NATIONAL PARLIAMENT OF
DAILY HANSARD
SECOND MEETING – EIGHTH SESSION
The
Hon Speaker, Sir Peter Kenilorea took the Chair at
Prayers.
At prayers, all were present with the exception of the
Ministers for Lands & Survey, Education & Human Resources and the
Members for West New Georgia/Vona Vona,
Hon Speaker: Your Excellency, the Governor General Sir Nathaniel
Waena and Lady Waena, Honorable Prime Minister and Mrs Sogavare, Your lordship
the Chief Justice and Lady Palmer, Conquerable Ministers of the Crown and
Members of Parliament, Commissioner of the Royal Solomon Islands Police,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps and RAMSI, invited guests, ladies and
Gentlemen. I humbly welcome you all to
this Honorable House, the National Parliament of Solomon Islands. We at Parliament are indeed privileged and
honored to have you here today for the state opening of this meeting of the
National Parliament. The last time a
speech from the throne was delivered to Parliament was in 1998, almost eight
years ago, and therefore it is a great pleasure for me to welcome you here
today. It is customary for Parliaments
operating under a
In
the United Kingdom Parliament the ceremony is held in the Lord Chambers rather
than in the Commons due to the historical battle?
between the Parliament and the monarch.
Of course, the case is different for a single chamber house such as
Solomon Islands Parliament. With those
few words of welcome I would now call upon His Excellency to deliver his
speech.
SPEECH FROM THE THRONE
By His Exellency Sir Nathaniel Rahumaea Waena GCMG CSI
KstJ, Governor-General of
The Hon Speaker of the
National Parliament of Solomon Islands, Your Lordship the Chief Justice, The
Hon Prime Minister, Hon Cabinet Ministers, The Hon Leader of Opposition, Hon
Members of Parliament, Your Excellencies Head of Missions, Reverend Church
Leaders, Constitutional Post holders and Permanent Secretaries, Traditional
Chiefs and Leaders, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
As
the Constitutional Representative of Her Majesty The Queen, The Head of State
of the Independent Democratic Sovereign State of Solomon
May
I humbly convey to the National Parliament, now in session, after the general
elections in early 2006, very warm greetings and special well wishes, on behalf
of our Head of State, Her Majesty The Queen.
May
I sincerely congratulate you, the Hon Speaker of Parliament, for being accorded
overwhelming parliamentary support, which you deservedly received. Your unopposed reappointment as the Speaker
of this distinguished Legislature is historic.
May you grace the guidance of the proceedings of Parliament with the
enormity of your parliamentary leadership experience, particularly, as the founding
after of our Independent nation.
It
is also most opportune for me, to sincerely congratulate the Hon Prime Minister
and the government, for successfully attaining the mandate to govern the
sovereign affairs of our people and nation, since taking Office, and at this
point in time. Our people, throughout
the nation, are eagerly contemplating enormous reform changes, by the current
administration, particularly through the rural development policy initiatives,
being announced by the Grand Coalition for Change Government.
To
the Hon Ministers of the Crown, may I thank you for accepting responsibility to
become Ministers, in order to spearhead the crucially important policy
initiatives of the government. As the
key players of the government administration, much would depend on your
political direction and management of your departments.
By
the same token, may I also convey my sincerest congratulations to the Hon
Leader of Opposition and the Hon Leader of Independent Members of Parliament on
your respective appointments. You have
assumed the vital responsibility of providing the pivotal mechanism, which
ensures checks and balances, to keep Her Majesty’s Government vigilant,
accountable and transparent, in their deliberations and undertakings, and to
govern and lead our people and nation.
To
all Members of the National Parliament, our people hold great confidence your
leadership abilities and capabilities, to provide leadership vision, as the
national legislators. May I respectfully
draw your attention, as a reminder, to the beautiful motto of our Nation, as
you begin your leadership journey of four years – “To Lead Is To Serve”. May you diligently lead our people and nation
forward, to the harbours of peace, tranquility and prosperity, with vision and
wisdom.
