A brief history of Solomon Islands!

9 July 2007

We started off well enough, then went down hill. Our first years of independence were filled with promise but during the middle years we got ourselves lost and into trouble. Fortunately we have been given a second chance to start again. However, it's important to be clear where, how and why we failed in the first place.

From my lights, the 1978-1986 years were a period of growth, optimism and determination. The nation's transition from colony to independent state went off smoothly. During those years, we experienced no conflict, no bitterness, no healing of war wounds and overcoming deep seated hatreds. UK's $35 million golden handshake during this period allowed the nation to start off its bank balance in positive territory. Yes, in spite of the down turn in commodity prices--cocoa, copra, fish, etc.--across the world, we were still optimistic.

However, the nation was finding it hard to balance its books; medical, education and other social costs servicing villagers were rising higher by the month. In summary, in comparison to what was to come the nation's first eight years could claim to be Solomons' Golden Era!

Our collective troubles arrived with Cyclone Namu's destructive winds in mid-1986. Not only did this ferocious storm destroy Guale's rice crop, tear down many bridges, leave more than 100 of our people dead, it changed our leaders thinking. It was clear to our leaders that a prosperous and dynamic Solomons was going to take more than a few years of hard work. But the leadership and many of their followers were impatient. A short cut had to be found! Villagers' forest wealth was thought to be that short cut!

Politicians of all stripes--central government, provincial level and village leaders--thought they saw royal road out of poverty and a neat way to prosperity--round tree logging. During the 1986-1997 period, then, the round tree export of people's logs set a pattern. The growing volume of log exports was linked to a dubious development theory: Solomons only weakness was that it lacked sufficient funds. If log exports brought the country millions of dollars, then could development be far away?

Round tree logging exports did bring millions of dollars, not so much for the nation but for individuals, not necessarily those who actually owned the forest wealth. However, during these years the quality of people's daily lives in the rural areas began to serious slide. Basic health, education, transport and communication services weakened. In Guale's Weather Coast, for instance, these services dried up so badly that village life became poorer than what people had experienced during pre-independence years. Is it any wonder that the most bitter of conflicts took place on that coast? This period of Solomon's history is rightly called: The Leaden Era!

Ulufa'alu's 1997-2000 years of governance tried to address these gaps, to emphasize rural investment and bring the nation's political elite and moneyed power-brokers into line. Immediately, he faced three parliamentary motions of no confidence but what was happening outside the walls of that house ultimately proved too much for his government. By mid-1999, it became clear that a fundamental difference lay between those who ruled--the political elite--and those who were the real owners of the nation's resources--the villagers.

Thus began our Toxic Era: five years--1998-2003--of disarray, weakness and drift. Fortunately, had it not been the village sector with its strengths and determination, the nation would have sunk below the waves and would have been destroyed. Government institutions couldn't perform the basics of government--education, health and law and order. Villagers at the time basically fed the nation, kept young, elderly and the sick from disease and were the foundation pillar for peace and order.

In 2003, this unhealthy local scene changed dramatically. RAMSI, over the past four years, stiffened central government's backbone by strengthening its courts and prison services, revamping police personnel and re-ordering the nation's finances. It is clear that the solution to our foundational social and economic problems is best accomplished by enhancing The Basic Life--peace, social services and modest economic life for the majority (villagers) first--and then extending that goal to the urban centres. Not the other way around!

J. Roughan
9 July 2007
Honiara