Subject: 'austraLasia' # 380
SOLOMON ISLANDS UPDATE
+ Adrian Smith sm
HONIARA: 13th July (RPN) -- 6.20 p.m. At 1.30 p.m. today, the devastating news was received that the MEF had attacked Visale Clinic which is about 35 km west of Honiara, at 5.00 a.m. this morning. This news was given to us by the Red Cross. At that time, they had no confirmed facts about the incident.
In the meantime, the Red Cross have gone to inspect the situation and they have been able to verify that a fairly large group of raiders arrived by canoes powered by outboard engines at around 5.30 a.m. this morning. They attacked the clinic and most of the patients were able to run away. In the running away, one old man and a young man were shot dead. The young person was a Secondary School student at Tangarare Provincial Secondary School. The attackers damaged the interior of the clinic and stole some medicine as well. They also stole the clinic radio. This radio has been used extensively by the IFM for a long time. It has been very difficult for the nurse in charge of the clinic to prohibit this. The radio is the property of Guadalcanal Province. The IFM see themselves as closely affiliated to Guadalcanal Province. For that reason, they used the clinic radio as if it was their own property. It’s understood that the raiders stayed about an hour in Visale. This second attack on a hospital following the one which took place at the Central Hospital on Monday last, is a stunning shock for the community. How the Solomon Islands Government can continue to see the Joint Operation paramilitary force and the MEF force as the legitimate law keepers is difficult to understand.
Solomon Islands Christian Association met once again today, and spent a long time discussing it’s role with the Government and the Peace making Process. The Government’s apparent approval of the Joint Force Operation which exists is something very difficult for Solomon Islands Christian Association to accept.
This evenings’ News carried the stunning announcement that it is in the long term plan of the present Government to make a Defense Force out of the existing MEF and members of the IFM force. This is being presented as a way to involve youth and their training. If Solomon Islands is to learn anything from our neighbour Fiji, then having a Defense Force is probably the thing we need least.
In Gizo in the Western Solomons yesterday there was a strange incident. Two armed men (or one armed person, it’s not clear) went into the branch of the National Bank in Gizo. They took all the money the tellers had available. They went with this money straight to the Police and handed it over. It seems they did this to make up for the money owing to the Western Province from the Central Government. The Senior Officer in charge of the Police has made an arrest. Because of the collapse of the Judicial system, there’s no Magistrate to hear the charges.
The same evening News reported that the Guadalcanal Premier wants to work
with the Government towards a cease fire. That was a statement he made on
Tuesday last, with what has happened today at Visale one wonders if he will
hold the same position.
We have not received any news from the Church personnel at Visale. It must
have been a terrifying moment for them. There are a number of retired
Sisters there. Such an intrusion must have shocked them very much. As these
various items of news come together, I can see in the face of our local
clergy most of whom are Guadalcanal men, a great sadness and strain. Holy
Cross, our Cathedral area, stands on a hill by itself. Many people are
seeking refuge in the area as they are afraid to move freely in the town.
Many of those who are staying here are afraid to go outside the precincts of
Holy Cross. There is a breaking point, and I worry how close are we to it.
Yours in Christ,
+Adrian Smith, SM
