Knowledge Centre : Pacific Focus : Country specific information : Solomon Islands : Page 3
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- Facing up to Reality in the Solomons
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Commentary by James Chin, July 18, 2003. "The announcement by Australia that it will intervene directly in the Solomon Islands to restore law and order has met with mixed reactions in Papua New Guinea and, one suspects, in the rest of the Pacific as well".(Dr James Chin lectures in political science at the University of Papua New Guinea. He has written extensively on PNG politics).
http://166.122.164.43/archive/2001/May/05-02-15.htm
(Added: Tue Jul 22 2003 Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005 Hits: 450)
- Ten ways Australia and New Zealand can help the Solomon Islands
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By the Rt Revd Terry Brown, 21st July, 2003. "... 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." (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).
http://www.wfn.org/2003/07/msg00222.html
(Added: Tue Jul 22 2003 Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005 Hits: 330)
- Pacific Islands Forum Meeting: Outcome Statement regarding regional response to assist the Solomon Islands
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30 June 2003, Sydney, Australia, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Pacific Islands Forum met in Sydney, Australia on 30 June 2003 to discuss a regional response to assist Solomon Islands according to the principles set out in the Biketawa Declaration.
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/spacific/regional_orgs/ffamm_solomons_0306.html
(Added: Tue Jul 15 2003 Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005 Hits: 124)
- Let the People Decide!
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The Pacific Concerns Resource Centre is wary and gravely concerned about the deployment of 15 Australian military personnel in the sovereign state of the Solomon Islands to pave the way for the arrival of another 2,000 strong forces. Australia has no justification for their intervention even if they say it was upon request by the Solomon Islands Prime Minister Allan Kamekeza. To our knowledge a public referendum has not been conducted in the Solomon Islands to justify the Prime Minister's drastic decision.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/5648PCRC110703.html
(Added: Mon Jul 14 2003 Modified: Tue Jul 29 2003 Hits: 199)
- Australia's aid boomerang won't help the Solomon's
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By Tim O'Connor, 2003-07-02 (AID/WATCH Media Release). The announcement by Foreign Minsister Alexnader Downer in Sydney on Monday 30th June, to send Australian troops and a new aid package to the Solomon's was met with a protest from AID/WATCH outside the Four Seasons Hotel. Despite Australia still being a democracy the peaceful protest was broken up by police and one of the committed AID/WATCHers ended up in the back of a police wagon. The Foreign Minister received the following media release.
http://www.aidwatch.org.au/index.php?current=1&display=aw00399&display_item=2
(Added: Tue Jul 08 2003 Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005 Hits: 378)
- Herald Feature: Solomon Islands
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The New Zealand Herald's Solomon Islands feature page.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?reportID=54013
(Added: Tue Jul 08 2003 Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005 Hits: 179)
- Solomon Islands - Should Australia send Peace Keeping Force?
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By Tim O'Connor, 2003-06-13 (AID/WATCH Briefing Paper). Conflict in the Solomon Islands has escalated again this week and Solomons PM Allan Kamakeza was in Canberra to meet with Australian PM John Howard to work out a solution. High on the agenda was the installment of a peace keeping force. read on for more information.
http://www.aidwatch.org.au/index.php?current=1&display=aw00385&display_item=2
(Added: Tue Jul 08 2003 Modified: Mon Dec 05 2005 Hits: 199)
- Amnesty . . . yet again!
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John Roughan, Honiara, 30 June 2003. Fijian people learnt a bitter lesson from the failed Coups of 1987. When a new coup raised its ugly head in 2000, Fiji's leaders knew exactly what to do. No more blanket amnesties for those who betray the nation, destroy its institutions and bring the nation to its knees. Solomon Islands, on the other hand, gives amnesty out freely, easily without much thought for the good of the nation but with unusual sensitivity to those who led the coup, killed, destroyed and brought the nation to its knees.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/Roughan04071003.html
(Added: Fri Jul 04 2003 Hits: 251)
- Let our Children be the Measure!
