Been on the road. Torrential downpours all the way. Strangely enough it was my best time ever for driving between home and Turumakina’s studio… spot on 2 hours. This morn was 2.5 and Brisbane traffic normally makes it 3 hours, or more.
The rain chased most of the vehicle off the road and I got a clear run…
Posted in Uncategorized
“Deep meaningful love based on true compatibility”
I just heard a commercial on TV that, for a fee, guaranteed the above.
Where are we? What are we?
I see a world gone mad…
I laugh… for a fee, I can guarantee you just about anything.
Posted in a world gone mad
Where are we? What are we? A world gone mad?
A world where most are hungry. Where most know not of health care. Where education is little more than a rumor, at times a dangerous dream.
A world where most, though hungry, grow old and die with the hands of their beloved attending. Where medicare and nursing homes do not exist. Where there is no such thing as an unwanted child.
I admit to being confused. Dumbfounded!
Where are we? What are we?
I see a world gone mad…
Posted in a world gone mad | Tags: a world gone mad
This guy, a 2000 militant leader, a) won his seat in parliament by the largest majority recorded in the last election, and b) was recently found guilty for a 10 year old shooting of a guy while in a hospital bed. He was sumamrilly pardoned for his crime by the minister or board responsible… who has such powers. Of course the legal system is biased, bought and paid for… what is he going on about?
MEMBER of Parliament for North Malaita Jimmy Lusibaea has registered his disappointment in parliament when he spoke yesterday.
Speaking during the Sine die motion, Mr Lusibaea said he is not convinced that the judiciary is independent.
“I must express my disappointment here on the floor about the judiciary’s handling of my recent case,” he said.
He described the judiciary as parallel and selective.
“Because there are two groups of judges, ones paid by the government and those paid from abroad.”
Mr Lusibaea welcomed the challenge taken up with the courts by Aoke Langalanga MP Mathew Wale on his recent early release from prison.
“I questioned my brother Wale challenging the legality of my early release, but I wish him good luck.”
Mr Lusibaea’s early release has come under heavy criticism prompting the deputy opposition leader Mathew Wale to challenge the decision by the parole board in court.
Posted in Uncategorized
Julian Moti
Three Australian High Court Judges sitting in Sydney on Friday granted Julian Moti special leave to have his case heard in the highest court of the land.
In a process whereby less than 1 in 20 cases are granted special leave, Moti’s case was allowed on two counts.
Firstly, on the excessive payment to witnesses, which was the ground that Justice Debra Mullins granted Moti a permanent stay of prosecution in December of 2009 (later reversed on appeal).
On this count, the three judges made their decision from the written submissions and did not seek any further clarification from the two barristers.
However, on the second count – the questionable legality of Moti’s deportation from the Solomon Islands which Justice Mullins had not considered as a valid ground for the stay application, discussion and questions from the bench focussed on the role of Australian Federal Police Agent and Senior Liaison Officer in Honiara, Peter Bond.
While in the original trial Justice Mullins had accepted that Bond was only ever a disinterested observer in the deportation process, questions from the High Court bench indicated otherwise.
The Justices were particularly interested in a meeting that Bond had with Solomon Islands’ Chief Justice, Sir Albert Palmer and its purpose.
They also remarked on Bonds words regarding the deportation “do it quickly because the plane will be waiting.”
After hearing from both sides special leave was granted on this count too.
Outside the court, Julian Moti indicated he was particularly pleased that the court would re examine the issue of his illegal deportation and he calmly reaffirmed his confidence in the rule of law to curb what he characterised as “executive lawlessness”.
Such as the illegal executive decision to deport Moti that was taken by the Solomon Islands government led by Dr. Derek Sikua in late 2007 in direct contravention of a court order to the contrary.
Moti characterised this ‘deportation’ as nothing short of “kidnapping”
In a reference to the heinous 19th Century practice of ‘blackbirding’ whereby Australian authorities kidnapped Pacific Islanders to work in the sugar cane fields Moti called himself ‘Australia’s last blackbird from Melanesia.”
