The Solomon Island has seen the tragic loss of two more of its citizens in a bomb blast in just over a year and the latest incident poses the question how many more will die from unexploaded WWII ordinance that lies buried in the ground across the Solomon Islands, especially in Guadalcanal the scene of one of the most deadly land battles in the Pacific?
We have heard of bomb disposal promises by the USA government and witnessed the efforts of other nations in helping to trace and remove UXB ordinance but the scale of the problem is clearly huge and much more work needs to be done before more innocent civilians die.
I give credit to the RSIPF Bomb Disposal Unit who go about their dedicated work almost daily without recognition. Clearly those police officers risk death with every move removing 80 year old ordinance to safety and defusing some of the highly dangerous explosive devices.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
