With Christmas just around the corner, many people are now on high alert for the 'Christmas Shopping' dramas.

No, the term 'Christmas Shopping" does not refer to the festive period of gift hunting in shops.

Rather, 'Christmas Shopping' is usually a term used for stealing during the festive season and this is quite common in Honiara. Thieves take advantage of the Christmas period, when the house owners are away for Christmas. And the Christmas period is not a good time to leave the house empty, especially huge executive houses.

"As we approach the Christmas period, it is always expected that 'Christmas Shopping' will be on the high. People just need to be more careful and not leave their houses empty," says Mrs. Leah Gasi of Rove.

"Last year, we went to the islands for holidays and upon returning a day after Christmas, we realised that someone had broken into our tool shed. We had only been gone for less than a week. They took various expensive items for carpentry," says Anne Koania of Mbua Valley.

In a recent Press Conference the Acting Police Commissioner Walter Kola has called on all residents in Honiara to take safety measures.

"People must take steps on looking after their property because crimes build up during the Christmas period," he said.

He has called on the public not to leave their houses vacant saying that crimes happen sometimes due to a "failure on our part."