He added that he hoped that he’d be “the final and not just the most recent one”.
For contrary to its duty of care to ensure the rights of one its citizens, Moti claims, and his lawyers have charged, that the Australian authorities colluded and aided in a deportation that they were aware was illegal.
“The High Court has given me reason today to hope that executive lawlessness of the kind practiced by the [Australian] Commonwealth government and its agencies in my case will never again be condoned, under any pretence.”
“When the Australian government intervenes in fragile states like the Solomon Islands to restore and uphold law and order, its agencies and officers must be held accountable for their actions and inertias under their laws and ours,” he added
It is in the High Court of Australia that the principle of Australia’s extraterritorial responsibilities to its citizens will be tested later this year.
The high court challenge is the latest in a saga that began in 1997 when Moti was charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl in Vanuatu.
Even though the Vanuatu authorities did not consider the case to have any merit and deemed Moti had no case to answer, Australian authorities revamped and repackaged the charges as child-sex tourism in coincidence with Moti’s mooted appointment as attorney general of the Solomon Islands.
During Moti’s application for a permanent stay of prosecution in 2009, evidence was tabled that proved the motivations for this prosecution were indeed political and directly gave rise to the ‘executive lawlessness’ that the high court will make its ruling on later this year,
Indeed, just last month, in what became almost a death-bed confession, Mr. Ariipaea Salmon, the father of Moti’s alleged victim (who died three days after an interview with him was taped) spoke of the desperate measures employed by the Australian Federal Police to secure the reluctant testimony of a family who just wanted to be left alone.
This included the payment of vast sums of money as ‘living expenses’ to the family which gave rise to one of the counts on which the High Court challenge will be launched.
Disturbingly, he also told of coercion and intimidation by the Australian authorities to keep the family cooperating.
To reach the high court of Australia, this case has cost the Australia taxpayer millions of dollars, not to mention the very significant human cost – executive lawlessness on trial? Indeed.
Posted in DATED COMMENTARY, Worth a read
Great ride today. Did the classic run from here to Maleny then onto Kenilworth then back home via Eumundi and the Bruce highway…
All up a bit more than 2 hours in the saddle. Got some rain after Kenilworth. Would love to run up to Cairns but I do not think the weather will allow…
Posted in rider's log, rider's log 100320-11
Took off for a quick ride through the Maloolah valley on the 1200 cc.
Would have gone longer but forgot I’d left a pot cooking on the stove. Had to turn back.
Now it’s raining… bummer…
Posted in rider's log, rider's log 0903-11.1
Just back in Palmwoods. Got in last eve in a big rain. Rained most of the night. Took off about 0830 hrsfor a quick ride up the range. Thought the weather looked good so I took off in my light jacket. I was too cold all the way up the range. Turned around at Mapleton and came straight home.
The ride was good. The 800cc bike is purring nicely. But I’m too big of an old wussy to freeze while enjoying my varied past times…
Will go out again but with summer behind us and winter coming on I’ll be sure to wear my heavy gear.
Posted in rider's log, rider's log 0903-11
In our modern “bail-out” mentality we certainly should listen here to Mr. Young…
Posted in DATED COMMENTARY
Been a rather relaxed Weekend. Mendozza has had a fever since Thursday. Did not go to school Friday. We dose him up with paracetamol and he’s great. The drugs wear off and he’s down again.
We all bunked out in the living room all weekend. Yesterday Mendozza woke up slow and feverish. Was OK by about noon and was good straight through. The fever has broke.
Dok Filardi showed up today. Do mourn the loss of the fishing trip at Lola. But we’re talking about our soon to come few days of Rocky-Mountain high in Missoula.