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John Roughan in Honiara, 25 June 2003. When Australian/New Zealand troops land on our shores in a few months time, the nation gets a second chance to set things right. Our political leaders, if they can only rise above the petty, the grubby, and the siren call of money, they can finally save our ship of state from sinking. Parliamentarians, however, must first clearly know, then acknowledge with humility and finally correct why elected leaders ran this country into the ground. Our awful track record for poor governance did not begin five years ago--1998--but has been building for 25 years.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/5530Roughan.html
(Added: Thu Jun 26 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 158)
- 1000 refugees on Solomon Islands Weather Coast
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RNZI NEWS Created at 4:09 pm on 17 June 2003. One thousand villagers on Solomon Islands Weather Coast are reported to have fled from their homes after rebel leader, Harold Keke, took over a police post and expanded the area under his control.
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=getarchive&day=18&month=06&year=2003
(Added: Thu Jun 19 2003 Modified: Fri Jul 14 2006 Hits: 135)
- Bougainville: Beyond Survival
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By Regan, Anthony J. Issue 26.3, Cultural Survival. "Located 1,000 kilometers east of the mainland national capital of Port Moresby, Bougainville is the most remote of Papua New Guinea's 19 provinces. It consists of two large islands, Bougainville (8,646 square kilometers) and Buka (598 square kilometers), separated by a narrow passage, as well as many smaller islands. Its 9,438 square kilometers constitute about two percent of Papua New Guinea's land area. Geographically, culturally, and linguistically, Bougainville is part of the Solomon Islands chain, but became part of Papua New Guinea rather than the British colony of Solomon Islands as an "accident" of late-19th century colonial map-drawing." Anthony Regan, a constitutional lawyer, advises Bougainvillean parties to the negotiations with the Papua New Guinea government on the political future of Bougainville. He is a fellow in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.
(Added: Wed Jun 11 2003 Modified: Tue Sep 12 2006 Hits: 263)
- Melanesia: The Future of Tradition
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By Weiner, James F. Issue 26.3, Cultural Survival. "Despite the political, economic, and physical hazards brought about by Melanesia's increasing exposure to a global world, local communities have responded in ways that augment and enhance their cultural identity and uniqueness. Eager to embrace western modes of life, they nevertheless insist on doing so within the framework of their customary laws and their still profound attachment to their ancestral lands. The constitutional protection afforded their cultural laws in the independent countries of Melanesia is the most secure bulwark against threats to their cultural survival." James Weiner has been lecturer in anthropology at The Australian National University and the University of Manchester and professor of anthropology at the University of Adelaide. Author of four books and many articles on the Foi, he now works as an independent consultant in Australia.
(Added: Wed Jun 11 2003 Modified: Tue Sep 12 2006 Hits: 339)
- Parliament Must Speak!
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John Roughan in Honiara, 18 May 2003. Solomon Islands people deserve to hear their representatives speak about what they think is happening to their beloved country. That is why the people of this nation elected these men . . . to speak, debate, discuss and yes, disagree about how best to run this country. Government can not deny its citizens the right to listen to their representatives speak out about the state of the country, how to fix up its problems and especially to plan for the future.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/5259Roughan.html
(Added: Mon May 19 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 135)
- When the best is not good enough!
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The nation currently faces a ridiculous situation. A group of people because they made a poor business choice--gave a con-woman $250 and expected to gain back hundreds of thousands of dollars in a short period of time--has turned sour. After months and months of waiting all they can show for their 'investment' is a great deal of lost time, not only no return on their original 'investment' but a real danger of losing all their money. In their eyes, someone has to 'compensate' them for this terrible loss. Who better than government!
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/5238Roughan.html
(Added: Wed May 14 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 119)
- Parliament must sit NOW! - Honiara
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John Roughan in Honiara, 6 May 2003. Our economy, according to the Asian Development Bank's report for 2002, "is desperate, and the quality of life has plummeted". ADB's recent report reads like the nation's death sentence--GDP has declined for the 4th year in a row, the country is experiencing an "economic crisis", government steps to restore public security and stabilize the economy have been grossly inadequate--and Sir Allan still refuses to call parliament back until late this year. By that time there well may not be a nation for parliament to speak about!
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/5230Roughan.html
(Added: Thu May 08 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 151)
- Competition or Cooperation?
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John Roughan in Honiara. 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!
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/4998Roughan.html
(Added: Fri Apr 04 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 232)
- Old Habits Die Hard!
