Voices

Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka

The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission in Solomon Islands has made valuable progress in addressing the country's law and order problems and helping the state get back on its feet.

The force has, so far, taken about 3,850 weapons out of the communities, arrested some of the criminals and put some credibility back into the police.

The militant leaders who, since the civil unrest, threatened and killed with impunity, extorted millions of dollars from government and literally ruled the country have now disappeared into obscurity.

RAMSI is now embarking on the second phase-unearthing the network of corruption that is woven into the fabric of the country's public sector, and making sure those responsible are not only held accountable, but uprooted from public office.

The mission receives enormous support in the country, from people tired of the law and order problems and frustrated with an ineffective government that was unable to protect citizens, manage the economy or provide basic goods and services.

While these achievements must be applauded, RAMSI's civilian leader, Australian diplomat Nick Warner, knows the job is far from over. Nation rebuilding will take more than simply restoring and strengthening state institutions and culling the bad guys from the good ones.

One of the big challenges for RAMSI, and future Solomon Islands governments, is the creation of national consciousness among Solomon Islanders. While the intervention force might be able to impose order and strengthen state capacity, national consciousness cannot be imposed. It has to be created and cultivated over a long period of time.

But, history shows that despite 85 years of British colonial rule and 25 years of independence, the Solomon Islands state was unable to forge a strong sense of national consciousness among its citizens. Rennell-Bellona Province -the smallest of the nine provinces -recently expressed a desire to secede, which is a demonstration of the rifts that exist in the Solomon Islands. The Western Solomons, in 1978, also expressed a desire to secede and, in recent years, has demanded more autonomy through a proposed federal system.

With the country's diverse cultures and the negative impacts of the civil unrest, rebuilding Solomon Islands is a bit like trying to put Humpty Dumpty together again. But it is not an impossible task.

RAMSI is, therefore, on the right track. However, I am sure they are aware that service delivery could be best achieved by strengthening the capacity of not only the state, but also institutions such as churches and non-government organizations that have a long history of providing such services.

Secondly, for nation rebuilding to be successful, people need to trust the government and those at its helm.

Surely, Warner and his colleagues are aware that they are working with a government not too many Solomon Islanders trust. Despite Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza's political rhetoric and his having ridden the waves of RAMSI's popularity, many people still remember how he paid himself SI$800,000, publicly saying he was the militants' friend.

I am sure someone is presently working to uncover Kemakeza's dirty laundry. That will be a major test for the success of the regional mission-facilitating political changes that undermine the man who invited them in.

Kemakeza's past will catch up with him. Whatever he does now, there are not too many people out there who trust him and his government.

Finally, the task of nation rebuilding (especially the construction of national consciousness) is not one that Solomon Islanders should leave to the regional force alone, nor should RAMSI try to monopolize it and make the locals into spectators. The future is too important to simply leave it to the Australians, New Zealanders and other regional friends.

Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka is currently a fellow at the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu.