family. Once the dingy has
reached dry land and you and your family are safe, then take up the task
of negotiating back to the Better Life for all. Gun power and all its
forms is useless in this kind of situation.

J. Roughan  jroughan@solomon.com.sb
2 April 2003