The
Grand Coalition for Change Government (GCCG) recognizes the importance of our
human resource, who now number about half a million, in our nation, and
scattered throughout the islands; from Temotu to the Shortlands, from Sikaiana
and Ontong Java to Rennell and Bellona.
We are one people, of one Nation, the
The
Grand Coalition for Change Administration of the Solomon Islands Government
firmly believes that the most befitting theme, to direct government policies,
would be: “Creating a New and Better Solomon Islands”. The theme revolves around the present day
aspirations, and attempts to outline the fundamental principles that embrace
the policy issues and the new political directions, being undertaken the
government.
The
theme attempts to provide a strategic focus, on three development
considerations of foundational significance, to create a peaceful, progressive
and prosperous Nation, for our people, in the 21st century.
The
three fundamental development considerations in focus are:
(1)
the “new
political directions”, necessary to take the
nation
forward;
(2)
the “pressing
issues”, facing our people and the nation; and
(3)
the “identified
prospects”, which would help our people and nation to achieve national
prosperity.
The
new political directions, call for, “a new
The
country had restricted itself rather unfortunately, in the past, by recognizing
the players in the formal sector only and therefore under-utilised the enormous
potentials that are in the rural areas.
Hectares of arable opportunity agricultural land areas are still lying
idle. We need to properly develop all
the available Agricultural Opportunity Areas (AOA’s), for purposes of organized
rural village development and income generation.
We
have some of the most beautiful and environmentally sound and scenic spots and harbors,
in the world, here in our nation, but Solomon Islanders are yet struggling to
cope with the demands of the cash economy.
No wonder why too many Solomon Islanders look for the easy way out,
especially with the new mind set of the cargo-cult syndrome. The grand coalition government is therefore,
determined, to stamp out that evil.
Both
the Policy Framework Document launched in May 2006, and the Translation and
Implementation document recently unveiled on 9th August, should set
the basis, from which the government will direct and progress the country
forward. Another aspect of this new
political direction is, to have an acceptable vision. The vision for our nation is: “To create a
God-fearing Society”, that is equitable and just; honest; trustworthy and
forward looking. It is the
responsibility of all Ministers of the crown; all Parliamentarians and Chief
Executive Officers; together with all other persons assigned and assuming the
roles of authority and responsibilities, whether it be in the public, private
or civil society domains, to become consistent, and to lead and serve our
people with the highest ethical standards.
It is hence essential that, in order to bring about genuine economic,
political and social transformation, the partnerships between stakeholders,
have to be of acceptable quality and of high ethical standard.
Attention
must also be given to public officers who are working within, and for, the
government machinery. Public Servants
must be highly disciplined and hardworking, to carry out government
policies. The Public Service is the
conduit through which all government programs will be delivered. Currently, we have 9,216 working in the
established sector and 409 in the non-established sector, and is steadily
increasing. The government has recently
addressed their salaries. This is to
ensure that we not only attract the best of available talents in the country to
serve the nation, but also to fairly compensate and reward performance. Public Service Reform to progressively create
well trained and disciplined cadres of officers is ongoing.
Under
the second theme, I wish now to highlight certain important pressing
issues. Such issues include: Constitutional Reform, Ethical Leadership,
Truth and Reconciliation and Nation-building.
Let us not forget that nation-building is a continuing and challenging
task. We as a nation have been through a
lot of very trying and difficult times, within the recent past. The learning curve had been very steep and
indeed quite slippery, but we have had to move on and learn important lessons,
from our past mistakes. Briefly, these
three important lessons are fundamental; if we are to gain anything positive
from our past failures. They are:
(i)
the centralized
top-heavy system, which we have adopted.
It has not delivered well, as had been expected by our rural people;
(ii)
colonization and
modernization, seemed to have eroded our worthy cultures and traditions. They have instead been perceived to be a
threat to our rights to freedom, and to equal participation in national
development; and
(iii)
the trickle-down
economic development, that exploited and extracted our natural resources; and
the deceitful and adverse accessing of funds, in the name of our communities,
has not only deprived our people of necessary services but resultantly created
serious grievances and disparities. Such
improper practices also contributed to the ‘ethnic tension’, which sadly
brought the nation to its knees in 2000.
