Forget the big 'D' word! Focus on The Basic Life

J. Roughan

10 February 2011

Honiara   

Since our first tentative steps as a nation in 1978, there hasn't been a single political part which hasn't drummed up the idea that what the nation needs, in big doses of course, is development, development and more development. It has become the big 'D' word! Yet, year after year it's been emptied of any real meaning.

 

Anything, so long as it talks loud and long about money, is called development. Honiara's casinos which regularly suck out money from the poorest people's pockets is labelled 'development'. That is why I'm calling on public leaders, politicians and business people to stop using the word development for the next three to five years. What the nation needs is much less development but loads and loads of The Basic Life things for all.

 

First of all The Basic Life is about the majority of our people living their lives in peace, harmony and tranquillity in their everyday lives. If various levels of fighting, discontent or discord reign among our people or worse still a gun culture controls ordinary life, it's hard to speak about advancing people's life, without a strong presence of peace and harmony. Our recent Social Unrest history—1998-2003—gives a potent example of what happens when basic peace is absent.

 

But most recently The Basic Life's peace, harmony and tranquillity got a severe jolt. A major part of any kind of peacefulness depends upon the proper working of the police, court and prison systems. Tamper with any one of these vital three pillars of a well run society and watch peacefulness fly out the window.

 

This is what happened last month when a government minister, although properly sentenced by the courts to more than 2 years of prison, was then set free with only a 'slap on the wrist' by some other government body. A major pillar of society which underpins The Basic Life had been trashed. Our court system has been made to look powerless—one set of laws for most citizens but another kind of law for the 'high and mighty'!

 

The second part of The Good Life are governments fulfilling their work to supply basic human services—strong education patterns,, working medical facilities and infrastructure projects—which the vast majority of citizens need for their well being.

 

Yet, SIDT's 8 Report Cards, dating all the way back to 1989, regularly show how the small people of our country fail the governments of the day for falling down on the job of adequately providing citizens with quality education, strong medical attention and a minimum of infrastructure projects.

 

Malaita farmers, for example, are constantly begging government to repair damaged, water logged roads. Our one and only referral hospital in Honiara has four operating theatres but is limited to two of them which actually work. Recently the Government earmarked $24 million for overseas students education but not a penny is allocated for Adult Education. And the list goes on and on!

 

The third leg of The Good Life idea is the chance for ordinary people to gain modest amounts of cash through the sale of their market goods, copra, cocoa, timber, fish, etc. Fortunately, most of our people  work hard to make a success of this part. Local shipping agents supply the boats, truck owners do much the same and there is a strong network of local farmers—read women—who regularly feed Honiara's 70,000 population on a daily basis. Locally owned and operated busses and taxis take care of the travel needs of town dwellers.

 

If these three pillars—peace, government supplying services and people securing modest amounts of money—are allowed to flourish for a few years, then the big 'D' word could start to be used once again. At present, however, the big 'D' word is at best a distraction and at worst a way of fooling people.

Egypt is telling us something!

J. Roughan  

15 February 2011

Honiara.

Egypt's 80 million people have been shouting at us lately. Local TV, radio and newspapers are filled with their recent happenings. In fact that country is sending warning signals out to many others not only in the Arab part of the world but to many other nations as well.

 

Many nations—Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, etc.—are seriously taking note of the Egyptian events and studying closely what it means for them and their leaders. If the mighty could fall and so quickly, what does that say to other nations, smaller and less oppressive.

 

Over the past three weeks, Egyptian youth startled the world. Basically, in non-violent ways—thousand-people marches, camping out in public spaces, chanting and singing—they have managed to topple a dictator of 40 years, send him and his family packing and put on notice that the high and mighty military as well, to follow its lead or face the same rejection.

 

All this political turmoil happened without a gun in sight, a bullet fired—at least not from the protestors but only from those desperate to hang on to power, privilege and wealth. The youth involvement showed People's Power at its best. Yes it was a close call. Certainly and definitely dangerous since people had no guarantee that the military wouldn't mow them down like so much grass. But their freedom and liberty was worth it and so they stared down the military and more importantly, the dictator and his cronies. 

 

These youth, society's poor, had little hope of securing meaningful jobs although blessed with many years of education and in many cases much better than their parents ever had. The old Egyptian regime had grown brutal, even murderous. However, the one area where the youth were strongest—the use of the computer, Twitter, cell phone—were the tools they used to topple the Old Guard.

 

Many times those at the top of the political ladder—cabinet, parliamentarians, civil servants, lobbyists, the Old Guard-- can hardly make their way around the simplest of computer programs much less harness its power to enhance their everyday political lives.

