Dear Editor – After more than 20 years under the program with nothing but pride, high expectations and hanging on to it for dear life, weird questions and doubts are emerging from all corners by those who just can’t take it anymore.
What exactly is this program to us? The answer will depend very much on the upcoming round table meeting scheduled for the 16th-8-2017.
The number of participants to that long anticipated meeting has been limited and it has been disclosed by the Lake Tegano World Heritage Site (LTWHS) committee chairman that those present to preside the meeting will be government representatives from the relevant ministries and dignitaries from the UNESCO World Heritage committee.
The delegations from East Rennell who will participate consist of representatives from the provincial assembly, the LTWHS committee, church leaders, chiefs and a few invited stakeholders.
The meeting is facilitated by the Ministry of Environment and Conservation. The agenda is yet to be disclosed but we have been assured that all should be based on the views raised by the populace of East Rennell during the recent consultation meetings conducted by representatives from the Ministry Environment and Conservation, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Education.
The purpose of those consultation meetings were to find out our views over the World Heritage (WH) program. They were shocked to discover that 80% of the local residents are still hanging on to the World Heritage program.
That’s a huge contrast to what they’ve heard all along from professed leaders (who frequented their offices with logging and mining proposals) who claimed that the majority of the local residents of East Rennell, out of frustration, have decided to do away with the WH program.
Having witnessed our improvised circumstances and having heard that our belief in the WH program and what it has in store for us far exceeds our destitution, they were deeply moved and suggested to convene a round table meeting in Honiara to finalize issues pertaining to our WH status once and for all but I’m afraid, rumors had it that the expected agenda has been rigged.
There are certain individuals who claimed that the upcoming conclave is between the relevant authorities and a few selected chiefs who are to officially declare that East Rennell is done with the program.
It has also been circulated that these selected chiefs have connived to lease East Rennell to China to do whatever they want with it. These are hearsay pieces but I will never doubt them as we’ve gone through far worse propaganda than these.
I understand your frustrations as most of you were (one way or the other) active WH committee members and supporters. By the way, we are on the same boat but may I ask, what next for us after we withdraw from this WH program and who are these mysterious hell bent chaps who are out to sell their dignity at the altar of ambition, status and sovereign wealth?
For them to determine the fate of East Rennell is outrageous? East Rennell was demarcated into 14 tribal boundaries. It was certified by the then 22 members in the Council of Chiefs and it wasn’t an easy process.
Tales, genealogy and historical events were recited, verified and cross examined for justification before the mallet hits the gong.
The current defunct Council of Chiefs is now in a mess and it’s a real pity for these successors but like it or not, the affairs of East Rennell are in the hands of a mandated Lake Tegano World Heritage site committee.
I don’t undermine your claim but you need to look left and right before you knock. What sort of investors do you have in mind to drag in to rip East Rennell under the guise of development as you always claimed? Don’t succumb to these expert negotiators.
They are contracted and well staked with enough resources at their disposal to ensure that they achieve their part of the bargain at our expense. The repercussions will far outweigh the expected economic benefits so we need to be very cautious about our actions. We need to see things with our minds and face reality at least for once.
All these make me recall several graffiti I saw scrawled on bootleg kiosks that dotted the outskirts of Honiara. There’s one that reads ‘when I sea you smile, I can face the wall’… sorry Bad English, that’s a terrible abuse to your lyrics which should be ‘when I see you smile, I can face the world’. Here’s another one, ‘you stupit beach’??????????? You stupid bitch. Nothing adds up.
The commercial destruction on the other half of the Island is something we should learn from. When the locals randomly scribbled their signatures and walked away with $200 joking, is it worth it? I’m a regular visitor to that region and I have seen the benefits and the developments there but they are not seducing enough to let down my guard even though I have to beg for basic necessities.
While I envy there high standard of living, they did their best to look good in a bad situation, I can see it in their eyes. APID mining company has been licensed to mine West Rennell for the next 25 years. The landowners have expended their limited resources pursuing legal cases to revoke the agreement but their efforts seem futile.
Just imagine what West Rennell will be like after they are done, Waste Rennell, don’t be offended, that is what they intend to leave behind, pits and jutting rocks and who is to take the blame? Long term benefits and short term benefits are what we need to roll around our heads before we give in to their irresistible whim.
All that is going on makes me come up with this fable. A peasant once found a lion cub in the wild and cradled it home. He nursed him lovingly, feeding him with boiled milk and meat. He was careful never to give him anything that contains blood. He raised him as a pet and played with him in the backyard as a legitimate sibling until he was fully maned.
One day, while they were out in the forest for a walk, the peasant tripped on a twig and grazed his sheen. His pet comes around and with his feline instinct, gave the wound a sniff, then he began to lick, then nudged, then nibbled, then clawed, then ripped, then nothing is left even for the scavengers to pick. Where do we fit in to this? Figure it out.
Now, we have been a listed World Heritage site for more than 20 years but so far, nothing stands out in East Rennell to indicate that we are a listed World Heritage site? Our WH status has only become a laughing stock.
Most of the logging and mining proposals proposed for East Rennell were given the thumbs up by the relevant government authorities to proceed. They facilitated all the necessary papers despite knowing that East Rennell is a World Heritage site.
They know it very well that East Rennell has been enveloped to remain intact as it was 600 years ago. To what ends????????? What is there for us? Who are we to save the world while we are suffering from the effects of climate change not directly connected to our actions?
Let me conclude this with an extracted passage from Luke Kiddle: ‘At the time of listing, as Anita Smith writes, East Rennell landowners “considered that they were entering a contract for which they expected returns to support their livelihoods” (2011, p. 592). However, these returns have just not accrued. Solomon Islands – optimistic about tourism opportunities and growth prospects – needs to consider the true impact of East Rennell’s heritage status remaining at risk. East Rennell going the way of West Rennell may be unlikely, but currently East Rennellese are just not benefiting from what they see as their gift to the world. ‘What is the point of world heritage?’ remains a common refrain. For now, Rennell remains an island of two halves’.
DS Ngaimono
The Lake
