‘Bring on the TRC Report’

By EDDIE OSIFELO

OPPOSITION Leader, Matthew Wale wants to see Government table the long awaited Truth and Reconciliation report in Parliament.

Wale made the call toward Ministry of Traditional Governance, Peace and Ecclesiastical Affairs (MTGP&EA) when its officials appeared before the Public Accounts Committee this week.

He said it was a surprise to see TRC has not been brought to Parliament to deal with.

“The way Government handles it may breach the TRC Act,” he said.

Permanent Secretary Peter Mae said he will come up with a policy to look into the TRC report.

The five volume report has many recommendations on how Solomon Islands can heal from the trauma of the ethnic conflict between 1999-2003.

Previous governments were reluctant to table the report which saw the author leaked it on media for public viewing.

The author’s action has breached the TRC Act because the report has to be tabled in Parliament first before releasing to public.

In 2015, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told Radio New Zealand that issues relating to the conflicts will continue to surface, it is his government’s intention to table the report.

He said for the government to settle all the outstanding issues of the ethnic crisis, it would need six budgetary allocations of its annual budget to finance them.

However, former ex-combatants of Malaita and Guadalcanal are already calling on the government to address outstanding claims in the Townsville Peace Agreement 2000.

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