For the past four decades, Pacific island countries (PICs) are well known for their aid dependency syndrome, a continuing malaise ever since their independence in the 1970s. Generous aid money received from donors, who were the former colonial rulers, was initially for annual budgetary support. Aid, known as official development assistance in terms of pure…
Your attitude determines your altitude of success, because your attitude influences your consistency, your commitment, and your work ethic. Fine-tune your attitude so that you control your environment – not the other way around. Remember – if someone else can do it, so can you! Most leaders will tell you that they developed a leader’s…
One of my favourite things to do in Honiara is to wander through the central market on a Saturday morning. It’s the heartbeat of the city, full of colour, noise and movement, and a demonstration of the enterprise of Solomon Islanders. Of course, it’s also a great place to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables,…
ON the 24th of March, 2014 we were in a court room at the Honiara Magistrate waiting for our Customary Land Appeal Court (CLAC) cases to be heard. We were all expecting an independent panel that is biased free and have no conflict of interest to appear and preside over our cases. We neither expect…
As the Gordon Darcy Lilo government the National Coalition for Rural Advancement (NCRA) is coming to an end; to be frank his term expires on September when our Parliament will dissolve. I think there are some major achievement Lilo’s government has delivered for the nation under his policy objectives and intentions during their tenure in…
Solomon Islanders are anticipating for going into the pools for national election in December. Interestingly the political climate now is MP’s and intending candidates, joined the political race and campaigning is in top gear, in the streets of Honiara, provincial centres, rural areas even to their door steps. Particularly past experiences should ring a bell,…
THE remarks below were made by an Australian Judge Justice Stephen Pallaras, who had been serving in the country. These were remarks made in relation to a murder case he judged. This is the observation he made in relation to deaths and service provided by the National Referral Hospital. I have been fortunate to have…
ON gender equality – it is no secret that the Pacific is lagging. The region is home to some of the world’s highest domestic violence rates. Economic empowerment of women in many countries, particularly in Melanesia, is desperately low. Women lack access to finance, land, jobs and income. In my country, Solomon Islands, there is…
WHEN you think of SIEA (Solomon Islands Electricity Authority), you normally think of men in orange overalls working on power poles or fixing generators, or checking meter boxes. You never think of women doing this, they are usually in the office behind desks or serving customers. But at around the turn of the century, two…
TEN years after the last time Spain was part of the UN Security Council, my country has decided to launch a new candidacy for a non-permanent seat for the biennium 2015-2016. Why? Because Spain is a reliable international team player. During the past decade our commitment to the United Nations principles has remained as strong…