North Malaita leaders want reconciliation to be initiated

Participants of a peace building workshop in Malu'u, North Malaita, are calling on the Government to initiate talks between the peoples of Guadalcanal and Malaita to address the issues which gave rise to the recent social unrest.

The participants say this should help bring about reconciliation, restitution and healing among the two provinces.

A community leader in North Malaita, Ben Lesibana, says the people have been waiting for the last six years for someone to initiate dialogue between the people of the two islands. He says the people are appealing to relevant government and non-government groups to come forward and initiate dialogue.

The one week peace building workshop 'Faith Based Peace Building' was conducted recently at Malu’u in North Malaita. Participants of the workshop are leaders in the area representing the six church denominations, tribal groups, and women organisations in the area.

The workshop was conducted by the Seventh Days Church-ran ADRA and sponsored by AusAID. It is part of a three year program targeting seven wards in North Malaita and four wards in Guadalcanal.

Source: SIBC