19 May 2019
Solomon Islands: The pursuit, method and implementation of a proposed “catalyst for development.”
Last week, in the Solomons parliament, the MP for Aoke/Langalanga, the Hon. Mathew Wale, spoke of the issues that the parliamentary opposition considered as needed urgent attention by the new Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement (DCGA) in their complete policy statement, reportedly still under consideration.
In an article published in the Solomon Star newspaper, Mr. Wale was quoted as having said during his address in parliament”
(Quote)
“Solomon Island is facing a number of major challenges such as in health, education, national security, governance, and the economy amongst others.”
“It is in the face of this challenges that we share the common desire to see government succeed and it is in the interest of Solomon Islands that government succeed,” he added.
“Government must give hope to Solomon Islanders that the future will be filled with opportunities and jobs.”
“Jobs that pay a reasonable income and opportunities that are sustainable within an economy where the cost of living is affordable for ordinary Solomon Islanders,” Wale said.
“We encourage the government to be ambitious for Solomon Islands,” he added.
“The people of this country rightly have very high expectations of their government and minsters to perform,” he added.
Prior to Mr Wale’s address, in a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Hon. Manasseh Sogavare, assured the nation that his DCGA government’s priorities for the first 100 days of office would focus on unlocking bottlenecks to development that have plagued the country for decades.
That press release went on to say the Prime Minister and his Government would be providing“catalysts for development” that would fast-track key reforms, increase security, broaden the economic base, enhance foreign relations and, importantly, reach out to the people.
The Island Sun newspaper later picked-up on the press release and re-iterated the claim that the DCGA Government was working on policies it could achieve in the first 100 days of office.
The article in the Island Sun is quoted as saying:
“Sogavare said his government is very conscious of the evolving global geo-political dynamics along with the associated under-currents from global changes which impact the region including Solomon Islands.
“In this regard, he stated that Solomon Islands is reviewing its global posture and will be undertaking in-depth assessments of global geopolitics to inform necessary reforms to better respond to the growing and emerging needs of the country.
“Sogavare added that the economy is not keeping pace with the country’s agenda, resources are declining and the population is rapidly increasing.
“Challenges of climate change along with its negative impacts on livelihood, human security and development were also raised.
“The Prime Minister stressed that more transformative and durable partnerships are needed to build a resilient population and guarantee unity and stability in the country.
“He furthered that new forms of political relations and enhanced, durable and transformative partnership are now needed more than ever.
“We are working to achieve a win-win outcome through maximising the benefits from our international relations and a thriving domestic economy,” said Sogavare.”
Just after the General Election on 3 April 2019, I read an interesting article written by Terrence Woods in the Dev/Policy Blog in which he referred to the kind of development that will be needed to be pursued by the DCGA if real change is to come about.
Terrence Wood’s article was presumably written after he had visited the Solomon Islands in the lead-up to the General Election and I will quote some extracts of what he had to say during his visit.
“I was far enough into the mountains for the air to be fresh. The village was tidy, the paths between the houses carpeted with grass. Views spilled away in every direction: sea, islands, and the spine of the land.
“Our MP has helped us,” the man, in his mid-forties, told me. “Small projects, roofing iron, help with houses. But we need something different. We need development. It’s not easy here.”
“I’m paraphrasing, he didn’t actually use the word ‘development’, but that’s what he meant. And life wasn’t easy. Social capital was high, but the track in and out was long, steep and slippery. Everything, from produce, to housing material, to people in need of major medical help, had to go up, or down, the path.
“Stores, ports, hospitals and secondary schools were all a long way away.
“Worse still logging and mining companies were circling, greedily eyeing the nearby forest and land.
“A well-run government could change all this. It could regulate to prevent extractive industries from causing harm. It could bring roads, or at least improve the track, and help the villagers with access to the rest of their country. It could provide services. It could bring development.
“ Not all Solomon Islands politicians are corrupt – many care for their country. And
Solomon Islands voters aren’t the problem either. They – very sensibly – vote for candidates who will help them, their families, or their communities directly. Their needs are immediate, and electing only one MP out of 50 can’t change the country.
“Real change requires 26 seats in parliament. Australians are spared such political collective action problems by cohesive political parties, which allow voters to vote for a national vision, confident that people around the country are doing the same.
“ In Solomon Islands, where parties are fluid and fractious, voters can’t do this. So they do their best: they vote for candidates that will help them directly. It’s sensible, but it selects and incentivizes candidates to concentrate on distributing material goods to their supporters rather than governing the country.
“And CDF funding brings a real political inequality with it.
“And yet, it was CDF funding that had brought the small projects my interlocutor described to me as we sat in that small village in the mountains.
“His member had used his CDF well and villagers had benefitted from it, particularly those who had voted for the MP in 2014.
“By going with the grain of Solomon Islands politics, CDF funding provides some people with assistance in a country where the state so often fails to help.
“ Roofing iron is a real improvement on a thatch roof.”
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
