SOLOMON IS: PM meets Guadalcanal Province leaders.
Updated
The Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare has met members of the Guadalcanal Provincial Executive to discuss concerns raised by the people of the province. They include the appointment of new Attorney General Julian Moti, the re-armament of the police and a number of outstanding demands of the province.
Presenter: Sam Seke
Speakers: Braddley Tovusia, Deputy Guadalcanal Premier
TOVUSIA: Well we talked about a lot of things with this Moti issue, rearmament, the Commissioner of Police and issues for the people of Guadalcanal.
SEKE: What were the things that you wanted the Prime Minister to do?
TOVUSIA: We expressed our people's wish to the Prime Minister is we have already sent it before in a letter. We told the Prime Minister that we sort of like we'd be by two groups of people, people like back in the village and the national parliament. And we are in a very awkward position to make decisions here otherwise we rely very much on the Prime Minister and his cabinet members, for the Guadalcanal cabinet ministers.
SEKE: And what was the Prime Minister's response?
TOVUSIA: As we've heard from other ministers like now and then who came up, like common sense that they didn't like the appointment of Moti and like the Commissioner of Police, they didn't break anything legally. So he said like people taking very wrongly with rearmament, like it's never been discussed in the parliament, this was decided by the Prime Minister and the same type of, it's not a big issue, like people should talk about it like it's an old issue now and he thinks that people might take things wrongly here.
SEKE: But on the issue of rearming the police, the people of Guadalcanal have actually been expressing concern about it because they were the most affected by the arms falling into the wrong hands during the crisis?
TOVUSIA: Yes, sure that's, well we're sort of expressing that every now and then to the Prime Minister, but he said things differently, like if I'm going to rearm the police but with the PNG and the cops under RAMSI, yes, but not like, not RSIP or his protection unit as he was … before, no.
SEKE: On the qualified demands of the people of Guadalcanal, that's been a very long standing kind of issue, what has the Prime Minister said about that?
TOVUSIA: He was saying like the previous government they didn't see that qualified demand seriously. Currently this government is seeing it more seriously in terms of they're addressing it, well shortly they will address it more seriously like … the number eight of July 2008. So they want to like justice for peace, that's what the Prime Minister was saying.
SEKE: Will you, I mean the Guadalcanal Provincial Executive party to the resolutions that will made during the Guadalcanal leader's meeting last week?
TOVUSIA: Well we were invited, we were invited, is the government for the people because currently we are the body that looks after the Guadalcanal people. So we take things up, but well the Prime Minister has mentioned two things where we actually invite him to second upon the date. We were telling him that the message wasn't going straight down to the people properly and the people they'll be curious about Moti and like the Police Commissioner. So we're asking if he can come and put in a very good speech during our second meeting there, which he was very happy to come and talk to the Guadalcanal people about that.
