HONIARA CITY LORD MAYOR CR. EDDIE KASUTEÉ SIAPU’s INAUGURAL ADDRESS FOR THE 45TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY; 7TH JULY 2023

• Governor General of Solomon Islands Sir David Vunagi and Lady Vunagi                                                                                
• Prime Minster of Solomon Island Hon. Manasseh Damukana Sogavare and Madam Sogavare
• Speaker of Parliament Hon. Pattison Oti & Madam Oti

• Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer and Lady Palmer
• Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Maelanga & Madam Maelanga
• Government Ministers
• Members of Parliament
• Constitutional Post Holders
• Permanent Secretaries
• Heads of Foreign Government Missions
• Provincial Premiers and Members of Provincial Assemblies

• Deputy Mayor and Councillors of Honiara City Council
• Heads of Donor and Development Partner Agencies
• Heads of Non-Government Organizations
• Church Leaders, Arch Bishops, Bishops, Ministers, and Clergies
• Community Leaders throughout the Solomon Islands
• Residents of Honiara City

• Visiting Friends

• Platoons of RSIPF and CSSI and Uniformed Groups participating in the parade
• Ladies & Gentlemen
• Girls and Boys
• Children

 

Good morning and Happy 45^th Independence anniversary celebrations!

It is indeed an honor for me to be present and stand here with you today in my capacity as the Lord Mayor of Honiara City.

On behalf of the Honiara City Councillors, City Clerk, and staff, I am greatly honoured and pleased to stand here to welcome you all as we embark on today’s 45^th Independence Anniversary celebration on the theme; ‘Rising above and overcoming all our challenges as one people.’

I sincerely and warmly welcome you all to this memorable ceremonial parade here in Lawson Tama Stadium to commemorate and celebrate the 45 years Anniversary of our country’s self-determination and Independence from Great Britain.

Iufala wea no stap witim mifala lo hia lo Lawson Tama today, but herehere kam lo radios either from olketa homes blo iufala lo Honiara or lo moving vehicle or lo home villages lo provinces. Mi also like fo extendim lo you my sincere welcome to turn on your radio so that you part lo celebration today.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies, and Gentlemen

Honiara, for many Solomon Islanders and overseas visitors, is a cross before either your travel destination is overseas or visiting other parts of the Solomon Islands.

Therefore, I would like to assure you all that Honiara City will always continue to play host to every Solomon Islanders living in Honiara or overseas people visiting Honiara or transiting because people from all over the provinces and the world come to the city for many reasons:

• Honiara is the gateway to the outside world
• People come to Honiara for economic reasons and to do business in Honiara
• Our people come to Honiara for further education, now that we have our very own Solomon Islands National University (SINU)
• Young people come to Honiara for education, sports or employment opportunities
• Modern health services is made available by our qualified professional doctors reasoning our people in the provinces to come to Honiara
• These days Legal Services are a requirement and are now readily available here in Honiara from various legal local firms.
• Visiting relatives and friends in Honiara is part of our cultural requirement
• Expatriates with different expertise and professionals and advisers come to Honiara to assist, support and help us.
• Tourists come to Honiara and to the provinces
• Visiting expatriates eventually become residents of Honiara because they love Honiara because we have beautiful people living in Honiara.

Therefore, I’m glad to say that Honiara is a Home to all of us in the Solomon Islands.

The City Council, with the enduring support of stakeholders, business houses donor partners throughout the years, has been providing social and livelihood services for residents of the city and for people to enjoy. This is by way of:

• Creating a safe and conducive environment for business houses and investors to invest and do their business,
• Participatory planning and contributions to cleaning and beautifying the central business district and streets in the city,
• Providing market facilities market vendors and buyers sell produce to sustain residents and visitors.

Elected ward councilors continue to strive and work hard to deliver development services to communities in the various wards they represent within the city boundary.  I wish Honiara City Council can access funds like the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) so that the Council can implement some of its planned development activities as envisioned in our development strategy. Honiara City Council is a local government institution hence should also access funds provided to provinces.

 

Distinguished Guests, Ladies, and Gentlemen, it is not an easy task to manage and develop Honiara City because Honiara is a young developing city similar to any other developing city around the world while the population of Honiara is rapidly increasing at a very high rate. Rapid urbanization is a real challenge here because a lot of people leave their homes and come to Honiara in search of opportunities which I described earlier. This also gives rise to the rapid growth of informal settlements posing another huge challenge to the Council.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies, and Gentlemen

The council continues to provide basic services for the people living in the city. The City Council Waste Management Team continued to pick up people’s household rubbish within the City Boundary, but again the council has been met with heavy criticism because of not adequately meeting the people’s demands. Basically Because.

• The city is now very dispersed covering a wide span of land.
• Some houses are being built on steep slopes with little access to roads.
• Informal houses are being built without proper permits is increasing in the city.
• Informal settlements continue to use council services.
• Several businesses are operating without council licenses.
• The ongoing increase in internal migration into the city has dramatically caused hindrance and continues to strain the council’s yearly budget thus affecting council services.

Therefore, I humbly call Honiara residents, visitors, business houses, national government, to work together in supporting HCC in overcoming the challenges to maintain its effective and efficient delivery of services to our good beloved people in Honiara City.

For instance, in the education sector, village parents still think, and I will agree to some extent, that the education services provided in the city are of a higher quality than that being provided in the provinces and villages.

