Dear Editor – After exchanging arguments with my friends I finally made up my mind to share thoughts in the media. Please allow me a space in your editorial to make this worth.
Though a few months in town, but already my mind tells me that Honiara, the capital of our beloved Happy Isles showed me a different picture of what I saw thirty years ago and what our founding fathers would want us to become.
I hardly seen an indigenous person run or own a shop in Honiara although shop names are very local but the owners who happen to be mainly Asian origin hardly speak my identity language, pidgin.
It is truly to say that Chinatown somewhat known to have beautiful buildings of Chinese traditional taste has somewhat melted down into modern warehouse buildings and has gone beyond the boundaries of Chinatown.
Honiara has somewhat become an Asian Shanty City. In fact, just reminded me that the days our forefathers fought alongside the Americans during the 2nd World war and gave our freedom is vanishing again in this modern era, I find it difficult to excite under the 2020 Millennium goal.
They continue to build out into the suburbs and this is already scary because soon these Asians will conquer this country with somewhat trade products and food that is truly eating away the healthy lifestyle of our beloved nation, such a cancerous urban planning, I believe not seen anywhere else, only on our shores.
Places for drainages, water pipes and power accesses worst still road accesses have been overtaken by these Asians.
Yes, I read in some of your papers that they are continuing to expand even behind our neighbourhoods, and they will continue to do so, mark my words.
They are breaking planning laws yet they continue to do so, psychologically a truly no man’s land, only by way of word of mouth and not in black or white, so that in the end they still are winners. I find it succumb to the leadership of this nation.
All these happening under the umbrella of the government of the day and so I ask what the government is doing about this.
I know there are the Ministry of Lands and the Honiara City Council and others, the very Institutions mandated to regulate better Urban Planning Policies. Is this what the government is doing, entrusted by the people, but to trade to their own feelings and plans rather than for the nation and its future.
And even worst, many years, hardly any development growth down to the rural areas although millions are being spent under the Members of Parliament uncontrollable funds.
Ogeta law makers iumi votim go lo Parliament ba start fo hole hole lo selen blo pepol, no wonder brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and parents and the elderly are asking when shall our member or members, come around again with huge money because we are starving.
So they said ‘follom Prime Minister nao’, the man holding the highest office in the country is good in dishing out money in front of the people unnecessarily, ashamed of oath.
Am saying is this what the country wants? To be led to live in own world that is unfair to its indigenous populace and this is impacting our illiterate rural people, and I have no better say to this.
All I want to say now is voters put yourselves and country first, Pray Hard and Vote Wisely, in this coming National General Election, don’t switch your heart for money even up to the devils night for it is your future that you make.
Restore Honiara as to our country Solomon Islands.
Sonis Koke
Honiara