Fortunately, it had been our
peoples’ resolute resilience that we have successfully managed to come out of
that devastating and nasty Civil Disturbance.
Thanks to our donor friends, who have kindly come to our help, such
as: the Republic of China or Taiwan;
Australia; New Zealand, the United Kingdom; Japan, the United States, the EU,
the UN and its various agencies, the Forum and other agencies, which have
helped us in one way or otherwise. In
addition, we sincerely acknowledge one entirely new and positive entity that
has since continued to make its presence felt in our nation. That is RAMSI.
May
I, at this juncture, sincerely express on behalf of the government and the
people of
The
strength of this nation lies in our own people, and how we are able to manage
that important resource. We may have
concentrated and spoken much about managing our land and sea resources, but
have paid little attention to effectively manage our people, and to provide a
governing system that best suits our diverse nation. In this context, we note, that the majority
of our people now desire a Federal system of government that would fulfill
their desire for decentralization and diversification. The grand coalition is therefore embarking on
finalizing the new Federal System, which hopefully would be operational by mid
– 2007.
The
government is also embarking on establishing three very important
Commissions. They are:
1. The
Commission of Inquiry into the
ii. The
Commission of Inquiry into land dealings on
iii. The
Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The Commission of Inquiry
into the
Besides
fostering national healing and consciousness, is also the fundamental and
intrinsic phenomenon of promulgating our national identity, whether it be
cultural or social or physical. Yes, we
are one people, but the tendency to fragment this nation into regions, based on
animosity or ill-feelings, is perhaps one of the potential worst blights, still
hovering over our nation. This therefore
calls upon each and every one of us, to be more appreciative of our inherent
differences. Let us turn such weaknesses
into national strengths, through fostering sound undertaking.
The final part to my address focuses on some pivotal
fundamental issues, needing our attention.
One such issue and inherent problem is the question of land and the land
tenure system. Out of the 27,000 sq.km
of land mass in our country, 85% of this is customary owned. Being mindful of this, the government has
established a Land Reform Unit in the Ministry of Lands, tasked with the
responsibility of determining how best we can deal with customary, alienated and
crown land. Land as we all know is a very
sensitive and controversial issue.
Therefore, we have to take great care when dealing with it.
Associated with land is the issue of settlement of
disputes. The chiefs and our traditional
leaders have an important function to fulfill in this regard. Our chiefs, rather sadly, have unfortunately,
not been given due recognition. I am
pleased to note, that one or two provincial assemblies have begun to involve
chiefs, in their assembly meetings, as well as in training them to become
effective community leaders. The
national government shall be exploring ways to give more legal recognition to
our chiefs and traditional leaders. This
is a crucial step in the right direction.
Ladies and gentlemen, another matter which we should pay
close attention to is, our natural resources, both on land and in the sea. In terms of our land resources, several
commodities come to mind. Let me just
refer to them briefly:
i) logging.
This concern has been a long
standing one, and as we all are aware, the current logging and harvesting rate
is believed to be nearly three times the sustainable level. This must be reduced, if the country is to
continue benefiting from this sector.
There is a need to implement a holistic management approach to the
country’s forests, by putting in place mechanisms to effectively monitor the
activities of the logging industry. The
government would be reviewing the current draft forestry bill, in order to make
it mandatory, for all logging companies to process locally, 20 percent of their
log harvests. In addition, the
government has issued a moratorium on issuances of new licences. All current licences are to be reviewed. All logging companies are to carry out
replacement reforestation, in the logged out areas. We hope that these exercises will reduce the
annual harvesting quota, and would also ensure that, our forests are harvested
responsibly and sustainably, with realistic returns being accorded to the
resource owners and the government.
