20 Aug 2002

Solomon Islands Civil Society Network calls for government action to remedy the situation to C

10:43 am on 20 August 2002

The Solomon lslands Civil Society Network says the country is in a deepening economic crisis and the Government must immediately come up with a plan to solve the mess and revive services such as health.

In a communique the Network has also called for an enquiry into the police force to try and isolate the serious problems affecting its performance.

It also wants all special constables demobilized and all arms still in the community retreived.

But Bob Pollard of the Network says the economy is the most pressing problem, and everyone acknowledges there is a crisis with many government departments unable to function properly

But he says the Government has shown no leadership while it continues to make unexplained payments to some groups.

"Payments to different groups, maybe for allowances or claims. I mean there's no real public transparency with how the government is paying. Nobody really knows. There are rumours and stories and the government is not being transparent about how its handling the public finances."