Bsi Planters
p. 34 · Read in the full issue
Entitled to Same Compensation As Malayan Planters
THE following letter, received by a Solomon Islands landowner from a friend in England, dated October 8, may be of interest to the numerous per sons who lost their property in the Jap invasion of the Solomon Islands, and who have received no compensation or help from the British Government: “I am very sorry to hear how shabbily you people have been treated by the British authorities in connection with your claims for compensation. But surely this is not final.
“I have been attached to the Board of Trade here in England for the last four years, as an assessor of claims; and I know for a fact that the British Govern ment are compensating all the planters who lost their homes in Malaya, in cir cumstances similar to those in the BSI. ‘T feel sure that if all the planters of the Solomon Islands got together, and presented a joint claim, with strong re presentations, you would receive compen sation, in the end. You should send de tails to the London newspapers, and let some of the non-Government Members of the House of Commons have the facts, so that they can ask some questions. Do not let the matter drop, because you get no word out of the authorities in Fiji.”
EDITORIAL NOTE: The owners of plantations in the British Solomon Islands are scattered far and wide, and it is diffi cult for them to take united action, or even to communicate with each other.
Nonetheless, the suggestions made in the letter from England should be worth fol lowing up.
If all persons who owned property of any kind in the Solomon Islands, and who believe they are entitled to war compen sation, will send their names and addresses to the Editor of the “Pacific Islands Monthly,” PO Box 3408, GPO, Sydney, the PIM will try to form them into a small group, or association, with a view to making representations direct to the British Government, as suggested in the above letter.
The people of the Solomons have the same claim to assistance as the people of Malaya. They were ruined by exactly the same set of circumstances —the out break of World War II and invasion by the Japs. If a sufficient number of people send in their names and addresses, as BSI property-owners, the PIM will cir cularise them all, in an endeavour to get united action, along the lines indicated.