15 August 2019
Solomon Islands:� Youth unemployment and wider concerns for the country.
An Editorial piece in the Island Sun newspaper two days ago simply served to highlight the situation of youth unemployment in the Solomon Islands and the demeaning consequences without mentioning wider concerns all related to the high birth rate
Quoting the piece, it read:
�70 percent of Solomon Islands population is under 34 years of age.
�Those between 15 to 34 years old are categorised as youth in this country.
�This age group could be very productive in contributing to the country�s economy if they were employed.
�The problem is that the majority of the youth are also unemployed.
�And it is a ticking time bomb for the country if the youth population continues to increase each year.
�They must be given opportunities to excel in whatever they can. If not then we are in for a tough ride ahead.
�W must reflect on prioritising our youthful population.
�Acting Prime Minister John Maneniaru said our youths are an asset that can propel the country forward if properly utilised.
�This means giving them a conducive environment to excel in whatever qualities they have.
�The Multipurpose Hall extension, thanks to the New Zealand Government, is just one small assistance toward helping our youths.
�We need more halls to host activities for youths around the country.
�We need more sporting stadiums, school halls, basketball courts, classrooms, youth centres and any other facility that will keep our youths busy.
�Building more facilities and decentralising such initiatives should be the way forward.
�It seems youth projects are congested within Honiara and not much done in the rural areas.
�Honiara is also full of unemployed youths who have nothing to do but drink kwaso, smoke marijuana and disturb neighbours with loud music and basically creating noise pollution.�
For more than 2 decades, to my knowledge and concern, the situation of youth unemployment and the need for jobs has been a feature of the situation prevailing in the Solomon Islands and the issue has been raised, discussed and commented on by many politicians, important observers of the Solomon�s scene, like Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, who also referred to the unemployment situation akin to a ticking time bomb.
The plain fact is the population increase, year on year, adds to the unemployment rate and should new job opportunities arise they will hardly keep pace with the demand.
The rising population, expected to exceed 700,000 after the next Census returns are announced, will put more pressure on the government to consider the likely consequential circumstances relating to housing, social conditions, urban drift, health services, transportation, water use, sanitation, internal security and inequality, quite apart from, the seriousness of youth unemployment.
I live to hope change will occur.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
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