Some picts from the past few months that are worth a look…
Posted in A soft Sunday morn..., DATED COMMENTARY
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — Stirred up by three angry mullahs who urged them to avenge the burning of a Koran at a Florida church, thousands of protesters on Friday overran the compound of the United Nations in this northern Afghan city, killing at least 12 people, Afghan and United Nations officials said.
The attack was the deadliest for the United Nations inAfghanistan since 11 people were killed in 2009, whenTaliban suicide bombers invaded a guesthouse in Kabul. It also underscored the latent hostility toward the nine-year foreign presence here, even in a city long considered to be among the safest in Afghanistan — so safe that American troops no longer patrol here in any numbers.
Unable to find Americans on whom to vent their anger, the mob turned instead on the next-best symbol of Western intrusion — the nearby United Nations headquarters. “Some of our colleagues were just hunted down,” said a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Kieran Dwyer, in confirming the attack.
In Washington, President Obama issued a statementstrongly condemning the violence against United Nations workers. “Their work is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan for the benefit of all its citizens,” he said. “We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to reject violence.” The statement made no reference to the Florida church or the Koran burning.
Afghanistan, deeply religious and reflexively volatile, has long been highly reactive to perceived insults against Islam. When a Danish cartoonist lampooned the Prophet Muhammad, four people were killed in riots in Afghanistan within days in 2006. The year before, a one-paragraph item in Newsweek alleging that guards at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, had flushed a Koran down the toilet set off three days of riots that left 14 people dead in Afghanistan.
Friday’s episode began when three mullahs, addressing worshipers at Friday Prayer inside the Blue Mosque here, one of Afghanistan’s holiest places, urged people to take to the streets to agitate for the arrest of Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran on March 20.
Otherwise, said the most prominent of them, Mullah Mohammed Shah Adeli, Afghanistan should cut off relations with the United States. “Burning the Koran is an insult to Islam, and those who committed it should be punished,” he said.
The crowd — some of its members carrying signs reading “Down with America” and “Death to Obama” — poured into the streets and swelled. Gov. Atta Muhammad Noor of Balkh Province, of which Mazar-i-Sharif is the capital, later put the number at 20,000. According to Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, spokesman for Gen. Daoud Daoud, the Afghan National Police commander for the country’s north, the crowd soon overwhelmed the United Nations guards, disarming some and beating and shooting others.
Gen. Abdul Rauf Taj, the deputy police commander for Balkh Province, put the death toll at eight foreign United Nations staff members, but he said there had not been any beheadings. “Police tried to stop them, but protesters began stoning the building, and finally the situation got out of control,” he said.
Mr. Ahmadzai, however, put the death toll at 10 foreigners in the United Nations compound, 8 killed by gunshots and 2 beheaded.
Mr. Dwyer confirmed that some United Nations staff members had been killed, but he declined to provide a number or the nationalities of the victims until next of kin had been notified.
Mirwais Rabi, director of the public health hospital in Mazar-i-Sharif, said 20 wounded and 5 dead Afghan civilians were brought to the hospital.
The mob also burned down part of the United Nations compound, toppled guard towers and heaved blocks of cement down from the walls. The victims were killed by weapons the demonstrators had wrestled away from the United Nations guards, Mr. Noor said. He listed the dead as five Nepalese guards and two Europeans, a breakdown that varied from the one issued later by Farhan Haq, the deputy United Nations spokesman in New York.
Mr. Noor also blamed what he said were Taliban infiltrators among the crowd for urging violence and even distributing weapons; he said 27 suspects were arrested on charges of inciting violence, some from Kandahar and other provinces where Taliban are more common.
Mr. Jones, the Florida pastor, caused an international uproar by threatening to burn the Koran last year on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Among others, the overall commander of forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, had warned at that time that such an action could provoke violence in Afghanistan and could endanger American troops. Mr. Jones subsequently promised not to burn a Koran, but he nonetheless presided over a mock trial and then the burning of the Koran at his small church in Gainesville, Fla., on March 20, with only 30 worshipers attending.
