“YOU MUST DO THE THINGS YOU THINK YOU CANNOT DO.”

The quotation above was written by Eleanor Roosevelt

DEAR Editor,

My wish for the Solomon Islands in 2018

As the year 2017 draws to a close the new government in the Solomon Islands faces many challenges at home in the year ahead, not least of which is the consequences of the financial deficit it suffered during the year, the huge deficiencies in rural health care facilities, the lack of job opportunities, the impact of climate change, the ongoing blight of corruption and the need for political stability.

When reviewing 2017 in a Radio New Zealand International article, featured on RNZI’s website, Koroi Hawkings, a Solomon Islander, wrote about what he described as ”missed opportunities”  during the time the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) spent working in the Solomon’s from 2003 to 2016. 

He wrote (quote)

RAMSI was never meant to solve all of Solomon Islands’ problems.

Considerable gains have been made under RAMSI across all sectors of the nation, thanks to the focus on strengthening institutions such as the courts and streamlining processes like that for registering a business.

But the difficult areas, areas where RAMSI could or would not go – such as addressing the causes of the ethnic crisis, corruption and bringing about political stability – were also not addressed by the island nation while the mission was there. 

And they remain the things Solomon Islands must still address, without RAMSI, if it is to move forward.

I share in the sentiments expressed by Koroi Hawkings and it my earnest hope that the Government of the Solomon and all the nation’s people will combine with determination solidarity, conviction and courage to tackle the root causes of corruption, deal with political instability once and for all, persevere with nation building and reconciliation and demonstrate again the sovereignty and stability of the “Happy Isles” with manifest good governance and abiding within the rule of law.

 

Yours sincerely

Frank Short

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