 

Youth on the other hand pressed home their advantage. They organized marches, talked to each other over cell phones and kept messaging hundreds and hundreds of their followers on a minute by minute schedule. The Old Guard worked on the out dated theory that if the media was controlled and directed then those opposing the regime would find it hard to do anything meaningful against it.

 

How wrong they were! In less than a month, thousands and thousands of Egyptian youth had out foxed, out smarted and out flanked the powers of the state which the Old Guard thought was unbeatable.

 

But is the Egyptian scenario saying anything to us sitting in 'far away' Solomons? First of all we are not 'far away' at all! TV, radio and the print media bring local youth into the international picture quite quickly. Secondly, the Egyptian youth's situation—poor, unable to get jobs, representing society's largest sector, better educated than their parents—are currently duplicated here in these islands as well.

 

No, fortunately, the murderous, repressive regime housed in Cairo is far from anything here in the Solomons. However, our youth are terribly upset to be experiencing first-hand the non-governance antics of the present government and opposition. Many youth ask themselves: What can we be doing to get our nation out of this mess? Does the Egyptian event have lessons we too should be learning?

 

Is the no-confidence vote the only, it certainly is not the best way, of resolving our disagreements? Can't 25 level-headed, fair minded Parliamentarians be found to lead the nation out of its impasse, work together to better the country and lead the majority of its poor people to prosperity?

Solomons Society and Political Life

J. Roughan

2 February 2011

Honiara 

 

Over the past 33 years of Solomons political history—1978-2011—the nation has experienced 14 changes in central government leadership. On average, then, during more than three decades of our nation's political history, the leadership changes have been occurring at a frightening rate. Buy lately the pace of instability has grown worse, not better!

 

In our first 22 years—1978-2000--, the rate of PM change, although unacceptable, was at a much slower pace: only 8 major leadership changes. But during this newest millennium the change-pace has picked up considerably. In the 2000-2010 period, for instance, the rate of a new leaders taking the reign of government has climbed to 6 but all of this happened during a much shorter time frame: eleven years.

 

This kind of major overhauling of our top leaders indicates severe instability in our government system. On average, then, during our first 22 years of political history, each PM and his cabinet served approximately 33 months running the country.

 

Now in the 2000-2010 period, only half the years of our initial period, we have witnessed six changes of the top leaders. A PM's time to run the country has dropped from 33 months to 19 on average. There is a distinct possibility that there could soon be another shift in the PM who currently leads the country.

 

While our political class 'fiddles while Rome burns', however, the rank and file of the nation, the backbone of the country, the villager, is filled with life and is hardly waiting for members of Parliament to get their act together.

 

Our current mobile phone revolution is an example. This silent revolution, not in their ring tones, of course, are seemingly everywhere—not merely with the town's elite and business class but in Honiara's many suburbs and hamlets, villagers in Are'are, Kwaio,, Makira highlands, Isabel coastal places, etc. etc.—has quietly been transforming the nation's communications scene.

 

It seems that having and using a mobile phone has become more important than food. If a choice must be made between 'topping up' the mobile or buying a packet of fish and chips, often the mobile wins out. Solomon Islanders' need to talk, to keep in touch, to be part of the 21^st Century. That is why the mobile phone business grows by leaps and bounds.

 

But the mobile phone revolution by the masses is but one aspect of a changing Solomons. Notice the number of students clamouring to enter universities and secondary schools. Their thirst for higher education is somewhat like the mobile phone revolution. People are not to be denied and will squeeze themselves in whenever and where ever possible.

 

I mention these two different major changes which currently shape the modern Solomons. Shouldn't our political class be thinking along this same line and get in step. Game playing, press statements and public antics rather than real leadership qualities reflect times gone by—the late 20^th Century—and are a far cry from what our people need and demand.

 

Just as in the Social Unrest years—1998-2003—it was the so-called uneducated, inexperienced and politically powerless—that kept the nation glued together in spite of the political elites poor performance. So too now we are having a re-run of People Power who look in dismay at our current leaders. Basically, it is our small people who are saying to our political leaders: 'Shape up or Ship out!

It's a two way street, gentlemen!

 J. Roughan

27 January 2011

Honiara    

Recently, the Solomon Islands Taxi Association proposed a serious hike in taxi rates . . . more than 40% above the present one of $7.00 per kilometre. SITA members are asking the travelling public to start paying $10 per kilometre at the beginning of February this year.

