Australia, NZ build housing for Solomons police

Updated May 28, 2009 16:40:02

For the first time since independence almost 31 years ago, members of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force could soon be living in decent quarters. It comes thanks to millions of dollars provided by the Australian and New Zealand governments under the Regional Assistance Mission to build more than 200 houses for local police officers and their families.

Presenter: Sam Seke
Speaker: Dennis McDermott, Commander of RAMSI's Participating Police Force

SEKE: Under Solomon Islands labour laws, employers in both the public and private sectors are required to provide accommodation for their workers and if an employer is unable to house their employees, then they must give them housing allowances based on the basic pay levels.

As far as the police force is concerned, the rundown and dilapidated condition of the housing has been an issue since independence in 1978. They are therefore pleased when the Australian Government has agreed to provide 104.5 million Solomon Islands dollars, or about 20 million Australian dollars, to build 200 houses for police and their families. The New Zealand Government has already chipped-in about four million New Zealand dollars for police housing.

The Commander of RAMSI's Participating Police Force, Dennis McDermott, says the condition of the houses that local police officers had to live in is a disgrace.

McDERMOTT: The single quarters at the back of the main police headquarters here is, they are just disgraceful and we are fortunate that people are happy that they are contented to live there because they need somewhere to live. And it never seizes to amaze me that they come to work, they come to work dress impeccably in their uniform in 99 per cent of the cases. And some of the new housing, you have to be fair here Sam, that the local government provided 12.9 million dollars in the last 12 months for the housing and some police infrastructure itself. So there is a lot of positives in the last couple of years. We've seen a significant improvement in many areas of policing. But, look they have still got a long way to go.

SEKE: Mr McDermott says he's confident the moral and standard of policing would improve if police have better living and working conditions.

McDERMOTT: This is just an opportunity to upgrade housing and to make better living for them, because if you are going to have good law and order, and I'm talking about a very good sustainable police organisation - they must have better working conditions and this is a part of the process. We're very hopeful that moral will improve by the knowledge that they have got new houses coming, that certainly the standards of policing will improve.

SEKE: Mr McDermott says Prime Minister Derek Sikua saw the benefits of the multi-million dollar housing project and personally wanted to see it through. He says the former head of the Regional Assistance Mission, Shane Castle, was the brainchild of the Solomon Islands Police Housing Project.

McDERMOTT: I am just so pleased, because former commissioner, Shane Castle, in 2006, he started the debate on housing, to see improved housing and now to see this outcome, I know he will be very pleased to know that something has happened for the people of the Solomon Islands. And I have actually met the prime minister and discussed it before it was fully announced that this was the prospect, and this is one of the projects that he tried to make sure that we got off the ground properly, because he could see the benefits of it. So all in all it's a good news story. You've got the Australian Government that have chipped in a lot of money and it is as you said 104 million Solomon dollars but five million dollars Australian per year for the next four years and we just want to see a good outcome for the people.

SEKE: He says the Australian Government has also provided funds to improve other areas within the police force, including a literacy project.

McDERMOTT: And it's a pilot capacity development and that's why we have argued and this is just one of many initiatives. There are others that we have got good funding for. This one is very dear to my heart, but there have been numeracy-literacy program where we can put some police that volunteer to improve their education. We've got five million dollars for that as well over the next few years and that will give us a chance to improve their education.