In terms of our other export potentials, we need now to
look beyond our traditional crops such as copra and cocoa. Yes, these crops have kept us going for the
past 100 years or so. We however, need
to diversify. In this regard, CEMA needs
to be restrengthened, so that it can proactively explore areas such as in
biodiesel, by developing the use of coconut oil. In this way it can help or copra producers to
enjoy added value to their copra. With
regards to such other crops, as bananas, honey, and cassava for export to
overseas markets, we need to introduce and maintain necessary high
standard. As a member of the ACP Member
States, we should have easy access to the European Market. We have not, however been able to take advantage
of this arrangement because we do not have the capacity, and are without an
internal body to investigate and conduct research into food products, which we
want to export, so that they would meet international regulations and
standards. In addition, we have not as
yet become a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which is
responsible for the development of food standards. We are now in the process of seeking
membership into that important organisation.
With regards to our sea resources, in terms of fisheries,
we need to manage our fishing industry, on sustainable basis, for the benefit
of all Solomon Islanders. We shall
review the current tuna fishing operations in
There is some positive development in our only local
fishing and processing company, the SOLTAI.
With humble beginnings in 2001, after the demise of Solomon Taiyo,
SOLTAI undertook commercial tuna operations in fishing, processing and
marketing. SOLTAI started off with only
150 employees in 2001, and is now employing 900 workers, with plans to expand
the workforce to 1,200 employees by December 2006. SOLTAI is one of the few companies in the
world that is using pole and line fishing, and is the largest exporter of
smoked fish in the world, to Soyo Sansho of
By having only one fishing company is not enough, thus
the government is soon to explore the possibility of establishing a second
fishing and processing company, to be located in another part of the
country. Besides these big fishing
undertakings, the government also plans to actively revive the rural fishing industry,
to engage our local fishermen, not only in terms of fishing, but also in prawn,
seaweed and pearl farming as well.
We understand that economic development can only
sustainably occur in areas where there is appropriate infrastructure in
place. White it is true that
agriculture, fishing, logging and mining play a substantial role in the
economy, provision of reliable services associated with supplying producers and
distributing their output is a major element of economic development. The high services costs and poor transport
currently divert large sums of funds, from potential investment into economic
activities. The government is desirous
to address this important requirement by providing, developing and managing a
reliable, appropriate, sustainable and affordable transport sector in the
country, as encouragement to investment and economic development. There are currently ongoing projects to
address this. We wish to thank the
Australian and New Zealand Governments, who have provided funds for the
rehabilitation of our roads and bridges on Malaita and Guadalcanal, and also
elsewhere, and the EU for funding wharves development throughout the country.
Through such infrastructure developments, we believe that
the necessary economic spin-offs would be realized, as our rural dwellers would
open up their land and get actively involved in agricultural and commercial
development, for the betterment of their lives.
Such activities would include poultry, piggery and rice farming. In terms of cattle redevelopment, the RIPEL
landholding property at Yandina is to be explored, for the rehabilitation of
the cattle industry.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the national level, the
government will still be focusing on the Aluta basin oil palm development on
Malaita, and on the Vangunu Project in the
In relation to mineral exploration, our desire is to
progressively tap and develop our other natural resources, especially in the
areas of mining, energy and petroleum, which remain high priority, and very
much at the forefront. In the area of
mining, we are fortunate, that, the environment provided by RAMSI is now conducive,
to enhance the Australia-Solomon Gold Company to recommence work on the Gold
Ridge Mine in
In terms of energy resources, we hope to embark on
alternative forms of energy, such as in hydro power and solar energy, and in
the area of petroleum. The government
encourages genuine investors to come in, and explore the possibilities of oil
development. We can only be sure of this
after oil prospecting has confirmed the status of petroleum deposits in this
country.
In tourism, we have such vast potential, thus the
government is encouraging, eco-tourism as well as hotel development, to cater
for an increase in the number of visitors to our shores in the near
future. We are hopeful on the increase
in tourism numbers, but we must be able to have the capacity and
professionalism to cope with this expected demand. We have never gone beyond the 30,000 visitors
per annum mark, but we hope to achieve this by 2008, during which time the
country is hoping to plan massive celebrations, to coincide with our nation’s
30th anniversary of independence.