 

Certainly the rapid rise in fuel costs both petrol and diesel has forced taxi owners to review their cost structure and they feel the public must bear these new cost increases. However, it would be most re-assuring if other South Pacific nation's capital cities taxi costs were included in their discussions. How does Honiara compare to Port Vila, Suva, Moresby and other cities in taxi costs?

 

Is Honiara once again leading other Pacific cities as it does in the costs of telecommunications, electricity, water, etc. services? Fuel costs across the Pacific have gone up dramatically! Honiara is not alone in feeling the costs of higher transportation fuels. But have other taxi services across the Pacific asked their public to shoulder a more than 40% increase in one hit? Please, SITA do some basic homework, find out what other Pacific nations are paying and share the info with us.

 

But as important as the proposed rate hike is to the Taxi Association is, there are other areas of public concern which could be worked on and which would be a great help to Honiara's riding public. Let me share these concerns with you, how the Taxi Association could bring to the minds of the nine groups which are currently running the taxi service.

 

CLEANLINESS

 

Although most taxi drivers do their best to make their cabs clean both inside and out, there are just too many vehicles which are not passing the test. It certainly is heartening to see the many taxis lining up along the cemetery road, getting washed down and teams of women brushing and cleaning out the interior of these cabs. But this cleaning station, unfortunately, is too often the exception. An increase in basic taxi fares should also mean a cleaned up and neat inside and out of every taxi as well.

 

DRIVER DRESS CODE

 

The taxi itself well might look in mint condition—clean, shinny, neat—but if the driver is dressed more like a Hollywood extra for a pirate movie, what kind of a reception is that?. His headgear has all the trappings of a bright flag wrapped around the head, his shirt would well be advised to be introduced to hot water and soap while his trousers are in need of patches in a number of areas.

 

Perhaps we in Honiara have grown used to such 'pirate' dress but believe me the overseas visitor comes with different expectations. At Henderson Airport, for example, where more than 90% of people visiting the Solomons for the first time come into the country, visitors need to be reassured by taxi cab drivers who are carefully dressed and driving cabs which not only look respectable but are truly inviting.  

 

SAFTEY CHECKS

 

Of course before a taxi is legally allowed to travel our roads, it must pass the safety requirements issued by government. It's system of checking on the good working order of breaks, tires, signal, etc. of any vehicle before allowing it to work our roads, needs help from the Taxi Association as well.

 

Road safety calls not only for safe cabs, but more importantly, the taxi drivers themselves must be screened as well. The raw ability to steer a car, work the gears and step on the break is not sufficient training for drivers who are allowed to pick up passengers and are expected to transport them from A to B safely.

 

It is here where the Taxi Association could play a pivotal part in making taxi travel not only pleasurable but most importantly, safe. If the proposed taxi fare increase could also guarantee a cleaner vehicle, neater driver but most importantly a more competent and careful driver, then the increase of fare would be more than worth it. It's a two way street: fare increase must also mean cleaner, neater and safer taxis trips.

A second coup?

 

J. Roughan

19 January 2011

Honiara    

 

In June 2000 the nation suffered its first and until most recently its only coup. Misguided leaders of the time thought that by using the business end of guns, they could overnight right many long standing injustices, correct government shortcomings and gain a bit of loot for themselves on the side. Yes, that Civilian Coup certainly did achieve results, most of them destructive--dozens of Weather Coast killings, torture, house burnings, hundreds of displaced villagers, rapes, bitterness, etc. The Coup left the nation reeling in misery for the better part of 5 years. 

 

In the minds of most of our people the Social Unrest years of 1998-2003 seemed to be on the way out and heading for a happy landing. RAMSI had been invited in and now into its 8th year of presence, it seemed that the idea of people taking the law into one's hands and doing things the 'bush way' was slowly on the way out. But, unfortunately, last week's events put a stop to such thinking!

 

Last week's shady and underhanded way of freeing a self confessed criminal--James Lusibaea--from a court ordered prison sentence must go down in the nation's short history as another kind of coup. The 2000 Coup had focused its attention on the elected government of the day. It forced the Ulufa'alu Government, for instance, to vacate office and the Coup Masters installed a new one, something more in tune with its understanding of how a  'proper' government should act.

 

Of course rarely do such results come about the way we plan them! What the Solomons actually received, however, was a destructive social situation as stated above--killings, unrest, burnings, etc. What then can we expect from this, the latest of Coups, this one against the nation's court, justice and prison systems. The Law of Unanticipated Consequences, much like happened after the 2000 coup, will now darken our future. 

