The Solomons biggest problem

J. Roughan

25 May 2010

Honiara      

Honiara was my port of call--planes landed at Henderson only once every other week--when I first arrived in the Solomons in 1958. At the time, Honiara was truly a small town. It boasted of 2,300 people, about the same number that visit Central Market on a busy Saturday morning. Our 2009 Census hasn't come out with its report as yet but don't be surprised to read that this urban centre has reached the 80,000 mark. The last 50 years has seen tremendous growth, from a small town to a mid-sized city. In five decades, then, Honiara has increased its population about 35 times.

 

But our country is a Nation of Villages! 8 out of 10 citizens actively live village life. The basics of normal life--food, shelter, medicine, water, recreation, etc.--are found in the village. Not so in Honiara where the almighty dollar reigns supreme. A villager at home can go a whole day without ever buying a thing but it's next to impossible to live in town without deep, full pockets.

 

But give credit where credit is due. Honiara's rapid growth over very few years has helped Solomons people to become a nation. No other town--Auki, Kira Kira, Buala, Gizo, etc.--could have accomplished this work. But our current independence has come with a price tag, a rather high price tag.  There has been an over centralization, over concentration of goods, services, wealth and influence in this one part of the nation and it has come at the expense of the rest of the country.

 

Honiara has not only become big but some would say fat and bloated. More than 90% of all commercial activity takes place in the tiny area between Henderson in the East and White River in the West. While favorable arguments for this fact can be made, the outcome for the nation has been less than helpful. The village is too often seen by Honiara's political elite as something foreign while the real Solomons is here in town. In other words, we are seeing the growth of two kinds of Solomon Islanders: those living in Honiara and the rest of the nation in the village.

 

But that type of growth was never part of the our Founding Fathers original vision. Our first years of independence--1978-1982--focused on establishing a workable state with the election of parliament members, passing laws, setting up ministries, etc. Nation building, it was thought, would come quickly enough once the trappings of statehood were firmly in place.

 

Unfortunately, however, by the mid-1980s some of the more powerful leaders of the time had another vision, round tree logging exports. This type of development was suppose to bring great material advances to those most in need, the villager. But just the opposite happened. SIDT's 8  Report Cards dating back to 1989 and stretching into 2009, twenty years of surveys, showed that from the people's point of view government after government was failing them. Services of quality education, strong medical attention, resource assistance and availability of money were growing weak and in many cases becoming non existent.

 

As Honiara grew, became more important and more dominating in Solomon Islanders lives, the village, the backbone of local society, was weakening and growing poorer. For example, the annual average revenue given to all 9 provinces between the years 1995-2000 was $96.6 million out of a national  annual average of $336.3 million. Honiara alone absorbed almost $240 million each year. Honiara's domination of national wealth had resulted in a 70%/30% split with the lion's share going to the city. No wonder that provincial advancement has proven to be so difficult.

 

But this type of domination happened again last week. The World Bank plans to pump into Honiara almost $24 million over a five year period to tackle youth unemployment. Great! Good! But youth unemployment is a national issue and must be fought in all the provinces. If only one place--Honiara--gets funding then youth will simply flood over to town to get a job. Honiara's poorest people will then to asked to pick up the pieces since many youth will lodge themselves with their wantoks who already find it hard to feed and care for close family members. The last thing they need is another few mouths to feed and care for on a daily basis.

 

Parliament is the primary source of those who think that if Honiara grows bigger and fatter, it means that the country is also thriving. In parliament's last session in April, for example, it tried to increase its membership from 50 to 67 but fortunately did not succeed because the extra funding needed for these seats didn't exist. But this is the kind of strict diet which the country must use more and more. Honiara's tendency is to demand more and more without fully realizing what such demands do to the rest of the people of the nation.