Political parties finally catching up?

J. Roughan

5 May 2010

Honiara

Well before independence day in 1978,  in fact hundreds of years before that date, the heart of Solomons life was already found in village living. Not only  were most Solomon Islanders village born, but the vast majority of them lived their full lives in and in most cases died in these very same sites.  Yes, these living sites were much smaller than present day villages, probably better termed hamlets, but villages still the same.  And in a profound sense, village life continues to be at the centre of our people's everyday lives. Our political parties, at long last, have turned a corner, now publicly recognize this major sociological fact and are currently inviting themselves to the party. 

 

Unfortunately, our political party personnel still can't speak about villagers but prefer to call  these people rural dwellers, grassroots folk, etc. when  what they really are talking about are men, women and children who live life to the fullest in a village setting. For a village is not simply a person's residential site, a place to sleep, but is a shorthand meaning for a completely different way of living than found in more developed parts of the world. Village is a symbol of and code word for the reality in which the overwhelming majority of our people choose to live.

 

The Solomons, then, is best and most profoundly defined as a nation of villagers. 84%+ of our people live, work and exist in these settlements which are much more than dormitory sites. Children are born, grow up and dwell in a particular a village setting because it's very location attests to the presence of life's essential resource base--food, water, shelter, medicine, fuel, etc. etc. 

 

But culture, politics, economics, life education, security, world view, etc. and other essentials are also part and parcel of the typical village life as well. In other words, cultural, physical and mental basics of island living are found in the village setting. So it is with great satisfaction to finally read in newspapers and listen to on the radio that more and more political parties are at last turning their antenna towards this living reality of Solomons life.

 

In recent past years, both the Sogavare--Bottom Up Approach--and Sikua--Rural Advancement--governments have fully accepted the idea that our nation will make little headway in development and nation-building until and when the majority of our citizens' lives--read village lives--are at the centre of government concern. More recently, the People's Alliance Party (PAP) took this concern a step further. It made it clear that to insure ordinary people's lives are front and centre in government's thinking then the national budget must reflect that reality.

 

PAP detailed its deep concern for the villager by publicly disclosing how it would allocate funding to the betterment of people's lives. Overall, in the first year of its presence in office, PAP intends to increase financial allocation to the nine provinces by 5 times. From a bit more than $37 million yearly to almost $200 million a year.  Such a bold step, putting in clear terms, what it costs to re-allocate funding to the majority of  citizens away from Honiara's elite.

 

But more than money is at stake here! Of course, over the three decades which the Solomons has eked out its existence as a nation state, the bulk of national monetary wealth was cornered by a select few, found mostly in Honiara who are closely connected to its political establishment. For example, the annual average revenue given to the nine provinces between the years 1995-2000 (a five year period) was $96.6 million out of a national annual average of $336.2 million. This unfair distribution resulted in a vertical split of 29% to the nine provinces and 71% to Central Government. 

 

At the heart of any explanation of our country's Social Unrest years in 1998-2003 can be traced to this terrible 70/30 split of national wealth to a select few which made sure it received the lion's share while the Poor's pockets received a lot less. If political parties begin to address this severe injustice by putting the village first and re-allocating financial assistance in that direction, then, the Solomons will begin to respond to its need to become a strong state. 

 

But along with any re-allocation of funding towards the bulk of our people's lives must come a re-education program of our political masters, politicians and national decision makers. Money, funding and re-allocation of grants on their own without a revamping of our leaders mind set will fail. For more than 30 years now, Honiara and all it stands for has been the main winner for the country's vast wealth. Most newly elected members to parliament certainly think that way since it is the main reason why these men have decided to try their luck in the up coming election. The last thing they would look forward to is a revamping of the financial pie with larger and larger slices going to any one else than themselves. The nation has a major fight on its hands starting the middle of this year.