We must now set ourselves to achieve the target of 30,000 visitors in
2008, as one of our 30th Anniversary Celebrations Special
Achievements.
With reference to trade and
investment, we welcome genuine investors.
Under the new Foreign Investment Act, it is noted that the process in
getting the papers done for investment is now faster and better. A robust financial system, with less
stringent requirements, is what is now needed, to support and encourage
investment. In this context, the
government is planning to establish Special Economic Zones (SEZ) or Free Trade
Zones in selected parts of our country, to attract sizeable investment. The Special Economic Zones will have the
potential to bring about considerable benefits, in terms of revenue and income
generation, employment and other indirect benefits with spin-offs, crucial for economic
growth.
With regards to finance and economic
recovery, our economy has been performing quite well over the recent past one
or two years, and our finances have stabilised.
We wish to thank RAMSI and our development partners for this positive
development. However, we still have a
long way to go. The government is very
mindful of unnecessary spending, thus measures are in place to ensure that this
does not happen. We still have to repay
our debts, hence the initiative started by the last government, for continuous
dialogue, with our development partners, to either cancel or reschedule some of
our outstanding debts, is still a top priority.
There is a need to encourage vibrant
economic growth to take place, for which we need the unfailing support of the
private sector. The private sector needs
to be vibrant and enterprising. The
government recognises the need to forge closer working relations with the
private sector, through increased private business investment, and in
facilitating rural private sector development, as a source of employment for
large numbers of Solomon Islanders. The
government is determined to assist in that regard.
Another
important prerequisite for economic growth is political stability. The government is mindful of its responsibility
to provide that stability. Certain bills
are being prepared to ensure the desired political stability, as well as for
essential ethnical leadership, and for dealing with corrupt leaders. To deal with corruption, we have to start
with the leaders.
In
the field of Law and Order, Security and Justice, we are again thankful to
RAMSI for creating improvements in that sector.
Our Police Force Officers have started to gain valuable experience from
the PPF and RAMSI, but there are still things to be done, especially in terms
of training, discipline and recovery of the national pride that our police
force once had, prior to the ethnic crisis.
Police and Prison Staff housing, is still an ongoing major issue of concern. The government is committed to pursuing this
important requirement. The government
also acknowledges the Ausaid and RAMSI’s efforts in strengthening the Justice
and Court Sector, to be able to deal with the many outstanding cases the ethnic
tension.
In
terms of communications, the government encourages open, honest and responsible
media. Besides the print and radio
communication, we are being ushered into the internet age, and are no longer
isolated but part of the global network.
Solomon Telekom plays a major and positive role in this
development. However, the government
feels that a review of that 15 year exclusive agreement with Telekom is
necessary, so as to encourage competition.
Many of our people experience the monopoly in this sector, as being very
expensive. As a member of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO), we are obliged to eliminate monopoly, to encourage
competition.
With
regards to both sea and air transport, these are areas we want to see major
improvements on. We are a country of
islands, and our shipping services to our remote parts still remains
appallingly poor. Our domestic airline
services are also below standard. The
government will explore ways to bring about needed improvements on these major
shortcomings.
May
I now take us to the final sector, which is social services. I would like to address our Health and
Education Services; Youth; Women; Sports; the civil Society; and the Churches.
Ladies
and gentlemen, it is sometimes said, that, a Healthy Population, is a Wealthy
Nation. Our health services throughout the
country have continued to improve.
However, we still need appropriate training, to cope with the many and
ever increasing complex health demands that the population has on the health
services. We require all Solomon
Islanders to be Health conscious and to take of their own personal
hygiene. Health in other words is
everyone’s business, and that, healthy living in other words is everyone’s
business, and that, healthy living begins at home.
One
of the biggest health risks facing our people nowadays is the apparent threat
of the HIV/Aids syndrome. The government
has taken this matter as a serious priority, in terms of awareness and mass
education. Although there are less than
10 known HIV cases in this country, we should not sit back and wait for the day
when many of our villages will be empty of our young population, because of
HIV/Aids. We certainly do not want that
to happen.