The act drew little response worldwide, but provoked angry condemnation in this region, where it was reported in the local media and where anti-American sentiment already runs high. Last week, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan condemned the burning in an address before Parliament, and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan on Thursday called on the United States to bring those responsible for the Koran burning to justice.
A prominent Afghan cleric, Mullah Qyamudin Kashaf, the acting head of the influential Ulema Council of Afghanistan and a Karzai appointee, also called for American authorities to arrest and try Mr. Jones in the Koran burning.
Posted in DATED COMMENTARY, What can you say...
Libyan leaderMoammar Kadafi’s regime brusquely swatted down a truce offered by rebels Friday and continued to pummel opposition positions in both the eastern and western sections of the country.
After rebels had refused for weeks to negotiate with Kadafi’s government, the leader of the opposition’s national council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, offered a cease-fire if Kadafi agreed to withdraw his forces from besieged Libyan cities and permitted peaceful protests.
But Musa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the regime, dismissed the offer as a trick.
“You’re not offering peace if you’re making impossible demands,” Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli, the capital. “We will not leave our cities. We will not stop protecting our civilians. If you want peace, you leave things as they are. You sit down and you make peace. If you’re making impossible demands, that’s a trick.”
The truce offer came as a military stalemate continued in the battle between Kadafi’s fighters and the ragtag rebels attempting to topple him. While the rebels appear frustrated by their inability to defeat Kadafi militarily, the regime appears anxious about its isolation from the international community.
In Britain, media reports said Mohammed Ismail, a close aide to Seif Islam Kadafi, the Libyan leader’s second son and heir apparent, was recently in London and held meetings with British officials. Some reports suggested that the British government merely reiterated its demand that the elder Kadafi step down.
Some analysts said the reports raised the prospect that more members of Kadafi’s inner circle might be seeking a diplomatic exit strategy or just a way out of the country. Former Foreign Minister Musa Kusa defected to Britain late Wednesday, and another diplomat surfaced Thursday in Egypt and denounced the regime.
But the British Foreign Office declined to confirm that the talks took place, saying it would not provide a “running commentary” on its contacts with the Libyan government.
Western officials have publicly accused Kadafi of duplicity. His deputies have announced several cease-fires even while Kadafi forces have bombarded rebel-held cities such as Misurata and Zintan in the west and battled rebels in the east. On Friday his forces continued to hammer away at civilian targets in Misurata, attacking food supply warehouses and storming homes in the rebel-held city,Libya’s third-largest, according to a rebel spokesman.
“Many people died. Many tanks attacked from many directions,” said Mohammad Darrat, a businessman in the city. “They are trying to cut the food around us. They’re trying to surround us. They are entering people’s homes and slitting throats. The picture is very horrible.”
A rebel spokesman reached in Zintan, in the country’s isolated Western Mountains district, said the rebel-held enclave of two cities and seven villages remained under nearly daily fire from tanks and Grad rockets. There is concern of a growing humanitarian crisis with shortages of medicine, baby formula and electricity. Kadafi’s forces have targeted wells and livestock, the spokesman said.
But Ibrahim accused the multinational forces now conducting daily airstrikes against Libya of inflicting civilian casualties by targeting checkpoints and airports. He said six civilians were killed and dozens injured in an airstrike Thursday on the village of Bou Aqoub, near the oil town of Port Brega. He distributed gruesome video taken at a hospital that showed children with shrapnel wounds.
Jalil, who served as Kadafi’s justice minister before defecting to the rebels, said the opposition would observe a cease-fire if “the Kadafi brigades and forces withdraw from inside and outside Libyan cities to give freedom to the Libyan people to choose, and the world will see that they will choose freedom.”
But Jalil reiterated that the opposition’s ultimate goal is to remove Kadafi from power.
“Our aim is to liberate and have sovereignty over all of Libya, with its capital in Tripoli,” he said.
Jalil indicated that the cease-fire offer was made in response to a United Nations request, which he said “we have to respect.”
