- The Guardian
- Issue #2027
Last week, “Dingo” reported on Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare’s address to the UN General Assembly, a voice of the Pacific Islands People in the world body. Sogavare also echoed concerns expressed by Pacific countries on the proposal of Japan to discharge nuclear water treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, stressing potential transboundary and intergenerational implications of such action. On maritime boundaries and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), he spoke about the delimitation of all five of Solomon Islands maritime boundaries with Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, France, and Fiji. “With the completion of all five maritime boundaries, our rights and obligations are protected under UNCLOS in perpetuity,” he said. The vast majority of the world’s nations have signed onto UNCLOS, which is known as the “constitution for the oceans.” The Convention provides guidelines for how nations use the world’s seas and their natural resources. It also contains mechanisms for addressing disputes. The US has not signed the Convention. Sogarave spoke also about his country embarking on the “digital transformation journey” to enhance and modernise its telecommunication infrastructure. “Together with Australia and Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands commissioned its first submarine cable in 2019,” with the geographical reach of the cable to be expanded with the installation of about 170 telecommunication towers under a Belt and Road Initiative with China. This will link 80 per cent of the country and provide its rural population with access to reliable, accessible and affordable telecommunication services. “For least developing countries like the Solomon Islands, vulnerability is a key hindrance to sustainable development,” he said, referring to inadequacy of indicators to measure vulnerability. “Pacific Island countries including the Solomon Islands are in a constant mode of recovery from disasters. There is the need for the establishment of global financial mechanisms for disaster recovery to provide support to the most vulnerable countries.” Considering these challenges, the Pacific region has declared a “state of climate emergency”. “Sadly, we are seeing more resources spent on wars than in combating climate change,” he lamented.
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: The Albanese government’s rush to embrace Ukraine’s dancing man Vladimir Zelensky, highlights the role of Labor Parties – social democracy – as enablers to fascism. As Australia announced another billion-dollar package of death to add more fire to the conflict, the 4 million people living in the areas of Luhansk and Donetsk, were deciding their autonomous future. Agreements reached in 2014 with respect to their autonomy have never been implemented by Ukraine’s government. These regions opposed the 2014 US-backed coup that overthrew the elected president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych. Democratic mechanisms in Ukraine have since been abolished. After the 2014 state coup, real policy on its territory has increasingly been dictated by aggressive nationalist bands.
