Lingering tensions for Solomons' govt to solve - RAMSI

Transcript

The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, RAMSI, says addressing the underlying causes of the ethnic crisis remains the job of the Solomons' government.  

In June next year, RAMSI, the Australian and New Zealand led regional security mission will wrap up almost 14 years helping rebuild Solomon Islands after it was brought to its knees  by several years of ethnic conflict.

RAMSI's special co-ordinator, Quinton Devlin, says the Solomons' future political stability and security will be in the hands of its government.

He spoke with Koroi Hawkins who began by asking him if the people of Solomon Islands had regained their trust in the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

QUINTON DEVLIN: I think there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that public trust and confidence in the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force is growing. The Solomon Islands police are under-taking or shifting from what was in the past a reactive response or reactive model to policing to a crime prevention and community policing model of policing. And so what we are seeing as I mentioned earlier is seeing areas of the Solomon Islands where the police were not welcome several years ago but today the police are welcome in those communities. We see chiefs and other community leaders working with the police to remove for example marijuana plantations or home brew stills. And I think we do see a growing confidence in the police and I think that is going to be very important for the future of Solomon Islands.

KOROI HAWKINS: And part of that is maintaining the standards the professionalism and even the resources and the mobility that the police now have. And I understand there are trainings even being given to other countries, Vanuatu, Nauru. Will they have the resources to maintain the equipment the vehicles that they have? Will they be given that support?

QD: Very pleasingly the Solomon Islands government has committed to the funding of the police force they have increased the funding by 20 percent this year. They have also encouraged the Solomon Islands Police Force to come back for further budget supplementation this year. And they have also, the Solomon Islands government has also committed to a target 2020 which will allow a sustainable and appropriate police force.  

KH: How does that compare though to what they are receiving from RAMSI and will they continue what sort of support RAMSI had or had brought with it and will they keep getting that kind of support or is that going to be..

QD: The support that RAMSI provides today is largely training guidance and mentoring with some infrastructure projects but those infrastructure projects will be finalised by the time we leave in 12 months time. And I would be, I am very confident that bilateral partners and donors will continue to provide the technical and training and mentoring assistance that was needed. And they will be asking the Solomon Islands government what they want and and what they need. And we will tailor their programs to meet those objectives.

KH: Is there any unfinished business? Anything that RAMSI would still like to do maybe as it wraps up.

QD: The last big piece in the jigsaw puzzle before RAMSI leaves is the rearmament of two specialist units of the police. There has been a deliberate and cautious process of moving towards a position where the Solomon Islands police force can be rearmed. These two specialist units are those that provide protection to dignitaries, those that provide safety and security at the airport and also their police response team which looks after their public order incidents. There has also been, RAMSI has built an armoury and the Solomon Islands government is in the process of procuring police weapons and we expect, I expect that in the next, this year we will see the Solomon Islands government deciding to rearm these specialist police units.

KH: One of the issues that is not in RAMSI's mandate but which RAMSI provided the space for the government to deal with were some of the core issues which brought around the ethnic tensions last time. So the lack of space in Honiara unable to for the city to grow out and there is encroachment on settlers on Guadalcanal lands. And we still see a little bit of that coming up now and again in the media, unhappy landholders corrupt dealings. Is there any concern at all from the mission having spent upwards of is it a billion plus dollars on this whole mission is there any concern that it could all go to the dogs?

QD: I think the litmus test here is the Solomon Islands government views about whether or not they are ready when RAMSI leaves and that is very clear that the government itself plus the opposition believe that the Solomon Islands police force are ready. And they will be in a position to deal with any of the crime and law and order issues that arise out of some of these other issues that are facing, other challenges that are facing the Solomon Islands. RAMSI was unapologetically and unashamedly a security first mission and we provide the time the space and the budgetary health. In other words the breathing space for successive Solomon Islands governments to deal with these sorts of issues to recover the lost ground and to address some of these causes or underlying drivers of what led to the tensions.

KH: Finally how much has the mission cost and how much is the final bill and do you think there will ever be a mission of this magnitude anywhere else in the region?

QD: It is very difficult to calculate the exact cost and that is partly because it involves so many different elements it involves police it involves military it involves civilians and it also involves the contributions of 15 countries. I would hate to put an exact figure on it but it has been a significant investment by the region in the Solomon Islands and in the future of the Solomon Islands and I certainly hope there are not any future RAMSI like interventions. But the region will be there if that ever eventuates.

The period known as the Ethnic Tensions stretched from 1998 to 2003 and involved two ethnic groups from Guadalcanal and Malaita but it was fuelled mainly by disparities in population distribution and levels of economic development.

Phenomena that continue to persist in the country despite more than 13 years of RAMSI brokered and maintained peace and stability.