Men in flood-hit Solomons urged to think of women's struggle

Transcript

Men in the area hit by floods east of the Solomon Islands capital Honiara are being urged to consider how difficult life is for the women in their families.

Heavy flooding in the past fortnight has damaged bridges and roads in the Ghaobata, East Taimsboko, Vulolo and Paripao wards, highlighting existing frustrations with the lack of attention to infrastructure in that region.

The paramount chief of the Vhibo tribe, Benedict Garimane, says previous government negotiations over land with men have foundered because they have demanded compensation.

But he says the resulting delay in building robust bridges and roads affects women the most because they need the access to markets and services. Annell Husband spoke to him.

BENEDICT GARIMANE: Landowners should be sympathetic with the situation for the poor mothers, the women who are struggling to meet their families daily needs. It's the men who demanded money from the government, but the women who are struggling. That's the area that the men should also consider and see how men are struggling for the survival of their families. Through those hard times women must see that their children have to feed their families in the evening or meet the family needs for uniforms, education uniforms and school fees and all sorts. That's the area that the men should see how the women are struggling and they should be sympathetic to them and give way so a proper negotiation - not a roadblock, but a dialogue negotiation - to see what they should be receiving for their land, not just a stop-gap and roadblock.

ANNELL HUSBAND: Right. So it's not just up to the government to restart the negotiations. The landowners, the men, have to be willing to compromise?

BG: Yeah.

AH: The women haven't got much say, have they?

BG: The men have more say on the land, so they should be considering how the women are struggling to meet their family needs and take a proper approach, use the right avenue and the right channels to negotiate or bring their grievances rather than taking the law into their own hands as a shortcut.

AH: Yes, because that happened just after the flooding, didn't it? Weren't some young men demanding payment for crossing the bridge?

BG: Yeah. There are people who are maybe sometimes using young men for their personal interest, but there are avenues they should use to address those issues.