Word: solomonic
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...have been sold for a song, government figures have taken bribes to waive export duties. "These deals are not sophisticated at all. They're sealed with a cash payment," says a ramsi official. As well, there's the Rural Community Development Fund. In exchange for diplomatic recognition by the Solomons government, Taipei provides each of the country's 50 M.P.s with a slush fund to spend on local projects, their constituents - or, more often, themselves. Audits, financial oversight and the monitoring of logging and fisheries have never been properly resourced, or have repeatedly been placed under the control of political...
...Guadalcanal, says politicians have failed to lead. "The underlying question about our political system is this: Does it serve the people? If it doesn't, let's do away with it." Says Central Bank governor Hou: "The politicians are there to line their own pockets. It's the way Solomon Islands is structured. In Melanesian culture we have the idea of the Big Man. Whether they behave or misbehave, you don't criticize them." Some of those major players are finally being called to account. In September, Agriculture Minister Alex Bartlett was arrested on charges of demanding money with menace...
...RSIP without regret; they are now working alongside 260 police from around the Pacific who are mentoring both old and new officers. There are fresh uniforms, absenteeism is down, and citizens are beginning to respect the force again. "The only way we are going to build trust and make Solomon Islands safe and secure," says Peisley, "is through working closely with the community, taking time out and talking with them, living and working within the code of ethics." Although she's upbeat about RSIP reform and the wider PPF work in ridding the country of guns, Peisley admits there...
...Batley understands that Solomon Islanders want basic services, but feels even those expectations are unrealistic. "A lot of Solomon Islanders don't make the connection between good policy and what that means for the delivery of government services and for a growing economy," he says. "The work required to return the social infrastructure and administration not only to functionality but to really being effective and efficient is an enormous challenge, and it will take years." It's a hard message to sell to a public that's been let down for so long. Batley and other ramsi officers are wary...
...scarcity experienced in rural areas during the tensions and the role of the Anglican Melanesian Brothers in making peace. "ramsi has started the process to get to a solution," he says. Across the country, people are amazingly resilient. They may still identify as Malaitans or Guadalcanalese, rather than as Solomon Islanders, but they're united by their miserable circumstances. They have not come to rely on, or even expect much from, government. People did not go hungry during the strife. Traditional communities remain strong, and the civil-society movement is gaining influence. In the Solomons today, a little good goes...