A survey conducted on behalf of the Solomon Islands Regional Assistance Mission, or RAMSI, has been released, showing the vast majority of Solomon Islanders are happy with the organisation and want it to stay.
The survey, of more that five thousand people was conducted by the Australian National University on behalf of RAMSI, has already drawn fire from the government which says it should have been done in conjunction with the Statistics Department.
Don Wiseman has more.
"The survey elicited a lot of general socio-economic information such as more than half the country living more than an hour from a primary school and most people having no health centre within their communities. Around half described their communities as safe and peaceful but feared that lawlessness would return if RAMSI left the country. 90 percent said RAMSI should stay in Solomon Islands. The survey indicated a strong desire to have women in Parliament. It also showed concerns with the police and justice system with people often not taking legal action or reporting crimes. It also said that often the chiefs or the local church would be asked to intervene in disputes rather than police help being sought. The Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has dismissed the findings as holding no substance but RAMSI says they are very encouraging for the mission."
