Last week’s visit to Fiji by Australia’s foreign minister, Ms. Bishop has raised hopes of return to normalcy in bilateral relations between the two countries. The visit has been fruitful in many ways: Fiji has been added to the list of Pacific island countries (PICs), which are eligible for Australia’s Pacific Seasonal Workers Program. This…
On Friday 16 May I had the privilege of attending the final program of a training workshop, facilitated by the Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace. The workshop’s aim was to create a culture of just peace in East, Central and West Honiara Constituencies. The workshop had brought together a large group of youths…
The most important of all our perceptions is the way we perceive ourselves. There is a story in American Indian folklore that illustrates this truth very clearly. According to the legend, an Indian brave came upon an eagle’s egg which had somehow fallen unbroken from an eagle’s nest. Unable to find the nest, the brave…
For the past four decades, Pacific island countries (PICs) are well known for their aid dependency syndrome, a continuing malaise ever since their independence in the 1970s. Generous aid money received from donors, who were the former colonial rulers, was initially for annual budgetary support. Aid, known as official development assistance in terms of pure…
Your attitude determines your altitude of success, because your attitude influences your consistency, your commitment, and your work ethic. Fine-tune your attitude so that you control your environment – not the other way around. Remember – if someone else can do it, so can you! Most leaders will tell you that they developed a leader’s…
One of my favourite things to do in Honiara is to wander through the central market on a Saturday morning. It’s the heartbeat of the city, full of colour, noise and movement, and a demonstration of the enterprise of Solomon Islanders. Of course, it’s also a great place to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables,…
ON the 24th of March, 2014 we were in a court room at the Honiara Magistrate waiting for our Customary Land Appeal Court (CLAC) cases to be heard. We were all expecting an independent panel that is biased free and have no conflict of interest to appear and preside over our cases. We neither expect…
As the Gordon Darcy Lilo government the National Coalition for Rural Advancement (NCRA) is coming to an end; to be frank his term expires on September when our Parliament will dissolve. I think there are some major achievement Lilo’s government has delivered for the nation under his policy objectives and intentions during their tenure in…
Solomon Islanders are anticipating for going into the pools for national election in December. Interestingly the political climate now is MP’s and intending candidates, joined the political race and campaigning is in top gear, in the streets of Honiara, provincial centres, rural areas even to their door steps. Particularly past experiences should ring a bell,…
THE remarks below were made by an Australian Judge Justice Stephen Pallaras, who had been serving in the country. These were remarks made in relation to a murder case he judged. This is the observation he made in relation to deaths and service provided by the National Referral Hospital. I have been fortunate to have…