CBA General Conference - 2004
NEWS AND SPEECHES
 |
|
“Opportunities Afforded by Diversity - The Case of the Solomon Islands"
General Manager, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation
Background:
The indigenous people of Solomon Islands are Melanesians and Polynesians. The largest group are the Melanesians who are the majority on the larger islands including Malaita and Guadalcanal. Majority of the Polynesians are on the smaller outlying islands including Rennell and Bellona, Ontong Java, Sikaiana, Tikopia, Anuta and Reef Islands. The other race in Solomon Islands are the Micronesians – mainly immigrants from what is now Kiribati. There are also Asians, mostly Chinese and Caucasians. Intermarriages of people from the different ethnic groups have given rise to people of mixed ethnicity. Foreign nationals only make up 2.8 % (2,166) of the population in 1999. These are mostly from Australia, Papua New Guinea and some Asian countries mainly Malaysia. Total population then was 409,000.
Majority (84%) of the people live in rural areas. The majority of the urban population live in the capital Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal. Of the remaining provinces, Malaita has the highest proportion of the population at 30%.
There are about 80 different languages. These are not just different dialects but completely different languages. A good example is of my own case. My late father was from Small Malaita and they speak Sa’a which itself has different dialects. My mother is from Central Kwara’ae on Malaita and they speak the Kwara’ae language. In my mother’s own village there is Kwara’ae as well as another language called Langalanga. As there are so many different languages, there are also different customs and traditions. This is not to say that there are some similarities. My own situation is similar throughout the country.
Major economic development projects were concentrated on Guadalcanal, where the infrastructure is better than most of the other provinces. This included the oil palm plantation owned by the Solomon Islands Plantations Ltd – a joint venture between the Solomon Islands Government and the British based, Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) and the country’s only gold mining company, Gold Ridge Mining owned by an Australian company. There were also light manufacturing industries. Honiara is also the seat of the Government. There are also better social facilities including schools and health services. With the above, people from the other provinces are attracted to Honiara or Guadalcanal for that matter to find employment and of cause benefit from the better social services.
Media in Solomon Islands
The media in Solomon Islands includes radio, print and overseas television direct broadcasts. Radio includes the public service broadcaster, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), and three commercial radio stations, Wantok FM 96.3, Paoa FM and ZFM. The Solomon Star is the only daily newspaper in Solomon Islands coming out five days a week. There used to be two weeklies, the Solomons Voice and the National Express. However only the National Express still exists after the Solomons Voice was burnt down during the ethnic tension in Solomon Islands. There are also other special interest publications produced by churches and non-government organizations. There is no local television. However, Solomon Telekom Limited rebroadcasts the BBC TV as well as the ABC- Asia /Pacific television service. There is also the religious television service, Trinity TV, which broadcasts religious programs from the United States.
The public service broadcaster, SIBC covers most of the country except for some dark spots in various parts of the country. It broadcasts on AM and SW. It broadcasts a range of programs from news and current affairs, to programs on women, children, youth, health, fisheries, agriculture, religious broadcasts, etc. It also broadcasts commercials and sponsored programs. The commercial radio stations broadcast mainly music, some news and commercials. Their coverage areas include the capital Honiara and the neighbouring islands. All the radio stations broadcast only in English and Solomons Pidgin
The Solomon Star prints about 5,000 copies for each issue and is distributed in Honiara and some of the provincial centres. However, the pass on factor means each issue is read by between 10,000 to 15,000 people. The Solomon Star is in English.
Solomon Telekom Ltd, the only telecommunication provider in Solomon Islands rebroadcasts the BBC as well as the ABC, Asia/Pacific TV service. There are no local programs except for the occasional local program like sports shot locally.
Media and Diversity
So given the diversity of just about everything in Solomon Islands from cultures and traditions, the different races, scatteredness of the islands, the predominant rural based population, how does the media in the country cope with the situation. Does this diversity present opportunities or challenges?
After working in the media industry for the past twenty years, I cannot but agree that diversity in Solomon Islands present opportunities but a lot of challenges at the same time.
Opportunities Afforded by Diversity
The diverse cultures and traditions could make very interesting materials for feature articles and radio documentaries. The diversity provides a rainbow of opportunities for television programs. The 80 different languages could become the focus of community radio.
Media could play a very important role in unifying the different races in the country by preaching nationalism and not provincialism. When Solomon Islanders are in the country they refer to themselves as coming from a particular province or language group. This is known in the local Pidgin English as Wantokism. Its only when they go overseas that they refer to themselves as Solomon Islanders. The media could be very effective in this area.
Challenges afforded by Diversity
In Solomon Islands especially since 1998 the issue of diversity has presented the local media with more challenges than opportunities. The country is just recovering from two years of ethnic tension which some observers say has thrown the country back 20 years economically as well as its development aspirations. It has also destroyed the social fabric of the society.
A lot of sectors in the country including the media were taken by surprise by the ethnic tension. How could the peace loving people of Guadalcanal or Guale chase 20,000 Malaitans from their island? How could they destroy millions of dollars of properties, rape women and kill Malaitans. But then on the other hand how could one think of a coup de’tat in the Hapi Isles by Malaitans in a joint operation with elements of the local Police Force on 5th June 2000.
