Meshach Adomea and Miriam are worried about their children and grandchildren back home in Honiara.
Meshach Adomea and Miriam are worried about their children and grandchildren back home in Honiara.
A retired couple in Northland are praying for an end to the unrest in the Solomon Islands where rioting has forced their children and grandchildren to stay indoors, with limited food supplies.
Meshach Adomea and his wife Miriam are retired church ministers in Dargaville who are worried about several days of riots on the island capital Honiara that has so far claimed three lives.
Chinatown has been a target for looters and protesters who left shattered glass, rubble and rubbish that resulted in an overnight curfew in the city.
Soldiers and police from Australia and Papua New Guinea have helped restore calm after three days of violence saw the prime minister's home come under attack and swathes of the city reduced to smouldering ruins.
Adomea was born in Malaita and attended secondary education in Honiara while his wife is from Vanuatu. Both worked in Honiara for many years before moving to New Zealand in 2002.
They witnessed an ethnic uprising in 2000 but said the present rioting was worse as it happened in Honiara.
One of their daughters has seven children and another has four, and all are trapped in their homes in Honiara.
"They want to get out of there but where do they go? It's dangerous to go out because of the destruction of shops and looting. The mob of people have outnumbered police. Food supply is a problem because the shops have been destroyed," he said.
Adomea reckons the arrival of foreign security forces would exacerbate the situation as locals preferred to solve their problems through dialogue with the Government— something that has not quite happened up until now.
The aftermath of a looted street in Honiara's Chinatown following three days of rioting.
Photo / AP
"I am a third-generation Solomon Islander who came under Western influence. We prefer community dialogue before the situation escalates. Next, people will pit themselves against people and that will be worse."
The creation of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in 2003 by outside security forces, led by Australia and New Zealand, was a prime example of why foreign interference wouldn't work, he said.
The Solomon Islands Government declared a state of emergency as it struggled to deal with simmering tension between ethnic militant groups on Guadalcanal that rapidly escalated in the late 90s.
Adomea said ethnic tensions between those in Malaita and Guadalcanal needed to be amicably resolved if there was to be lasting peace.
Meanwhile, Whangārei-based Solomon Islander Benjamin Tegerobo is organising a fundraiser for families affected by the riots back home.
His sister and wife's family are also caught up in the riots in Honiara.
He's organising a container full of clothing and food to be sent to Honiara before Christmas and asking for public donations.
Goods in Whangārei can be dropped off at his residence, 1/431A Kamo Rd, and money deposited into the ANZ account 010487012287746.
