Academic proposes body to direct it

Samisoni Pareti

THE AUSTRALIAN-LED REGIONAL assistance mission in the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) should involve more locals in the post-conflict nation-building of the nation, a Hawaii-based academic has suggested.

Dr Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka, a Solomon Islander and one of the leading authorities on Melanesia, also believes the government of Prime Minister Sir Allan Kemakeza should not direct the nation's re-building process.

Instead, he proposes that a director be appoint in place of the national government to co-ordinate the rehabilitation work.

“I agree there is some validity in the argument that the national government is the most appropriate institution to write the script and direct the 'nation-building play,” says Kabutaulaka in a soon to be published paper titled 'Crowded Stage: Actors, Actions and Issues in Post-Conflict Solomon Islands.'

He says in post-conflict situations the government's position is often undermined by its inherent weakness and the political baggage it carries from its members' (alleged and actual) involvement in matters relating to the conflict.

“Further, governments are made up of politicians who will because of the nature of their profession be inclined to use nation-building projects to prop up their position.”

He likened the rehabilitation work as a 'stage' crowded with actors, 'many doing their own things, often uncoordinated'.

“And there is a need to create a director's position who would be responsible for making sure all actors follow the same script, there is order on stage, and the play provides entertainment, rather than chaos.

“I suggest we have a group of people directing, rather than one individual. That group should be made up of representatives from different sectors of society-the government, opposition, RAMSI, churches, women, foreign governments, provincial representatives, etc.

“That body would be responsible for coordinating the work of the actors in nation-building and making sure that competing and overlapping interests are limited.”

The former University of the South Pacific sociologist, now based at the University of Hawaii's East West Center in Honolulu, based his paper on three main premises.

One is that post-conflict societies often have to deal with impacts of a crisis with their physical infrastructure destroyed, social relations soured and social structures weakened.

“Second, they are usually crowded with many actors eager to assist. While initially many of these actors may be widely accepted by the locals, this could change as actors become established and in the process marginalise the locals, compete for aid funds and take over physical, social and intellectual spaces.

“Third, because there is no universal template for post-conflict nation-building, there is a tendency to rebuild institutions and use models of development that existed prior to the conflict, which were part of the initial problems.”

Arguing that RAMSI meant state-building when it talks of nation-building, the Solomons academic took issues with the way the Australian-led mission is leading the process, basing these assessments from his interaction with local civil servants.

“There was a feeling that if Australians were going to work in the Solomon Islands' civil service, they should be subjected to the normal Solomon Islands' recruitment procedures and work under the same regulations and conditions as their local counterparts.

“Further, there is also a view that Australian officers communicate with and are more answerable to Canberra than Honiara.

“An exit strategy is also important to avoid concerns about a long-term takeover of line positions by Australians.

“RAMSI's piece-meal approach to public sector reform and in particular, the injection of their assistance to some departments and not others, could create capacity imbalances that would not help with attempts to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

“Finally, this might be seen as a minor point, but nevertheless important that RAMSI officers, in particular Australians in the public service, hardly interact with the locals.”

Kabutaulaka noted the Kemakeza Government's economic recovery plan, and lauded its objectives as valid and noble.

He, however, took exceptions to some of the observations made by the authors of the recovery plan.

“It is not entirely true to say that the presence of development will immediately lead to the reduction in the potential for conflict.

“In fact, one could argue it was the tension brought about by development-especially large-scale development projects-that underlies the cause of the conflict in the Solomon Islands in the first place.

“These included access to natural resources like land and forest, and the way in which the benefits from their exploitation were distributed.

“Landowners of the Guadalcanal Plains had long complained about their two percent shares in the Solomon Islands Plantation Limited, the company that owns the oil palm plantation in the area.”

On physical and intellectual space, the Hawaii-based sociologist believes RAMSI may not be influencing people's opinions about issues, but it does influence the issues that people think about in the Solomon Islands.

He said RAMSI has an efficient media machinery where “spin doctors” are effective in influencing what Solomon Islanders “breathe and live” on intellectually.

“This is viewed as part of being transparent and the need to inform the public of RAMSI's work.

“But it could also have another effect. It could crowd out Solomon Islanders' thinking about what they could do and their role in nation-building.

“I observe with interest for example, the fact that discussions for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission evaporated after RAMSI's arrival.

“Perhaps it was an indication of the assumption that RAMSI had solved the country's problems and there was no need for such a commission.”