The new Solomon Islands government has defended its decision to pay out 50-thousand Solomon Islands dollars or over 7 thousand US dollars to a group of Malaitans.
The group demanded compensation for a public notice that reportedly used offensive language against Malaita people, and threatened violence if the government didn't pay up.
The deputy Prime Minister Fred Fono, says the government says it granted the payment as an appeasement policy rather than a compensation.
Mr Fono says the payment is less than the cost of the damages that would have been sustained had they not met the demand.
He admits there is concern the payment is revisiting the kind of manipulation of the compensation process which flamed the country's ethnic tensions.
