A small demo that got out of hand

Virtually all shops at
Point Cruz, Honiara,
from the National
Museum to the Central
Market are closed, boarded
up. Chinatown is out of the picture. The Central Market is opening and functioning as are the small locally leased shops there. Unless shops reopen, people will be hungry very soon. Already people are finding it hard to find food.
Rick Hou, Governor of the Central Bank, was
on the radio this morning, outlining the economic
effects of what has happened – inflation, a plunging Solomon Island dollar, unemployment, lack of investment, etc.
I have heard a certain amount of anger at the
Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) for just standing around doing nothing as the breaking into shops and looting went ahead at Point Cruz. Apparently no warning shots were ever fired. It seems amazing that rioting went on for days without RAMSI being able to contain it. Only RAMSI is armed; the local police have effectively been disarmed post-ethnic tension.
A city that contains only people but minimal
economic activity cannot survive long, and I wonder if we are looking at a lot of people eventually returning to their home islands. However, for the moment, not even that is possible, as ships are not allowed to sail as the police look for instigators, looters and loot.
All the Chinese stores remain closed, although
in Auki we are urging them to re-open as soon as
possible.
Banks have finally re-opened and what little rice
is still available has taken a big leap in price. Today’s Saturday morning Auki market is going ahead full force as though nothing had happened. The only difference is that the two or three large ships that usually come from Honiara on Friday night have not arrived.

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is that the RAMSI motto “Helpim fren” (pidjin
for “Help your friend”) doesn’t hold much water
when the Australian RAMSI are so sullen and
hostile, won’t even say hello, speed up and down
the streets without regard for the other traffic,
won’t allow the use of RAMSI helicopters and
planes for humanitarian purposes, hang out at all
the expensive Chinese restaurants and won’t go
near local eateries or the central market.
I have heard that in the riots fifteen RAMSI
vehicles were destroyed, not to mention the Pacific
Casino’s entire rent-a-car fleet, twenty RAMSI
personnel injured with one sent back to Australia
for serious jaw injuries.
There were some failures of RAMSI intelligence
– half of Solomon Islanders are saltwater people
and it is inconceivable that the seaward side of the
Pacific Casino Hotel was left unprotected.
Commercial and residential properties of the
Kemekeza/Rini government’s Chinese advisors and backers were particularly targeted for destruction.
Many would say that it is this manipulation of
local politicians by the wealthy Chinese business
community that is the core cause of the riots.
None of what I have written above is intended
to condone or support the rioting. It is tragic, both
for the individuals involved and for the country. For the Solomons, claiming to be a Christian country, it is a travesty of the Easter message, as church leaders have pointed out in pastoral statements.
But legitimate frustrations are there and people
explode.
Alas, we are now producing refugees, with four
hundred Chinese living at the Police Club at Rove
under police/RAMSI security.
To RAMSI’s credit, there has been no firing
on crowds. Had this been many other parts of the
world, there would have been deaths. Unfortunately, the crowds also probably took advantage of the knowledge that RAMSI would not shoot at them. However, a core question remains why a multinational intervention force, and the local police force it is supposed to be training, led by a nation with high technology and unlimited
financial resources was not able to anticipate and
control a small demonstration that got out of hand,
resulting eventually in a scale of damage, personal
and material, immensely beyond anything that
resulted from the “ethnic tension” crisis.
Of course, it is easy to criticise after the fact.
Even veteran ABC reporter Sean Dorney had left

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Many are saying that the new era of Solomon
Islands government has still not arrived – still the
same old leaders and the same old corruption.
While the new government has some very fi ne
members, with creative ideas, the ‘top’ is still
unstable and marred by a record of corruption and
power-mongering.
Some stores have re-opened in Honiara but the
jockeying for control of the country’s resources,

 

EYE WITNESS

In Malaita, the Asian road workers on the Asian
Development Bank-funded Kitano road-building
project were also evacuated. It remains unclear
to me why the ADB/Kitano has imported road
workers from Cambodia and the Philippines to
rebuild Malaita’s roads, as though we don’t have
people in Malaita who can build roads. This is part
of the feeling that everyone but Solomon Islanders
is somehow making a profit out of our troubles
– including, of course, all the NGOs, RAMSI
advisors, consultants and volunteers.
As far as Honiara events are concerned, the spark
that sent the rioters into central Honiara from
Parliament – the use of tear gas by the Australian
RAMSI contingent against the crowd who were
becoming rowdy after the announcement of
Snyder Rini’s election – needs to be investigated.

“Helpim fren” doesn’t hold much
water

The Speaker of Parliament, Sir Peter Kenilorea, and leaders of the parties were preparing to address the crowd and calm them down when, apparently unannounced and without warning, the RAMSI tear gas hit.
Sir Peter has complained about this in the
Australian media. It is cited as an example of
Australian RAMSI’s over-reaction to events. All
through the riots, the use of tear gas only inflamed
and increased the crowds.
Rioting and looting crowds were made up of
people from all provinces, including some women
and children. While Robert Wale, the leader of
the so-called People Power movement is from
Malaita, participation was from all provinces and it
would be wrong to see the rioting as some sort of
continuation of a Malaita Eagle Force plot.
Honiara people have never liked the Australian
RAMSI contingent. Most people distinguish
between the Australian RAMSI (whom they don’t
like) and the New Zealand and Pacific Islands
RAMSI (whom they do like). The general feeling

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for Australia after covering the elections and did not anticipate such events. Nor can I say I anticipated them, though I have long thought and said that anti-Chinese riots were always a possibility.
I think the road ahead will continue to be
rocky. Australia and RAMSI need independently
to assess where they now are. Such a consultation
and assessment should be done with real Solomon
Islands organisations on the ground – such as
churches and community groups, rather than by
highly paid outside advisors.
The riots are a reassertion of Solomon Islands
sovereignty, which has been significantly eroded in
the past few years. Unfortunately, it apparently takes a common enemy to unite all Solomon Islanders.
On the other hand, the RAMSI presence is still
needed – particularly if parliamentary government
is to continue. But the future economic effects on
the country of last week’s events, at least short term, are grave and it will take much effort to keep things on a steady keel.

RAMSI requires the wisdom of
Solomon

A month after the April 18-20 riots Bishop Terry
Brown wrote:

The above brief account barely scratches
the surface of the complexity of events.
The new Prime Minister, Snyder Rini,
was forced to resign after former Prime Minister
Sogavare and his group crossed back to the
Opposition – who had promised him the Prime
Ministership. Sogavare, who first became Prime
Minister following the Malaita Eagle Force coup
in 2000, and whom many people think colluded in
the coup, is our new Prime Minister.
He went on to appoint two politicians being
held in custody on charges relating to the Honiara
riots, as ministers of Police and Tourism – in effect, thumbing his nose at RAMSI, but not without
much local criticism. He has since backed down.
Investigation continues into those behind the
Honiara riots. Australia, after having interfered a
fair amount in the Solomon Islands parliamentary
process over the past few years, is now in the
awkward situation of having to relate to a less
subservient government.

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Honiara business, Taiwanese foreign aid grants
and government income continues. Australia
and RAMSI require the proverbial wisdom of
Solomon.

Bishop Terry Brown is Bishop of Malaita, Auki, Malaita Province, The Solomon Islands.
domauki@solomon.si