The cease-fire offer came as rebels continued to battle government soldiers and militiamen for control of Port Brega, 140 miles southwest of the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi. Rebel forces retreated in chaos from the eastern edge of Port Brega after a sustained rocket barrage by Kadafi forces.
Abdelilah Al-Khatib, the U.N. envoy to Libya, said the world body was seeking a cease-fire to protect civilians and that he raised the issue with Kadafi’s aides during a visit to Tripoli on Thursday.
The U.S. is pulling back from involvement in airstrikes against Libyan ground units, leaving the campaign to warplanes from France, Britain and other countries, while American aircraft continue to provide aerial refueling, surveillance and other so-called support missions. The U.S. move has contributed to a steep drop in the number of daily strike missions against Libyan forces in recent days.
NATO said Friday that coalition aircraft had flown 74 strike missions Thursday, down from more than 100 a day earlier in the week. U.S. warplanes are expected to halt combat sorties this weekend.
Posted in DATED COMMENTARY, Positive progress?
Was listening to the radio as I went and ran some errands. An Irish economist discussing the huge bailouts happening in the European banking system…
Of course the question of why the banks, after being so stupidly greedy, deserve billions of tax payers $$$? Why are these banks not encouraged to simply fail? Declare bankruptcy? Isn’t that the capitalist way?
As the Irishman said… “…capitalism without bankruptcy is like catholicism without hell”.
A bit of very good, Celtic, common sense.
Almost complete: The new Gizo hospital.
CONSTRUCTION of a modern hospital at Gizo in Western Province is now in its final stage.
A visit by The Solomon Star to the site yesterday witnessed the construction workers were now neatly making the walls and had completed the concrete walls.
The $126 million project is expected to complete by June this year.
Called the Gizo Number One hospital, the new 60 bed double-floor facility will replace the former hospital which was devastated during the April 2007 earthquake and tsunami that claimed at least 53 lives.
Once completed, the hospital will be the country’s second Referral Hospital -which will provide services for Western, Choiseul and South Western parts of Isabel Provinces – a zone with an estimated population of more than 100,000 people.
It is also anticipated that the hospital will provide and upgrade existing services as well as new secondary health care services which had not been provided in the past.
I gues the dictionary calls it a “knobkerry”. But I grew calling it a knob-berry…
A short wooden club with a “knob” at the end.
…walking into the office here at the house and seeing a number of weapons strewn around my work station.
It came to mind as I was cleaning up at the end of the day. I got a fair amount done working alternately outside with the guys on the project and inside in the office.
I live by a “clean desk” policy. You gotta clean it up before you go home. Start each day clean and organised… Still have some files open. Connie’s desk is a mess. Annie’s is like mine. But my desk has, from left to right: a) a very old japanese blade in a generic scabbard propped up by the window, two “Maestro Wu” touristy mini swords from Taiwan on my desk. Made of hardwood; a flat blade, and an ornate knobberry. In the corner is an old black-palm spear.
It is my habit to swing a weapon of some sort as I ruminate. Some people pace. Tom Cruise acting as the lawyer in a few good men (I think) swung a ball bat as he thought things through…
I swing weapons.
My clan and most people who work with me get used to this. Makes perfect sense to me but, I am sure it do look funny to folk who just don’t understand… Or “…can’t handle the truth.”
More later
Posted in DATED COMMENTARY
Woke up, got outa bed, drug a comb across my head…
I succumbed to the external noise at my house about 0855. Was no where near waking up, had hit the sack between 0230 and 0300, so, after having a look at my phone to check for calls and emails I head into the living room in my lava-lava and stretch out on the sofa.
