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A look at two island nations – one with optimism, one with concern : Comments
By Jeffrey Wall, published 9/8/2021In this contribution I want to look at a close and strategically important neighbour the Solomon Islands, and a more distant nation which has significant people to people links with Australia, Samoa.
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When I anchored I noticed a white man waving frantically from the shore. He was a pommy government surveyor, there to plan a new jetty. He was staying at the government guest house, established to house visiting government experts & officials on visits.
His problem was the only staff he could find was a gardener. Manager cook & house maid could not be found, & he could not get the communications with Honiara to work. I couldn't help thinking how similar to our aboriginal outposts where many are paid to do a job, but can never be found working.
There were no facilities other than a couple of Chinese trade stores, where he had found some tinned food & a tin opener. I stayed & fed him for the couple of days it took for me to contact a yacht in Honiara to arrange a government charter plane to fetch him.
Today there is a thriving town, with both local & European run business, & a thriving tourist industry run most by a few Europeans & staffed by locals. No government worker would near starve on Gizo today.
If the Solomons are in trouble financially today it is only due to typical government waste.