Island Achiever
Catherine Pule's Plan Flordia in the Solomons
Turning history into profit.
Catherine Pule, president of the Florida Heritage Group Development Association, is determined to get the Florida Islands stamped as having played a part in the Solomon Islands colonial and war history. That in turn, she believes, will create an alternative means of income for the communities through planned tourism.
The Florida Islands (as named by the Spanish in the 16th century), or the Nggela group, is part of the Central Province, covering just 1000 square kilometres. The group consists of four main islands and some 50 smaller ones.
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The Florida association, which was established late last year in Tulaghi, has formalised a constitution and a development plan.
Tulaghi, where Pule hails from, was pre-World War Two capital of the then British Solomon Islands protectorate. Villagers have worked on clearing paths to allow access to the wartime sites. A boat to ferry people to the Floridas and decent accommodation for visitors remains a problem.
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Pule, 45, counts six villages, averaging 300 people, as having World War Two remnants. The villages are Haleta Voloa, Hagalu, Halavo, Bola and Dadalai. The vicinity around these areas, both land and ocean, contain foxholes, gun emplacements, tankers, airstrips, sunken war ships and planes. Beneath Iron Bottom Sound, the water between Nggela, Savo and Guadalcanal, lies an underwater museum of sunken ships, a reminder of battles fought there.
The Solomon Islands is steeped in World War Two history making it a popular destination for veterans and dive enthusiasts plunging into the deep blue for a piece of the past.
Pule notes that there is no other development Ngella can uphold except tourism and, if properly executed, this could mean employment for the people.
Pule said: "There has to be a balance between development and way of living so that the former doesn¹t swallow the other."
Subsistence farming is currently the core activity for most villagers. The province is one of the poorest in the Solomons.
Meetings with the Nggela community proved positive with assurances of support for the association. Those opposed to the idea, says Pule, believe the association will not be able to achieve its objectives because it may be progressing too fast and that the organisation¹s intentions may be distorted.
Pule, a former secondary school teacher, says she is steadfast in the association¹s goals and that its development plan specifically outlines gradual stages of growth. The association adopted the name Florida as a marketing tool. Nggela, she says, is known in the Solomons but for marketing purposes Florida was an appropriate label.