Mornings at our house are manic… I know it sounds opulent (and it is) but we have two house keepers, a Gardner, there is a property maintenance man who is always working on a project on one of the properties, one or two security guards always hosing the deck off or washing the cars, There is my old-man, custom masseur, who I employ just to keep his magic hands around (he also cleans the pool real well), and the contract plumber who is helping the maintenance man initiate a bio-cycle septic system we’ve recently installed. Add to this 4 big dogs (Chewy, Jelly, Bean, and Toughie… have two more ridgeback pups coming in soon so we’ll be adding Iowa and Lauru to this mix)…
And this is without any kids!
Our corporate office is upstairs. The house is split into two units with the upstairs being a nice big area with Connie’s bedroom and living space plus the office. So the girls are at work. Grace is running somewhere. And the house jiggles with activity.
But I love dozing on the sofa in the confused mix, as the noise comes and goes.
I know it is ugly and embarrassing for all… my big, hairy body stretched out snoring in the front room. Call me hedonistic. Or an islander in that it is not unusual at all in island households to have different sleep patterns happening in different members of the family and having some “sleeping” folks around just means we try to be quiet where in fact we actually get louder.
By 10:00 the cacophony was simply too much to not want to watch. I love the way the ballet of life transpires in a busy household.
Mornings mean that our daily ration of fruit and vegies come in. #1 housekeeper, Nancy, does the marketing.
This and the veggies, and root crops stored away represents our main food for a couple days. We make lots of papaya and cucumber juice, eat a fair amount of bananas, have other items like kumara, cassava, taro, yam, pommeloe, peanuts and items that I may not know the English name of. About $20.00 USD a day gives us more than enough, and some of the best, fresh food the tropics can offer.
Funny, Grace was recently told by a doctor that she needs to eat more red meat. The meat is not real good here, considering it’s been processed, packaged, frozen and then shipped to us, it is usually too tough for me to bother with. Hell I grew up in Iowa and know what a good steak is… Buying meat here is such a crapshoot that we have our bbqs and rarely cook any other red meat.
Nancy bakes a loaf of nice, mixed flour bread everyday. Makes me a killer vegie sandwich for lunch. Does the juice and cooks most of whatever we have for supper… I note some very nice taro that looks like they’ll be cooked for supper.
Any way, I get up about 10:00, pull my hair back so I don’t scare too many people, adjust my lava-lava, nope, nothing exposed, and go have a look round. There is a big confusion as there is a process happening within the plumbing side of things. We’re flushing toilets and checking traps and generally making a lot of noise. The plumbing job has been going on for about 3 months (should have taken 3 weeks) but then if we moved fast we’d miss a lot of fun, right?
I put the kettle on and head to the shower. Busy morning so everywhere I go someone is there… I walk into my bedroom in the motion of stripping my lava-lava to get my towel and almost step on Linda. Yep, she sure jumped. So did I. So I get my towel and waltz into the bathroom. Nancy is there. Fine, we do the dosey-do and I get the bathroom.
So I’m now hanging out in my towel as I brew coffee and check the email.
Great start to a day…
Have a lot of work to do on line with my UK based lawyer. To make it work I am doing night shift hours.
The advantage of course is the sleeping in. I’m up between 9 and 10. Working through the day. Spending time with the 5 year old in the eve.
After supper and bedding the boy down I go back to work. Tonight was real good. Got a lot done and am now wired.
Watching a modern werewolf movie. Modern visual effects are mind blowing. Why do we as communal creatures demands such myths and legends? Are they myth and legend? Shit like this would have scared me to pieces as a kid.
Were we simpler? Less exposed? Dumber? Probably.
Watched “Force 10 From Navarone” earlier. Thank god for suspension of disbelief.
Werewolf movie is on for another 45 minutes. I feel myself winding down. Will see if I stay awake that long.
More later
Posted in DATED COMMENTARY
Steve Abana
OPPOSITION Leader Steve Abana has tended his resignation letter to Speaker of Parliament, Sir Allan Kemakeza yesterday afternoon.
Speaker of Parliament Sir Allan Kemakeza confirmed receiving the letter at 1pm.
Abana’s resignation re-confirmed his initial stand to discontinue his role as the leader.