However, the education curriculum and system throughout the Solomon Islands is equally the same with qualified teachers. Parents and Guardians continue to send their children to come to Honiara for pre-primary, primary, and secondary education. This puts pressure on the Council’s education services.

In the health sector, enough medication is budgeted for the various ward clinics within the city. However, the migrating population and accessing city health services by people residing outside of Honiara constrains the health services.

However, in spite of such hindrances and challenges the council with the support from the Ministry of Health, has an obligation to meet the challenges and give every resident in Honiara and visitors alike access to free health services in all council clinics. The council in partnership with the Ministry of Health continues to try and provide reliable and improved quality clinical health services that can be easily reached by the community both through private medical practitioners and normal clinical health services. I will not hesitate to mention a few:

• Apart from the several established clinical services within the city, the Pikikini Clinic has continued to open its doors to the public for children to receive treatments when needed.
• An eye clinic building has been officially opened to assist people with eye problems. The clinic is fully equipped and well-managed by qualified personnel.
• A dental Clinic with qualified people has already opened its doors for people to use.
• Several private medical private practitioners are managed by well-qualified
• Private dental services are also available for public access.

At this point in time, space to bury our dead at the present Grave site in Kola Ridge is scarce. The City Council is working closely with relevant ministries of the national government and Guadalcanal Provincial Government to secure a new cemetery site. I therefore appeal to all residents to repatriate the body of any deceased family member back to his or her home village for proper burial.

Distinguished Guests, ladies and gentlemen, Honiara City is the center of commerce in the Solomon Islands. You will also notice the services provided by the commercial sector allow you to buy what you want from the shops. The shops are colorful with a variety of choices available to purchase.

The commercial sector will continue to grow and improve to provide and make available quality products of your choice so that we can have equal access to any other outlet around the world. You need not travel overseas to purchase whatever you want. Honiara will continue to grow and attractive for investors both overseas and locally and many more people will continue to come to the city. However, the city has already been faced with many social challenges that we have now already experienced in Honiara.

Keeping Honiara, our City Clean is a huge challenge, I will continue to appeal again today. Take ownership of Honiara and let us all look after our city. We must be careful not to create too much waste in Honiara.

A simple careless behavior such as throwing your rubbish, plastics, and empty cans and bottles from a moving vehicle must be immediately stopped. We must work together to keep our city clean. Remember Honiara is My City, Your City, Our City…

Drugs and Alcohol and Home Brew Kwaso are a concern. There is an alarming concern for both adults and young people. Drinking and driving in spite of the Police traffic rules. The city has recorded a number of deaths related to alcohol and careless driving because of alcohol. Domestic violence also caused death-related alcohol; we cannot continue to entertain such avoidable death threats in our community. I will appeal to NGOs, national policing, and churches to work extra harder to address these issues.

 

Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen, betel nut is culturally owned by the Solomon Islands people and is also the livelihood for many people in the city.

The sale of betel nut (bilnat) is helping many families to bring food to their table, school fees, and other benefits for our people. The Council does not stop people from chewing betel nuts. It is an individual right in spite of health warnings. However, it is a problem for the council because when you, sell, chew, spit, and throw it in public, it affects the council regulations and ordinances, the council is mandated to inform people of proper ways to keep the city clean for us to enjoy the environment of the city.

The Council will impose its ordinances when the enabling legislation is passed by National Parliament. There is a delay in imposing the on-the-spot fines for littering and betel nut infringements but it will happen so be prepared.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I can only say, the council needs public support to address all these issues. The national government, business houses, development partners, NGOs, and churches should all collaborate with the Council to address these issues seriously. Let us all strive to live in an environment that is crime free, safe secure, and clean.

“We must understand the past for a better tomorrow” for our children.  Honiara is a beautiful City and can be a paradise of the Pacific. Its geographic location, its environment, and the people of Honiara and the Solomon Islands are all beautiful people. I would like to echo this message to all residents of Honiara and the people of the Solomon Islands. Let us take ownership of Honiara.

Because Honiara is our city we will live and die here in Honiara, so let us look after our city so that we can all enjoy the services provided by the city from all works of life. The City Council cannot do it alone we immediately need public support. To our donor partners and friends thank you for being part of our celebration and thank you for the financial and moral support you have all rendered throughout the years in the country also you made Honiara your home during your term of service in the Solomon Islands.

Therefore, on this note, I would like to thank Guadalcanal People through its Provincial Assembly for working in partnership with City Council and the National Government.

Big tagio tumas too lo National Government – DCGA Government – fo the sporting facilities wea liftim up face blo Honiara city.

I would also like to thank the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) for listening to our plea and make sure the stadiums are ready for the games in November this year.  and for HCC to play host during the games.

The Solomon Islands government is preparing the city for the first-ever hosting of the Pacific Games in November this year, 2023.

Once again, I would like to thank the general public, (Honiara city people), business houses, stakeholders, and the government for your cooperation and for working together in looking after our city over the years.

Looking forward to our continued working together in looking after our Honiara City, making sure Honiara City is a safe, beautiful, livable, and green city for the games and beyond.

As we celebrate our 45^th Independence anniversary today, let us continue to work together to fulfill the dreams of our forefathers, remembering the struggles and sacrifices they fought to give us this gift of sovereignty! Let us pay tribute to their wisdom and heartfelt passion for us to be one nation, one people.

 

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen; I warmly welcome you to this 45^th Independence anniversary celebrations. Have an enjoyable and peaceful independence celebration,

Tagio Tumas and Happy 45^th Independence anniversary celebrations!