Reflecting on today’s social conditions prompted by population rise generally and in Honiara

Reflecting on today’s social conditions prompted by population rise generally and in Honiara

Posted by : frank short Posted on : 20-Apr-2021

In a letter I contributed today I mentioned how the Minister of Education and Human Resources had told Parliament last week how the budget allocation for her Ministry was said to be inadequate to keep pace with the school's infrastructure development needs due to the ever-increasing population growth.

Overall, the social situation in the Solomon Islands is still characterised by high population growth putting increasing pressure on the government, economic activity, education, health services, urbanization, a youth bulge, unemployment and monetisation, cultural change and dislocation, the latter particularly associated with climate change, also food security and one might add security and the changing nature of law enforcement with what has been perceived, of late, in reported serious crime incidents involving sexual offences and homicide.

Over the years I believe it true to say there has been improvements in access to education at primary school level, but maintaining the quality of education services continues to face difficulties.

On the health front, as I have often noted, non-contributory diseases such as diabetes, heart complaints, acute respiratory infections, heart disease and cancer are serious concerns for the health services.

Urban drift remains a concern with the population of Honiara having more than doubled due to rural-urban migration over the past 20 years putting community structures under increasing stress and wantok overcrowding of urban households.

Yours sincerely

Frank Short

 

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