Birth-pangs

of a new Solomons

By KEN McGREGOR, recently in Honiara

The Solomon Islands should have been given self-government in the late 1960 s and achieved ndependence in the early 19705, the Solomons’ soft-speaking Chief Minister, Solomon Mamaloni )elieves.

Mr Mamaloni feels that Britain has eft it late in the day to divest itself )f its Melanesian outpost, but now hat London has decided indepen lence is appropriate too much of a ush is imposed.

"The more things like indepen lence are prolonged, the more com •lications arise”, he explained.

"I believe the biggest problem of 11 with all this is explaining what » happening to the people of the olomons.

“When we agreed in London that df-government would come between Jovember 1 and December 31 this ear, Britain insisted on a 12 to 18 lonths time-frame afterwards for )tal independence.

“We fought strongly for a six mnths extension over a 12 months irget which Britain wanted and that why you have the mid-1977 in spendence date”.

He pointed to long, hand-written >olscap pages on his office desk and tplained that he was working on draft constitution, scheduled to be :ady by September.

“We have got rid of a proposed mstitution already something like at of the Seychelles or Sri Lanka, ther constitutions are contributing ttle things. You could say we are lopting the Westminster pattern Jt we are trying hard to blend it jographically. We are scattered and have different

ethnic languages and no uniform culture.

“1 have got to think about cultural concepts, values and judgments.

Our society is very communal, but we now have had affluent Western cultures over the past 50 years. An aim of our constitution is a mix of the two cultures to a great extent”.

Mamaloni admits frankly that R* 16 °* ,! s ma J or problems has been the Quality of European civil servants in the Solomons and subse( ? t p 6nt hassles “getting rid of them”. • Expatriate deadwood is a thorn “ r my fl f sh ’ . he said * i l know ab 9Hj servant myself' * CIVI “r y , * , , 1 T n ?\ ba ? py b . ut wh at else can I do? The civil service must remain neutral m politics. I have seen enough suppression of Solomon Islanders in the civil service already.

U " ab K °, Ut H time r e c' e , Vated a lOt ° £ young blood in the Solomons. Europeans like high-sounding official ? ame . s ’ sta * us and P rivil eges; Solomon lsla nders don t make anywhere near su ?!}/ us ?' .

My intention is not to start an ex ° dus ° f European people; we need and will need a lot of good technical and Phonal People from overseas. But Solomon Islanders could be taking over a lot faster. It is the older f yp e of Europeans who will not change-we don’t need them. r h & "T f ° Ur S ? lomon Islanders who are departmental heads and I am aiming at seeing Solomon

Islanders heading all departments bv the end of this year.

“However, this is a tough job. I proposed sometime ago that Solomon Islanders working as understudies, as in Papua New Guinea, should be appointed to learn the jobs of key Europeans.

“The Governor and the Public Service Board turned this scheme down. But Britain wants us to be independent as fast as possible”, He indicated that the major prob lems of the Solomons were over whelmingly internal.

“Land and women are the basis of l! fe h ?F e and everyone wants them”, he said.

“If people are prepared to stay in a subsistence life, then they should shut up and not ask for government services. This is the dilemma, “Over the years government nrac tices and theTeavify™airsed P ad ministration of the Solomons have greatly annoyed many people.

“Meantime, the Solomons has to make itself into a much more unified nation. Politically, we have been under an umbrella. We have had a slow rate of economic growth, but we need economic development for true independent If we reSfy have something* for example in bauxhe at Rennell and Vahgena and don’t make it go we may be lost “And of couSe the government needs a happy relationshfp with its people or its Pm nnmv F doomed" Y W, “ be

• The Solomons deleted the name British, anti

cipating self-government

and then independence, with these stamps com memorating the South Pacific Games at Guam.

Since June it has offic ially been known as Solomon Islands.