THE Minister for Culture and Tourism, Bartholomew Parapolo, has warned the Bloody Ridge Community of the presence of unexploded bombs and flammable chemicals within the 40-hectare Bloody Ridge National Peace Park.
The Bloody Ridge is located on the eastern outskirts of Honiara, near New Zealand Camp and the Honiara International Airport.
Minister Parapolo issued the warning at the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal on Monday this week.
“I want to remind the communities to be very cautious and careful when moving around in this place as there are still remnants of unexploded ordnances and other harmful materials that are very fatal to your lives,” he said.
Unexploded ordnances have claimed lives of people in Solomon Islands and also expatriates who lived and worked here.
With the threats posed by the unexploded ordnances, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have made commitments to map out the location of the ordnances to safely remove them.
The unexploded ordnances have been a hindrance to development in Solomon Islands and a great threat to the security and livelihood of people.
Due to Solomon Islands rapidly growing population, the majority of which depends on the tilling of the land for their daily survival, people are moving into old WWII battle sites to settle and farm.
By LACHLAN EDDIE
Solomon Star, Honiara
