Honiara needs watershed program

The Solomon Islands government has been urged to work on watershed management program and increase awareness to all people who occupied river boundaries to control flooding.

The Solomon Islands Community Conservation Partnership has made suggestions to the government based on their findings after a deadly flood hit Honiara early April this year.

A statement submitted through the Forum Solomon Islands International said the recent heavy rains and floods highlighted a number of pertinent issues in regard to watershed management and mitigating the effects of storm water flow in the future.

The statement said the watershed should focus on recovering stream habitats, surface water restoration, improving the health of streams and rivers, and refining the understanding of ecological systems that foster dynamic balance within the upper Honiara watershed catchments.

The statement said awareness should be done to people from polluting the river ways with all forms of waste, including sewage, plastics or other non-biodegradable materials.

Among the suggestions, the government should protect the upper areas of rivers to easily satisfy the Protected Areas Act 2010 and Environment Act 1998.

It also suggested that Watershed planning can also empower choices about how to develop, maintain, and construct, drainage systems, control riverine development, and particularly ceasing the aesthetic (plastic dumping), and sewage pollution of rivers that can easily satisfy the River Water Act 1964 and the Environmental health Act 1980.

The statement said the current approach to development fails to recognize the critical cumulative effects of watershed functions and systems.

It said this singular approach to development creates vulnerability for residents who occupy riverbanks and even coastal shorelines.

Meanwhile the Forum Solomon Islands International (FSII) members have fully supported the suggestions and called on the responsible ministry to take heed of the findings.

In their social network forum, the FSII members said there is a need to put together proposals and forward it to the National Disaster Office (NDO) for consideration.