THE NEW MALAITA ALLIANCE IS DISTANCES

MALAITA South East West Are’Are and Kwaio (SEWAK) – a newly formed alliance that represents nearly fifty percent of Malaita province – has distanced itself from “the radical internal discord displayed by the MARA regime against the government. of the Solomon Islands.

Instead, he will work to establish a new province which will be known as SEWAK to further the development aspirations of his people.

“SEAWAK is deeply appalled by the ongoing radical internal conflicts” over issues of interest to Malaita, the new alliance said in a statement released yesterday.

“On that note, SEWAK as a group of responsible and concerned leaders of the southern region of Malaita province, condemns and deplores in the strongest terms the current political upheaval displayed by MARA towards SIG, including the recent planned demonstration which resulted in riots, looting and burning of properties and businesses in Honiara last week.

“So we all call SEWAK citizens residing in Honiara and elsewhere to stay away from all other planned demonstrations, meetings and gatherings, interpreted as prejudicial to the peaceful coexistence and stability of our province and our country as a whole.

“SEWAK would like to remind the MARA regime and SIG that our founding fathers of the Maasina Ruru movement in 1944 risked their lives and that of their families and property to make Malaita and the rest of the Solomons a better place for all of us to live together in the peace and harmony.

“Thereby, SEWAK would like to re-emphasize the Founding Definition of our Maasina Movement which is based on “fraternity” and “uniqueness”. That we, as Solomon Islands Islanders, must remain one people with a common destiny at all times, that our unity and unity must not be altered by individuals, institutions and foreign forces taking advantage of our differences ”, indicates the press release.

“Besides, SEWAK would also like to stress again that our founding pillars of the Movement were based on self-determination to be resilient in the development of our society; peaceful coexistence; shared community responsibility; equal sharing of resources and benefits; and above all to take care of each other as one people with a common heritage from our ancestors.

“SEWAK therefore, calls on the SIG to set up a bipartite task force to mediate between the MARA government, Malaita national deputies in both opposition and government and DCGA. The role of the working group is to resolve current internal conflicts and to build understanding and trust between MARA and SIG on issues relating to the development of Malaita, ”the statement said.

SEWAK Members of the southern region of Malaita also “strongly condemn the earlier statements made by several Malaitans on behalf of the Malaitans residing in Honiara.

“Statements made by national members of parliaments representing South, East and West Malaysia are constituencies and social media posts are detrimental to our peaceful coexistence as a people, nation of the Solomon Islands.”

“SEWAK, as a responsible and concerned group of leaders in the southern region of Malaita, deeply regrets all previous statements made by the MARA and M4D regime on the intention to declare Malaita as an independent state of the Solomon Islands, for the following reasons;

• Lack of consultation with all of our chiefs, elders, church leaders, men, women and youth in the SEWAK areas of Malaita and Honiara;
• Lack of a collective referendum with all our chiefs, elders, church leaders, men, women and youth in the five regions of Malaita (North, Center, East, South and Outer Islands of Malaita) and in Honiara;
• Personal interests of some individuals and interference from outside forces that undermine Malaita’s independence agenda. This is detrimental to the socio-economic development aspirations of a newly established independent state of “Malaita”. Therefore, SEWAK will not be part of this new state; and

• Lack of a clear vision, mission and aspirations of the concept of an independent state of Malaita. The matter has not been clearly explained to all Malaysians. Thus, SEWAK will not risk the lives of our families and tribes to be part of an indistinct objective.

The press release says that SEWAK highly recognized and appreciated his blood ties through marriages and traditional ties from ages past until today. Thus, the members of SEWAK are kinship and cultural ties with the rest of the Solomons and will not engage in any wickedness or attempt to disrupt these noble traditional and cultural ties and legacies for the best of our future generations.

“Therefore, SEWAK as a responsible group, will work towards establishing its own province as a means of strengthening the current aspirations for socio-economic development of Malaita and its people.

“This is intended to alleviate the current development pressures on Malaita as the most populous province in the Solomon Islands. Once established, a SEWAK province will effectively deliver the social services and economic development ambitions of Malaita. It will also look after its own traditional governance structures, its aspirations for economic development and consolidate the aspirations of its own people in the southern region of Malaita.

“The proposed name of the new Province is “SEWAK”. This is a noble intention and is not intended in any way to disunite Malaita, but to improve the socio-economic development of Malaita.

“A task force will soon be assigned to plan, design and advance this noble goal. Formal submissions will be made to the MIS in early 2022 for further approval by the responsible institutions, ”the statement read.

“Our people from SEWAK The regions of Malaita and Honiara would like to humbly assure the nation and its peace-loving citizens that we will continue to be part of Solomon Islands as a sovereign state within the Commonwealth and the United Nations.

“As this is the legacy left by our ancestors through the Maasina Ruru movement, the late Aliki Nono’oohimae, Hoasihau and Nori from ‘Are’ are, Jonathan Fifi’i from Kwaio, and later joined by Timothy George Maharatta of South Malaita. Therefore, SEWAK will uphold this legacy and continue to work tirelessly with all other provinces to remain united as Maasinas, one people, one nation and one destiny.

“Thereby, SEWAK Members as responsible and concerned citizens of Solomon Islands will seriously consider taking appropriate steps to uphold this noble intention to remain part of the Sovereign State of Solomon Islands, and will work with the appropriate government institutions to achieve this goal. “

By Alfred Sasako
Press room, Honiara