 

In the 2000 Civil Revolt, for instance, few Coup Leaders expected such dreadful consequences that occurred on Guadalcanal, parts of North Malaita, in the Western Province and a few other places. They were convinced that they would be able to contain most evil deeds because they alone had gun-power which they were ready to use. But once a group of poorly trained leaders think they know best, have guns at hand  to enforce their plans but are not truly formed by time-tested principles of good behavior, then all kinds of unintended evil begin to root in society. 

 

The recent Lusibaea Saga will bring about its own serious consequences. One of the first things that will hit us is the drying up of investment monies to the country. What international business house, corporation or individual won't be thinking twice about sinking serious money into a country where a small group of political elite play so loosely with court convicted criminals. Already many outside investors are running for the exits taking their monies to other shores where the return on investments is as good as here but where the Rule of Law actually operates for all in a fair and transparent way.

 

But of course the drying up of much needed investment monies will become the least difficulty because of this Justice and Prison Coup. What's far more serious, as actually happened in the 2000 Coup, are the social and community fall outs. The nation, some now believe, operates two kinds of justice. If a criminal doesn't agree with the way the present court system works, then he will get cronies to mount a campaign of intimidation, pressure weak politicians to bend to their will and have their man out on the streets once again. This can happen no matter how serious the crime committed.

 

If there are two criminal systems at work, the clever, well connected criminal, will opt for the easier way out. What criminal wants to spend years behind bars, deprived of freedom and live a strict life under supervision when with a bit of creativity freedom can be once again available. 

 

We in the Solomons are fond of practicing the strange doctrine of 'charity to one at the injustice to the many'. Mr. Lusibaea's freedom has been bought at a huge cost--placing in danger the well being of our society. Just like the 2000 Coup, a few dozen leaders and their cronies had convinced themselves that their way would be best for all. When the dust of the 2000 Coup finally settled, it became crystal clear that the majority of our people had become worse off, dozens of them dying in the process, while only a handful of coup leaders ever faced the courts for their attempt to destroy the nation for their own greedy purposes. 

Living on borrowed time!

 

When a tsunami, cyclone or earthquake hits the country, there is little the nation can do until the event plays itself out on our shores. We can just hope for the best! Have we prepared ourselves and the community well enough--heading for higher pieces of land, stocking up on food, water and other necessities, planning for temporary shelter, etc. etc? In other words, many natural disasters can and must be prepared for. Leaving everything to the last minute is a recipe for a greater disaster.

J. Roughan

13 January 2011

Honiara    

However, there are some disasters which are rarely forecasted on the radio or written about in newspapers. These are what we can call the 'silent disasters' which have a habit of sneaking up on us and literally killing many in a community. One such disaster has already claimed dozens and dozens of lives PNG and in this new year has already sickened almost 300 sick people in Port Moresby. It has an excellent chance of hitting us here as well. It's the cholera epidemic! 

 

In Haiti, for instance, more than 3,000 people have already died from the cholera epidemic which hit that poor island after the devastating earthquakes of January 2010. Its an epidemic that is far from over and the country is bracing itself for many more of its citizens to die. PNG recently received a helping hand from mainland China with a gift of several hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight this disease.

 

Cholera, a highly infectious disease features watery diarrhea, vomiting and cramps which can lead to death within hours especially among young children. One of the best preparations against this kind of disaster getting a foothold in groups of people is plenty of clean water, proper sanitation and taking care of solid waste. These are the very things that Honiara and most villages are in terribly short supply.

 

Honiara's new city council's top priority is to increase the salaries of its workers. That is a solid idea since many of Honiara's longest serving workers find themselves at the bottom end when it comes to monthly salaries. But not far from that payment priority must be doing something about the city's poor public health track record over the past ten years. Truly Honiara's citizens 'live on borrowed time'! 

 

Anyone staying in town has a first hand knowledge of the shocking state of our water supply. Add to that serious health condition is the fact that the Solomons only city does not have a single public toilet, its record on collecting rubbish from its 70,000 inhabitants has been dismal and its handling of solid waste leaves much to be desired. Each of these serious problems acts as an open invitation to the cholera disease to take hold and produce a lethal epidemic which would certainly overpower No. 9's ability to stop it. 

 

Currently we are sitting in the midst of a 'silent disaster' which could hit us at any moment. Cyclones, floods, earthquakes, etc. are beyond our  power to stop. All we can do is make the damage they will cause a bit less by proper preparation. But a disaster like cholera is some thing quite different. We can actually stop this disease in its tracks, before it has a chance to take hold, not by hoping for miracles, but by strengthening the basics of ordinary city life: insure a clean, abundant water supply, pick up people's rubbish on a daily basis and take care of the city's solid waste..

