KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs.(August 4) - Solomon Islands Opposition Leader S. S.
Mamaloni today told Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating to shut up and
stop interfering in his country's domestic affairs.
Criticising Keating for alleging that logging companies from Malaysia, South
Korea and Indonesia were ripping off the Solomon Islands by paying too
little for valuable and limited forest products, he said:
"He (Keating) should, in the first instance, look after the well-being of
the Aborigines and Australians before making comments about the Government
and people of Solomon Islands and other island nations."
When contacted by telephone in Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands,
Mamaloni said Keating should "clean up his own backyard".
The Australian newspaper reported on Tuesday that Keating warned that
"unless the environmental piracy of foreign logging companies operating in
the South Pacific region is controlled, the future of the region will be
bleak." Mamaloni said that contrary to Keating's statement, the natural
resources of the Solomon Islands had not been over-exploited.
"It is possible that the statistical data on which Keating based his
assertions could be fabricated and from an unofficial source." said Mamaloni
who was Prime Minister from 1974 to 1976, 1981 to 1984 and 1989 to 1993. He
said he had not seen any official reports from the Ministry of Natural
Resources stating that the country's fishing areas and forests had been
over- exploited. Mamaloni said the suggestion by Keating that the Australian
and New Zealand Governments would be prepared to help the Solomon Islands
Government draw up new legislation for the ownership and use of the
country's resources was extremely "offensive and disrespectful" to the
resource owners of the country.
He said Keating was misleading the international community, adding that the
Australian Prime Minister was coming out with a lot of propaganda against
the development of Solomon Islands' timber industries to protect his
country's softwood industries.
"I think he (Keating) made such a statement to ridicule the investors from
Asian countries."
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Francis Billy Hilly on Tuesday announced the
suspension of the logging licence of a Malaysian company, Kumpulan Emas Bhd,
for alleged illegal forestry practices.
The Australian reported that Keating also lashed out at Japan and South
Korea, accusing them of exploiting the small Pacific islands through illegal
fishing activities.
Mamaloni said Keating and Hilly should be reminded that unlike Australia and
New Zealand, the Solomon Islands land ownership and tenure system was one of
the most comprehensive in the region.
"Land in the Solomon Islands, by an Act of Parliament, is categorised as
alienated land owned by the Government (about one percent), freehold land is
alienated land bought by individuals (about 0.2 percent) and traditional or
customary-owned land (90 percent) is owned by the indigenous people."
Mamaloni said the Forestry Act was one of the most stringent in this region
and licences to fell trees and export log or timber took at least six months
to obtain by investors.
"Every licence specifies the area of the timber concession and the
authorised quota per year.
"Records are available for Keating and Hilly to see that almost all the
logging companies in the Solomon Islands have had, at one time or another,
their operations suspended for non-compliance with the requirements of the
law and landowners' agreement.
"Very few companies are known to have exhausted the quotas given to them by
the forestry division."
Similar to the Forestry Act, Mamaloni said, the country's law on fisheries
was the toughest in the South Pacific region.
The fisheries division together with the police, he said, had arrested more
than a dozen intruders since 1983, including the crew of the American ship,
Jeanet Diana.
Mamaloni said the penalties for breach of the country's Fisheries Act were
severe compared with those in other countries.
"All licences issued to fishing companies must specify the period and
fishing area and the quota of catch per year."
Meanwhile, Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said
Australia was jealous of Malaysian logging companies' success in the South
Pacific countries.
"Australia has lost its influence and competitive edge in the South Pacific
countries and this has led it to use arguments concerning the environment to
criticise Malaysia's logging activities in countries like Vanuatu and the
Solomon Islands," he said at the Malaysian Panel-Products Manufacturers'
Association's 30th annual dinner at Shangri-La Hotel here yesterday.
"What business is it of Australia's to criticise us anyway" Just because
they can't compete with us any more?... who knows what they did to the
forests previously (when the Australians held concessions)?" asked Dr Lim.
He advised Malaysian companies which had invested overseas or were going
abroad to apply what they had learnt about sustainable logging in Malaysia
and follow the rules and regulations of the host country.
He said there was nothing the Government could do to help if a company ran
foul of another country's laws.
"So, behave yourselves and don't let others criticise us," he said.
Dr Lim added that Malaysian companies would have the Government's full
backing if they had done nothing wrong,
--- * Origin: Pactok Project (90:900/990)--