THE MPA for Tasimboko Ward, Hon. Rose Tala, has stated that women and children in Honiara and Guadalcanal don’t deserve to live in constant fear due to political violence.
She stated this during the Sine Die Motion of the 6th Guadalcanal Provincial Assembly meeting on Wednesday, 1st December, 2021.
“The chaotic violence in Honiara City and the eastern side of Guadalcanal Provincial boundary last week only brought nothing but fear to our women and children. As a mother, I understand that they simply don’t deserve to live in constant fear as a result of political differences” Hon. Rose Tala explained.
“Our women and children, who are the most vulnerable and innocent citizens, are always the victims. Is this the type of environment we want for them?” She posed.
In addition, she also rebuffed some of the media statements online that perpetuated the narrative that Guadalcanal Province is a hostile island since the first encounter with Europeans, the Battle of Guadalcanal during WW2, the civil unrest between 1998-2002, the 2006 and 2019 riots, and what happened last week.
“I don’t disregard these major events, they happened on Guadalcanal, but that doesn’t make us unfriendly and hostile amongst our fellow wantoks.
“We are peace-loving people, and that’s the narrative and legacy we must live by.
“With this, I therefore would like to acknowledge Premier Sade for being one of the first leaders to come out in the media and condemn the violence as early as Wednesday 24th evening. And then later on made the call to mediate between the two parties. This simply shows that we’re peacemakers” Hon. Rose Tala explained.
In addition, Hon. Rose Tala supported the calls to find solutions to the problems made by women group leaders in the country.
“Our male dominant political leadership should always listen to the views of our women group leaders in all spheres of society, because they always have voices in the decision-making process especially when our country is going through such difficult times” she explained.
In summary, Hon. Rose Tala then called on other women and teenagers who joined the looters to refrain from further unlawful activities.
“To all the women and teenagers who joined the rioters last week, please refrain from such illegal activities. That’s not the way to raise and feed your family. The best kind of success is the success that comes from honest labor” she stated.
Hon. Rose Tala is the only female MPA in the current Executive Government. She was elected to the Provincial Assembly in 2019 from Tasimboko Ward.
She is currently the provincial Minister for Women, Youths and Sports. She is a strong advocator for women in political leadership.
