Dear editor,

It is true what the Prime minister has summised; that things have not progressed well after 31 years of 'self reliance' because of what I believe are some debilitating factors. I have tried 'brainstorming' and have had 'dead ends' but i believe that what i have to share is to help shed light and meaning, hopefully, to matters that our prime minister have highlighted to bring out discussions on these if it will help at all.

Firstly, we have gone 30 years over, what of the next 30 years to come? Are we heading the same course? Secondly, what sort of leaders do we need to help redirect the course? Our veteran leaders(20 years or more) now need to appreciate their services to the nation and encourage fresh blood into managing this beloved nation of ours instead of selfishly ransacking the nation and departing in chaos with their greedy ambitions. No problems with the current government as i see, the only demise this government of ours have fallen into, was, of the prying arms of the 'veteran few'. Some have been too long in the game that they think otherwise.

Think of others better than yourselves as the biblical saying goes! Now with the pending integrity bill in process,(hopefully, God be with us all, and i say it from heart), our good veterans can be patrons, mentors or advisors to whatever affiliated parties they support and contribute to in policies and manifestos intead of individually trying to invest in this country for their own political gains(as this has seem to be the case in the last 30years or so) to be frank indeed. By going the other way, it means, they are contributing communally and not individually. I cannot see anything wrong with tribal/ethnic parties, as long as they have a grounded manifesto and mission statement or whatever that other ethnic tribes from other provinces support and believe in, that will bring harmony to all, that matters!.

One that fully support communal ownership because I am a believer of one! I believe that if this country is heading globalisation, this would conflict with our traditional system of governing so likewise, i think(if you agree) if we are to sustain (note, the avoidance of use of the term maintainence!) our culture into the new era of civilisation, then i belive, GO, PARTY SYSTEM!.

Secondly, infra-structure development is a vital means to people's livelihood. One cannot talk about wages/salaries, standard of living, etc, no end unless, governments of the day put roads and bridges all around our nine important islands to connect to important wharves or port of calls instead of 'harvesting' their greed and 'inheritance' from the poor and innocent.

One will not believe the potential that these livelihood will bring(observe the former American colonies, with their infra-structure developments, if only
!!). Of course a sustenance plan need to be in place with these developments so that there would be no excuses. Blame the party and not the individual in this case. About time now we have this integrity bill in place and i love to see it happen because i believe that although there will be hiccups to it, the party system will have many support and input to assist in problem solving instead of the 'one-man band' practice as has been over the many years we have come to survive(God bless us all again that we have). Hence, persons like former GG Sir Devesi shouldnt attempt to point fingers at all if he was a party supporter. If Sikua was from a prominent major leading party group, he and his party members would be answerable to what has been happening but as this is not the case, we have to understand that, his government is comprised of a multiple party system in which some of the 'veterans' are from other minority party groups and they could be the 'rotten apples' playing a vengeance game in the dying minutes of the house.

I wouldn't blame Sikua for this matter because he represents many parties so we shouldn't be blaming him. I believe Sir Devesi should know better. Yes, we have the 'political tantrums' and 'rage' amongst our leaders, the 'irrational decisions' that they make, the 'grass-hopping' tendencies or patterns they adopt( if only they are wingless!). It all goes to show the inconsistencies that the current system have upon our leaders. The party system in a way, should be able to reflect our own traditional leadership system, only that with the combined legal support (yufala olketa lawyer na by save gud). Me no nap! Thirdly, why the financial support to parliamentarians and spouses only?

I cannot comprehend to this day until I pass!(I may need a good sending or kicking off too)! We need to boost and support the taxpayers, ie, business partners or private organisations, our loyal and dedicated government employees, farmers, self employees and many more who continually contribute to the tax system. The $49million investment into the government pay structure towards its workers would be an additional bonus to activate the once defunct and 'frozen' monetary cycle, to its worth. The benefits to these will be immeasurable because the money will simply circulate for what they are worth. Whereas if it is provided to the former, i bet, the value will be of a lesser worth so let's be more prudent in our wisdom. Kevin Rudd has done the same to his 'workers' and was worthy of a return in his dire need to 'resuscitate' his country from the global crisis at least, so how much more of our struggling nation?. Obama and USA, the most wealthiest and top nation, bata doim too (Olketa no luk lo spouse, perhaps only if lalast resort na ia, hu na save?). So have mercy on us once more.

Fourthly, our former PM, Sogavare has always been vocal about and may I reiterate once more, let us start phasing out the 'aid syndrome' to be true and practical. Whilst it is a supportive mechanism towards recovery, post ethnic tension, how long should the 'time-line' or 'grace period' be for, I wonder? I am concerned
because our mentality is due for change for a new course now, please.

Maybe the next set of governing or ruling parties should seriously ponder on this or we'll get nowhere. Our people will benefit no doubts on that.The only worry is,
the more there is on these, the more their mentality on receiving will be fixed and this is serious. Look at the vast amount of untapped resources we have, we are not a 'poor' nation as others may perceive, it is the way we manage our resources that is the problem. Everyone wants to play 'chief' and no-one wants to be 'indian'. Let us encourage 'sustainable development' for the many and not for the few. They need to have a new and fresh mindset towards entrepreneurship wether individual or communual (mane and mere together) so that sustainenance can be achievable and realistic.

Former and current leaders have called for landowners to be 'open' to development that are sustainable, mind you. For example, water supply or building classrooms, and many other community projects, what then, thereafter? There should be a feeling of ownership, belonging and responsibility amongst communities in relation to these many projects and not these 'man talem duim' attitude because this has been the ongoing culprit that has seen communities divided every now and again. How can the 'iumi together' philosophy be uphold in it's best form? Utilise local expertise to do maintenance work and responsibility on a long term basis and encourage communal/tribal ownership whichever works best and less of individualism.
They will need to be holistically supported ie, physically, mentally, financially, emotionally, spiritually and you name the rest and i believe the party system through supporters can do the rest.

The next set of leaders need to seriously address these. The need to sustain our cultural livelihood at its best if not the worst through working as a group and community and do away with individualism if we can, for the better of our nation and progress. Finally, i see no point in singling out the current PM and his government because we have had only less than a term in their reign but they have salvaged more than we have bargained for at least so what have we to complain about since we have only a few months of them to oversee the plight of this nation whatsoever. Have mercy on us.

Just beware of the few who are still looming in the highest place seeking another chance for their own fulfillment. Start now and be vigilant on whom you choose for your next leader and party for they may be wolves in 'sheeps skin'. Let us not be hindrance to our own development when we are just mere managers of this planet earth as one of the charismatic writer puts it. Hence, we should be vigilant and cautious in our daily undertakings and be responsible for our own decisions. Ansa lo yumi seleva nao!.