Dear Editor – Thank you once more for allowing me to respond to Leonard Meneseng, who claimed to be the wise man from the east and a senior citizen of Temotu Province.
Before I proceed with my reply, I would like to apologise to the so called “Honiara Temotu Nurses” for including them in my first reply to Mr Leonard.
I thought Mr Leonard was a nurse in his first letter, however, I learnt that he is just another desperate opportunist who finds that issuing of T’ Shirts is an advantage to pushing his short sighted mining interest.
But sadly though, too Childish Mr Leonard.
Mr Leonard, I appreciate that you know me well and thank you for letting us know that you’re an honourable, the wise man from the east, the senior citizen of Temotu and a pro- miner.
I would like to remind you that, I never said I am wiser than you and more educated than anybody in the World.
Those are your words, and even from your pens you wrote you’re wiser than me.
You even said I am proud, but I never praise myself or even elevate myself in comparison to you, but you did in your article. I respect you for that professional personality.
Mr Leonard, I want you to know that I have very high respect for leaders and older folks in every place I go and live.
But one thing is, I don’t always bow down to short sighted decisions, visions and activities.
And I don’t always respect unprofessional, unethical and evil decisions and actions.
For the vision you have to allow mining in Nende as a honourable, Mr Leonard, to be honest I will not respect that decision for only one reason, it is a very short sighted vision and a wrong type of development for a very small province that is made up of very tiny Islands.
This is the reason why I am surprised of you Mr Leonard for overlooking these small things.
Mr Leonard, being a good visionary leader you must be able to foresee the future clearly.
You must be able to stand up for the people in pathing a better life now and in the future with a type of development that best fits Temotu Province.
This is not what we see in you, Mr Leonard.
It seems you and your other pro-miners are trying to do some form of ‘Copy-Cat’ development in Temotu.
You see and hear mining in Guadalcanal and Renbel then you want to also do it in Temotu.
You never reason to realise that geographically by Island size. Nende is very small and is not good in any way for such mining type.
Furthermore Mr Leonard, obviously you have very little idea of the Bauxite mining in Renbel.
The Mining Company digs up the Soil to a depth of more than 6 meters and send them overseas.
They left with what is called ‘craters’ full with rain water and bush with just bear rocks.
All the top soil good for farming are being shifted to China.
Many Renbel people have helplessly regretted seeing this activity happening on a daily basis.
And yet, sadly though, Mr Leonard, who claimed to be the wise man from the east, still thinks it is a good development for his very people.
Mr Leonard, we Temotu anti- miners are not anti- development.
We like development, but the development we desire must be best fitting our province and must have a positive outcome now and in the future with less or no negative effects in the long run.
Currently, Mr Leonard, I am proud of my majority grassroot people, they are very wise and can be able to foresee that digging and carrying our soil to China is not good.
I am more proud of them that they never bow down to very poor and short sighted decisions made by their MPA’s.
I am more proud of them that, they are currently farming big farms of kava which they believe will give them more money.
I am proud of them because they choose a safest development (farming) over Bauxite Mining to get big money out of it and still have their land for the rest of their lives.
So Mr Leonard, sorry you have a big title against your name but sadly it does not match up to the decisions you make for the development of Temotu now and in the future.
Lastly, Mr Leonard, don’t waste your time thinking of lecturing me on the differences of prospecting and mining.
I have had a fair idea of their differences, but just don’t be fooled, “no man wants to waste money for nothing”.
And don’t even waste your time thinking of educating me on the so called “Mining Act”, I even had a fair idea about it.
But one thing is obvious Mr Leonard, you don’t know how to put right what you know and where to play it basing on good analyses and research.
Mr Leonard, I would kindly rather recommend you to rethink your support as a leader and think about your decision, if it is truly a genuine development best fitting Temotu (Nende).
But if you still think it is a good development, can you let us know of your reasons? Can you show us your strategy on how we can replace the taken soil to fill the craters and be able to plant food crops again?
Finally, Mr Leonard, as a leader, I want you to support the Kava farmers of Temotu (Nende), who have already planted an estimated 800,000 plus Kava plants.
They are engaging in a more friendly development than the bauxite mining.
For your information, it is estimated that at the end of this year, at least more than one million Kava plants have been planted which is estimated at a value of more than $400 million.
Isn’t it a friendly development?
Please leave mining and support Kava farmers to farm their land to get money and yet have their land rather than “shipping their land to Asia” and losing it for the rest of their life.
Ulysis Glass
Anti- Miner
Temotu Province