The media coverage of the fighting between the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) and the Isatambu Freedom Movement (IFM) of Guadalcanal presented a lot of challenges for the local media. Law and order situation had deteriorated. Militants, who were basically militants do not respect law and order. Some members of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force were still loyal to Her Majesty but they could not any thing as the Police Armoury in the capital had been virtually emptied by the joint MEF-Police Operations on 2nd June 2000.
In any newsroom you will find someone from Malaita, Guadalcanal and other islands in the country. Do we send a reporter from Malaita to cover a skirmish between the IFM and the MEF on the outskirts of the capital Honiara? Do you send a reporter from Malaita to walk through the MEF bunkers on the outskirts of Honiara to try and get the IFM side of the story? How would the MEF react when they realise that one of them, a reporter is going across their lines to talk to their enemies. It was a real challenge.
What happened was that some of the media only covered the MEF side of the story not because they were intentionally bias but because of the pressure the rest of the country was applying on them in that they want to know what was happening. In such incidences the media was accused of glorifying the war. Other quarters of the community accused the media of being biased to the MEF. This was not the case. Most media organizations could not afford to compensate the lives of any reporter if killed by either side. Demands for compensation for a single life seemed to have been set at 100,000 Solomon Islands dollars an amount which none of the media organizations could afford.
Until today I and my colleague the publisher of the Solomon Star who is also from Malaita continue to be accused of taking sides with the MEF. How could this be true when our own lives and organizations were threatened not by the IFM militants but by those from the MEF? These are the challenges that the media had to face.
After the warring factions stopped the fighting with the signing of the Townsville Peace Agreement in October 2000, criminal activities continued with armed militants threatening and extorting money at the barrel of the gun. The media’s coverage of such incidences such as public shot outs by the former militants was a challenge. Does the media cover such incidences and risk being threatened by the criminals or do we just stand by and watch given the situation that some police officers were involved in the activities and whatever that remained of the Police Force was unable to do anything. Some of the media organizations were very brave and cover such incidences. They were threatened and money was extorted. For this braveness, some of these media organizations have been recognized by their regional colleagues with awards for their work by the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA).
Role of the Media in the Peace Process
Despite the difficulties that the media in Solomon Islands underwent during the two years of ethnic tension, it played a very active role in the peace process from the ceasefire. The media together with some local and international non-government organizations continued to organize peace campaigns through the use of radio programmes and feature articles in the newspapers. The role of the Peace Monitoring Council that later became the National Peace Council was well covered by the local media. The efforts of the civil society especially women’s groups in trying to preach the message of peace and reconciliation were high on the agenda of the media.
Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI)
On July 24, 2003, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) led by Australia arrived in Solomon Islands following an invitation from the Honiara Government. RAMSI is a long-term partnership between Solomon Islands and countries of the Pacific Islands Forum. RAMSI’s mandate is to reinforce and uphold the legitimate institutions and authorities in Solomon Islands and ensure respect for the Constitution and implementation of the laws. RAMSI has been described a unique and complex initiative involving contributions from a number of Pacific Islands Forum members and the deployment of police, military and civilian personnel.
The Solomon Islands Government invited RAMSI to restore law and order, bring stability to the national budget, rebuild the machinery of government and assist in the delivery of essential government services to the people.
Since the arrival of RAMSI a climate of security has been established throughout large parts of the country including, importantly in Honiara, the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal and Malaita. RAMSI has established about 20 police posts in all of the provinces. The weapons amnesty, which concluded on 21 August 2003, was a success. About 4,000 weapons including some high-powered guns were under RAMSI control or had been destroyed. A wide-ranging strategic review of the Royal Solomon Islands Police is underway. Some former militants including some senior police officers and a Cabinet Minister have either been jailed or been charged awaiting trial in connection with criminal activities. Investigations are continuing and more people including more police officers are expected to be charged and even end up in prison.
Since the arrival of RAMSI in July last year, the freedom of media and expression has started to flourish again. People are now prepared to come out in media with news that would not have been possible before 24th July 2003. Letters to the editor and private view columns are more challenging. Editorials are more frank and critical. More investigative stories into corruption are now making it onto the front pages and news bulletins. RAMSI’s recognition of the role of the media has played a major role in the achievement of the Mission’s mandate so far. RAMSI has extensively used the media including the public service broadcaster, SIBC to explain its task in the country. Even the Prime Minister and other Ministers who were unusually scared of the media now come onto the two weekly radio programs to explain government policies.
The success of RAMSI has not prevented the media to broadcast or print stories critical of RAMSI. The sustainability of the Mission has continued to be questioned as well as the right of RAMSI to dictate to a sovereign government and country.
Conclusion
With the return of law and order into Solomon Islands media in the country should be again making full use of the opportunities presented by the diversity in the country. Media should now take a leading role in unifying Solomon Islands again as the Hapi Isles. But at the same time, the media must be challenged to continue to investigate into the corruption that had become endemic especially among the country’s leadership. The media must continue to play its role as a “watch dog” because if the dog stops barking then the thief or thieves will continue to steal what rightfully belongs to the people.