MP for East Honiara, Douglas Ete came out in the media to ask Mr Abana to resign.
However, he resigned last Friday after his outburst created a rift with Abana.
In his letter, Mr Abana said his decision was based on an understanding reached with the members of the Opposition Group for him to relinquish leadership since the commitment he made over the media not to contest the Prime Ministership.
“I hold the view that the interest of the Group is foremost and as demanded by Hon Douglas Ete and other colleagues would enhance and further advance the political aspirations of the Opposition Group under a new leadership, is a cause I sincerely accept with humility,” he said.
“Having done so, and with strong belief amongst some of the Opposition members that holding on to leadership would be a deterrent to a proposed move by ten ministers from the NCRA Government to join the Opposition side and with the view to renotice the motion of no confidence on Prime Minister Hon Danny Philip; in this current sitting of Parliament.
“The internal power struggle for political esteem within the group over the last seven months was consistently eroding the coexistence of trust and confidence and the principles and values of commonsense, as uniting factors that continues to embrace the group,” Mr Abana said.
“I hope and with all sincerity, that my resignation as of the above date will bring about a successful outcome for the future of the Official Opposition of the Ninth Parliament,” he said.
The Opposition was expected to meet last night to elect their new leader.
The Native Iowan 
How come the politician that is an opposition member talks sense then, when they get into office, act just like the scoundrels they were compaining about… Right now “Uncle Manasseh” is 1000% correct in what he is saying. But, oh ye of short memory, do not forget that it was Sogavare that was “puppet” PM after the 2000 coup and later PM when the Moti-gate affair took place. But he is saying the right things right now…
Sogavare challenges NCRA’s reform
THE National Coalition for Reform Advancement (NCRA) is working on a basic platform set out in their policy document known a ‘reform’ which MP for East Choiseul Manasseh Sogavare said is implausible to achieve.
Speaking during the Sine die motion moved by the Prime Minister in Parliament on Wednesday this week Mr Sogavare said the budget setting does not reflect what was preached by the NCRA government ‘Reform’.
“Looking at the budget, there seem to be spending on the same areas, especially business spending,” he said.
He said the government must deliver reform as was preached.
He said the reforms stated by the government were fundamental reforms and cannot be achieved easily.
“The government need to clearly set a time frame and provide a more detailed outline of what it needs to achieve in some of its reform focuses.
“Reform is a very powerful exercise which means overhauling, reorganising or resetting and if the government fails to handle it properly, it will really disturb other programs.
“And reforms must be in areas that are important to address issues that we cannot afford and are careless about.
“Reform should focus only on areas to improve the ability to achieve national objectives.
“There must be a meaningful reform.”
Mr Sogavare said the reform process must start with giving answers to some questions
“What do we want to achieve? Are the areas identified absolutely necessary to address the country’s problems? Is there a common understanding on the problems?”
He said the government may not do justice if it addresses wrong problems.
“How are we going to strategies our reforms? What is the time frame? What role would aid donors play and who will carry the burden?
“We must have clear focus; address structural institutions, legal or strategic issues.
“We must take it to the global scale, whereby reform must not affect how we work with the international community.
“This is because Solomon Islands is just another country that competes to survive.”
He said the NCRA has not spell out clearly a time frame, has no specific objectives identified in their policy statement.
“It must be known because they must be consistent with national objectives.”
He said biggest challenge on the preached reforms is changing the concern legislations to suit the reform areas.
“The reform comes with changing of some legislation and in NCRA’s case; there are 41 legislations (bills) that needs to be reformed before the reforms can be achieved.
“This mean the government has to come up with a clear time table because it is unachievable within the remaining years.
“This means parliament must be called to meet regularly like 2 to 3 times a year.
“So it is important that govt come up with timetable and a legislative committee.”
The Parliament meeting which was the second of the current house ended on Wednesday.
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Posted in DATED COMMENTARY, You know...