Time is not on government's side!

J. Roughan

22 December 2010

Honiara 

The Philip Government has been in the driver's seat since late August. That's more than four months now! Although it has survived a number of dangerous internal shocks--death to two of its members, a cabinet member's return to Rove and other serious internal woes--it still manages to function as a going concern. But that reality is not the same as saying that it is governing the nation. The events of the last three to four weeks--ministerial shuffles, fining of illegal fishing ships, etc.--are more about its own survival than exhibiting a strong governance model!

 

But NCRA backers are claiming that the Government is still very early into its hopeful four-year term of office. Present difficulties and its hic cups should not be seen as anything very special. A quick review of the reality of Solomons' politics, however, quickly raises doubts about this claim. Basically the present government should only count on being in power for three years, not four, to accomplish anything of note. 2011, 2012 and 2013 if undisturbed by a successful 'no confidence' motion, are the only years open to it to push through its legislative program.

 

During any government's last year in office, and 2014 is when the next national elections should be coming on stream, national political history  reminds us that Parliamentary campaigning comes on strong, one could say, overwhelmingly in the last year of the life of any parliament.  Little else fills Members' heads during the last year of their term, except, of course, how to win back their seat in the House once again.

 

So allowing that the last four months of this first year in office has already disappeared like rain in desert sands it is a 'big deal' for any new government to start off strongly in its second year of service. NCRA is going to find it tough to gain back its initial drive of becoming the new government of the land. But that hope must be part of its new year's strategy to gain back people's respect and hope. They are looking forward  to a better and brighter future than what they have received so far at the end of 2010.

 

NCRA's Policy Statement document is filled with dreams, visions and hope-to-do plans. But few of these plans, given the three-year time frame available to NCRA, are able to get off the blueprint table much less become realities on the ground. There is one project, however, that could be unleashed in early 2011, which could respond to a much forgotten people, historically sidelined by government after government since independence, and answer our youth's hunger and thirst for paid employment and to be part of the nation's development story.

 

I speak of a villager-crafted road stretching along Guale's Weather Coast from Kuma Village in the west of the island to Marau at Guale's southern end. Such a locally worked road project, if properly presented to the donor community, could open up a whole new stretch of Guale's land holdings to thousands of people who have been abandoned by the authorities for more than 30 years. In fact, it has been this very abandonment over a number of generations that lies at the heart of our Social Unrest years of 1998-2003.

 

Of course, permanent bridges construction, culverts, strengthening road sections, etc.call for expertise, advise and over sight monitoring from outside the local community but the basic road building work would be assigned to village populations lining the road way. Extra workers could come from the youth population when called for.

 

Such a major development road making project sends an unmistakable message: Weather Coast people are important to the nation, it would bring in much needed income for many levels of society of the area and re-establish links of people with government both on the provincial and national levels.

 

The message in this short essay is that the present government has little time on its hands to effect projects and works to make a difference to the citizens of this nation. It's vital that the newly established government 'put runs on the board and quickly so'! Its first four months of power have not been that productive and it needs to show the nation that it is the right group of people who given half a chance can bring the nation up to its potential.