While
greater emphasis is being placed on the threat of HIV/Aids, the Government is
also mindful as ever, of the prevalence of other sickness and disease within
the Communities, such as Malaria, TB, Diabetes, and Cancerous ailments, etc,
which need to be brought under control, through curative and preventative
medicine.
On
education, we want to provide basic education to all our children. We consider education as a right, and thus
our children should go as far as to Forms 3 and 5, so that they could have
adequate knowledge to face the realities of life. In this context we are determined to improve
on our literacy rate, to eventually reach about 90% or even better. Those or even better. Those who cannot continue on up the academic
ladder, are being encouraged to attend vocational training centers, to learn
practical skills and trades, to equip them for practical living as farmers,
carpenters, fishermen, and shop owners in the villages.
The
government is pursuing the need to fully resource the SICHE, so that it can
become an
It is always being said that the youth of today are
the leaders of tomorrow. Shall we not be
bold enough to refer to them as leaders of today as well? We have a vibrant population of young people
who number about 55% of the total national population. The government is putting in place
appropriate policies, which would address some of the concerns raised by our
young people. The government intends to
establish a National Youth Commission and a National Youth Corps to provide the
necessary mechanisms in dealing with youth issues, one of which is sports.
Sports
is a unifying force and all forms of sports contribute to this
understanding. Soccer has become our
national game and pride. After the
departure of
It
is sometimes said that youths are reflections of their parents. My thoughts go out to a typical mother, who
entered into an argument with her eighteen year old son. The son was blaming the mother for his
predicament, but the mother lovingly turns to him and said, “Son just remember,
that, when you were a baby I carried you in my arms. Now you are an angry young man, I still carry
you in my heart.” This would be a
powerful expression of a mother’s love to her son. The mothers of this nation are the backbone
to our future. The government is
desirous to assisting both the women’s department and the National Council of
Women, so that, they can become equal partners in women advocacy and
development.
With
regards to social welfare, the government is very mindful of the fact that
there are disadvantaged groups in our society, such as the disabled, vulnerable
and unwanted. The government shall
explore ways of assisting such disadvantaged groups, as they too can very well
take active role in our communities. Let
us not make them feel that they are unwanted.
Here, I am reminded by Mother Theresa, who once remarked that, “the
worst type of poverty is to have the feeling of being unloved and of
loneliness”.
The Government
is also committed to inviting the Civil Society groups, the churches and
non-state actors, to be positively involved in the affairs of this nation. In this regard the government has already
started holding regular discussions and consultations with those relevant
important stakeholders, to see how best we can work together, to help build our
nation, which we all love!
The
churches have continued to play very vital and an active part in our nation’s
development process. The present
government would want to encourage more of this worthy partnership with the
churches. In this context the
government, subject to the introduction of an agreed formula, is desirous to
begin providing direct financial grants to churches, based on the one tent
principle, on a given amount of state revenue.
We
have been reminded by some of our important church dignitaries, who have
visited us, such as the “President of the World –
Ladies
and gentlemen, may I conclude by saying that, “we now have the opportunity to
turn this country around”. I have been
highlighting some of our problems, and attempted at sharing with you some of
our positive future prospects. We can
indeed be able to make a difference.
Here I would like to profoundly thank our donor partners, for their
continuous assistance to us, and to the RAMSI, for their continued good
work. To all our leaders in the
villages, in our communities, churches, provinces, the government and civil
society, we thank you for your unfailing continuous support.
May
I now appeal to everyone of us, to continue to work together, in peace and
harmony, in our collective effort to rebuild this beautiful nation, the
Thank you, and may God richly bless the
Hon Sogavare: Mr
Speaker, I beg leave to move that Standing Orders 13(b) be suspended in order
to allow the Prime Minister to read the Statement of Government Business.
Mr Speaker: Permission granted for Standing Orders 13(b)
to be suspended.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
The House adjourned at