 

But one of the greatest defenses against a killer disease like cholera, however, has been totally forgotten by Honiara authorities for more than 10 years now. It is the city's duty to take care of human waste, to have a number of public toilets scattered around the town. Currently I know not a single public toilet that is working anywhere in town. 

 

Of course public toilets are an expensive proposition! People don't use them correctly. They waste too much water! City workers don't want to have anything to do with cleaning them! Etc, etc. Public toilets don't come cheaply. But try cholera! See how cheap that is. PNG has already lost dozens and dozens of its citizens to this dreaded disease which is preventable.

 

Please read what I'm proposing to Honiara's newest elected members to plan to do in this matter of public toilets in my column next week. Can the city make public toilets less expensive, in fact, a money spinner? What is your answer to the fact that we are 'living on borrowed time!'

A Dual Development strategy!

 

J. Roughan

6 January 2011

Honiara

 

Every new year gives the Solomons a chance to write up a new page in our short history. A chance of starting over once again! To review what hasn't been working for us over past years and start doing certain things differently. After all, a fair definition of mental madness is to insist on doing the same action over and over again and expect a different outcome.

 

Each and every Solomons government, from its earliest days in power, has fervently preached the development message. Once in power, so  each successive government solemnly promises, people's development will be first and foremost on its mind. In fact, the word development is never far from its lips, it fills their programs of action documents and directs policy statements. Yet, when it falls out of power or is voted out of office after a few years, little is seen at ground level of any kind of development.

 

And people are well aware of this profound shortcoming and know all about this failure in their very bones. That is why they currently cry out for more and more of the constituency funding to go directly to them and not get lost in politicians' pockets. People's reasoning is clear, simple yet persuasive! For almost 33 years now millions and millions--at this writing development funding has already grown to BILLIONS--have been  handed over to parliamentarians, given to government ministries and spread among provinces and State owned Enterprises but the country has little development to show for the tons and tons of money so generously showered on them.

 

It has become so common that the ordinary citizen now thinks that development can only come about if and when people themselves get direct funding for their projects. Government's position, in this kind of thinking, is seen as being an interested by-stander but it is the village man and woman as the main and major agents of change.

 

But it wasn't that way in the beginning! Not at all! In the nation's earliest days--1978-1984--for instance, the governments of the day started their development plans off in the traditional way: enhance medical coverage, strengthen and extend educational opportunities, assist villagers with their agricultural production and help people earn modest amounts of income from small businesses, sales of produce and employment.

 

However, when Namu Cyclone hit us (1986), political thinking began to change radically.. It became clear to many leaders, our political masters and moneyed individuals that the traditional development strategies would take many, many years to accomplish, cost millions of dollars to  bring about and those very leaders would no longer be around to gain credit for the up turn and progress of the masses.

 

There had to be a quicker and more local way to bring about this fundamental development change. The answer to their problem was literally staring them in the face: invite southeast Asian loggers to harvest the nation's tree wealth so that millions of dollars would flow into the country. Such a profound money injection would allow the state to gain millions of dollars of revenue almost painlessly and with that money in hand, real development would begin in earnest. There would be no need to beg for donor money any longer since our round tree log exports would supply the necessary funding.

 

Many political leaders saw few negatives coming from such a great plan. None of them, for instance, realized that by 2015 the forests which were covering the Solomons at the time--1987-2000--would almost completely disappear from our shores. But even worse, society's social fabric would lie in tatters. Our Social Unrest years of 1998-2003 are directly linked to this disastrous decision of allowing strangers from afar basically steal our tree wealth during the years following Cyclone Namu. 

 

It was during this period that citizens came to the conclusion that development--lifting up the majority of our people out of poverty by bettering their living conditions--would best be undertaken by the people themselves. Government had become less and less interested in raising the quality of people's lives.. SIDT's Report Cards, for instance, published since 1989, more than a twenty-year period--detailed how governments of the day consistently scored failing grades when it came to lifting its people out of poverty and strengthening their quality of life.

 

Those 8 Report Cards allowed small people of the nation a chance to measure how well or poorly their government was doing when it came to better medical attention, a stronger school system, assistance to people's cash cropping activities and garden production and the availability of ways to gain modest amounts of money. Unfortunately, in each and every Report Card people failed the governments of the day in their efforts to raise the quality of people's lives.

 

That is why the nation is witnessing a strange dual development strategy: people seeking funding for small projects to raise their quality of life while government busies itself with other concerns: foreign affairs, the state of the economy, large infrastructure projects, e.g. Tina Hydroelectric scheme, etc. etc.  Until government makes the people of this nation it's number one priority, then all its other works will come to nothing.