RAMSI Special Coordinator James Batley today said that RAMSI through its partnership with the government and people of Solomon Islands was helping to rebuild the essential infrastructure of sovereignty in Solomon Islands.

Mr Batley said that RAMSI members were fully aware they were guests in Solomon Islands, and respected Solomon Islands independence and sovereignty.

He added: “Sovereignty is not just about having the ability to pass laws. It’s also about a nation’s capacity to enforce those laws. It’s not just the ability to announce government policies but the capacity of a nation to implement those policies and pay for them.”

Speaking to students and staff and the University of the South Pacific Centre in Honiara to mark the third anniversary of RAMSI’s arrival in Solomon Islands, Mr Batley said there was a clear link between strong nations and strong institutions.

“Countries where institutions don’t function properly, where people don’t respect institutions, where the law is not respected, where public officials bend and break the rules to benefit themselves – these are usually poor countries,” Mr Batley said.

“RAMSI’s partnership with Solomon Islands provides a unique opportunity to rebuild your national sovereignty through rebuilding stronger, more vital institutions, stronger more stable finances and to grow the capacity not just of individual public servants or police officers, but the capacity of the nation to carry out all that the good citizens of Solomon Islands require of it.”

Mr Batley said that all Solomon Islanders – not just those who lived in Honiara – had an interest in an effective, efficient and accountable government.

Mr Batley said that shorts cuts would not work and that there were no easy answers to economic and social development in Solomon Islands, especially in the face of trends and challenges of globalisation in the 21st century.

“Unless Solomon Islands faces the challenges, not only will poverty and crime increase, but the country’s ability to decide and shape its future – its sovereignty – will shrink, not grow.”

Mr Batley urged the USP Centre students to take up the challenge and demand more from their leaders, but also to take responsibility to think and behave in ways that would enhance Solomon Islands’ sovereignty.