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J Roughan, 26 March 2003 Honiara. The way we think, speak and act have been building up over years and years of practice. The old proverb is so true: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks!" We keep doing and thinking the same way simply because they seem work for us. Daily habits like tying shoe laces, the way we walk, the way we talk, the way we think, etc.remain much the same year after year. However, what is true in daily private life, is no less true in public life.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/4915Roughan.html
(Added: Fri Mar 28 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 153)
- Why Sir Fred? Why Now?
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Sir Fred Soaki was gunned down while eating dinner in the company of a group of Peace Monitoring Council members in Auki, Malaita last week. Of all the persons who could have been singled out as a target for assassination, he would be, in the eyes of most islanders, the least likely. I know it's the 'correct' thing to speak only good of the dead but Fred was really a quiet guy, modest and low keyed. Why then was he targeted in such a public venue, in the presence of so many eye witnesses and in so dramatic a fashion? What message, then, was the killer trying to send? Who precisely was the message aimed at: the general public? government especially? or was it meant for the police in particular?
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/4708JRoughan17Feb03.html
(Added: Thu Feb 20 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 122)
- Symbols Make Us and Destroy Us!
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By John Roughan, 11 Febryary 2003. Almost a year and half ago, September 2001, 19 terrorists destroyed New York City's Twin Towers and attacked the Pentagon Building. These special places were signs of American power--its world wide financial muscle and its global military might. These terrorists knew exactly what they were doing.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/4677JRoughan11Feb03.html
(Added: Thu Feb 13 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 180)
- Around the World in a Minute!
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By John Roughan, 19 January 2003. Solomons' Central Bank made it clear as full daylight, RAONK (Royal Assembly of Nations and Kingdoms) is a fraud, a fake, a confidence trick. Yet, government holds on to its dream of 'free big money'. Every Solomons' bank, every single one of them, informed the nation once again that the Family Charity Fund holds no funds, no money, nothing. Still people hang on hoping that by some miracle or act of God, that big money will some how come and make them rich.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/4564Roughan190103.html
(Added: Tue Jan 21 2003 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 237)
- The strange warlord who murdered the priest; a Solomon's tragedy
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Guadalcanal, a stunningly beautiful island in the Solomons, has a name that evokes memories of terrible conflicts during World War 2, and more recently during the ethnic tensions a couple of years ago. The latest tragedy in the Solomons' deepening spiral of violence occurred on August 20th, 2002 on the weather coast (southern coast) of Guadalcanal.
http://www.michaelfield.org/solomons6.htm
(Added: Tue Sep 24 2002 Modified: Tue Sep 12 2006 Hits: 244)
- Nine Months in Office #32
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Sat 31 Aug.2002. Honiara Solomon Islands. By John Roughan. When Sir Allan Kemakeza was chosen Prime Minister on 17 December 2001, he made it clear that one of the top priorities of his government would be the people in the rural areas. When he was elected and was basically dismissed by the crowd outside parliament house, he said he was not worried by their reaction.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/3766JRoughan.html
(Added: Mon Sep 02 2002 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 195)
- The Quick, Easy Fix
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Honiara, 23 May 2002. By John Roughan. Solomon Islands most recent history of resorting to the quick, easy solution to its many deep, structural problems once again reared its ugly head in the proposed toxic waste dumping on Makira's Weather Coast. It is difficult for many, certainly for outsiders, to understand how national leaders could be so blind to the long lasting deadly effects of dumping wastes laced with heavy,disease-causing metals onto particularly fragile lands until the nation's brief 24 year history of independence is taken into account.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/3112QuickFix.html
(Added: Thu May 23 2002 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 167)
- Politics of Self-interest in a Weakened State
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22 April 2002. John Roughan. Our leaders continue to practice, to an unacceptable degree, the Politics of Self-interest. Historically, over more than two decades of independence, this was the very reason why many entered politics in the first place. The myopic prism they use to study their world is bound up with what they themselves can garnish from their positions of power.
http://www.dev-zone.org/kcdocs/2999PoliticsSelf.html
(Added: Tue Apr 23 2002 Modified: Wed Aug 06 2003 Hits: 245)
- European Community - Solomon Islands Country Strategy Paper (pdf)
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Country Strategy paper and National Indicative Programme for the period 2002-2007 (PDF).
http://dev-zone.net/downloads/2802sb_csp_en.pdf
(Added: Fri Mar 22 2002 Modified: Fri Oct 22 2004 Hits: 160)
