Dear Editor – Honiara the capital city of Solomon was renowned as a beautifully cleaned and kept town by foreigners who visited the place before and shortly after the country attained its independence from the colonial masters.
The legacy of such profound acknowledgement lies in the effort and visions of those who took pride in their country and worked with the masters at that time, measuring against the benchmark with neighboring countries in the region.
Today the foot print of Honiara has warped, from clean to eyesore.
From the international airport to the main capital city one could not miss an erected stall and unplanned squatters along the road.
These are developments that came along with Development, perhaps the survival of the survivalist.
The planned setting of the city has divulged as anticipated.
Large influx of rural-Urban migration has led to the worsening of the footprint, from clean pebble gravel to knee deep mud.
It depicts poor visionary and foresight from the responsible authorities and leaders –obviously we had been sidetracked and detoured by ignorance and greed.
Our current leaders have failed to clutch the given responsibilities handed over to them with both hands.
Where is the legacy, where is the Solomon pride?
Despite the numerous peace initiatives and reconciliation programs, ethnicity thrives in secret; murmuring amongst each other in concealment.
Where do we go from here? Honiara holds the hallmark of our country abroad, it should be the beacon of hope that defines who we in the international arena.
Plan, plan, plan; meetings after meetings – money disappeared even before it was to be used, the path that lies ahead is littered with imminent socio–economic problems that could trigger something bigger than before, something that could bring us all down to our knees in dismay and agony.
The development of Honiara can veto good or bad of the whole nation, hence its wellbeing and development must not be taken lightly; it should be the home for all of us from our respective homes.
I wish to call on the responsible authorities to take pride and beef up in doing what is right in making Honiara a safe place for all of us.
Are we bound to build a foot path that is ideal for our toddlers to trod in delight or set a dirty and muddy one that speaks nothing of our current legacy and will prevent our future generation from exploring their potential and take pride in their country in equality and equitable development as Solomon Islanders?
Silas Muda
USPSI Campus
