Word: honiara
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...Tuala's tree sculpture was created as part of the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts in Pago Pago during July and August. More than any other event, this festival (held every four years; the next will be in Honiara, Solomon Islands) has helped shape the region as an arc of creativity. "It's a positive thing," says Samoan - New Zealand hip-hop artist King Kapisi, "to have Pacific island communities meet up at one place and say, Listen, we're still here and giving respect to our heritage. Once you lose your culture, you don't know where you come...
...Public attention and help will only last so long. Even with the aid of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands and international charities, the country's far-flung provinces are neglected. Honiara's bureaucrats-foreign and local-don't get out this way. Violence in the capital eventually shows up in the remote islands as severe shortages of food, chronically ill and unschooled children and dire family poverty. This lack of administrative oversight and political will brings resentment, to be sure. But it also allows charlatans to flourish. When natural resources such as fish and trees aren...
Such is the fluidity of Solomons politics (Downer mocks it as a "rather curious world") that well-informed observers expect a change of government in Honiara soon. Sogavare has come to power twice in the wake of violence: following a coup in 2000, and after last April's riots. While some of his government's moves seem erratic, the guiding purpose is clear. Under the slogan of "sovereignty," Sogavare is trying to gain control of donor funds and dominate the bureaucracy again. In New York last week to attend the gathering of the U.N. General Assembly, Honiara's delegation sought...
While Sogavare was in the Big Apple, RAMSI officials were generating color and movement in Honiara. Working the grass roots, the mission set up community outreach stalls to promote its work. According to the Solomon Star newspaper, a young Canberra economist, Harry the Juggler, entertained the crowd while speaking in pidgin about economic reform; it was goofy but effective. RAMSI is popular with locals because it's brought better security, some services, and new infrastructure. RAMSI is a strange beast. It is not an occupying force, but remains in the Solomons at the invitation of the government...
...Sovereignty is a slippery concept in the arc of instability to Australia's north. In a typically under-the-radar speech on RAMSI's third anniversary, Batley defined it for tomorrow's leaders. "Sovereignty is not just about having the ability to pass laws," he told university students in Honiara. "It's also about the capacity of a nation to enforce those laws. Sovereignty is not just the ability to announce government policies. It's about the capacity of a nation to implement those policies and to pay for them. Sovereignty is not just about local personnel occupying key positions...