In February 1995 a unique event took place in Honiara, Solomon Islands. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Solomon Islands government and APACE was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mines, Energy and Minerals. APACE (Appropriate Technology for Community and Environment), is an Australian voluntary non-government organisation specialising in the design and implementation of low-impact, environmentally sensitive technology. For the last twenty years APACE has concentrated on the design and installation of village-level micro-hydro electricity generating systems. Its first such installation was commissioned in 1983 in a village in the Western Province of Solomon Islands. The commissioning of this system was not a quick fix but the culmination of years of preparation and consultation with the villagers. It was preceded and followed by courses of training in the operation, maintenance and repair of the system. The Memorandum of Understanding represented a great advance in the process of devolving power - in every sense of the word - to the people in rural areas. It was a bold step for the government to take and showed great trust in the ability of the villagers and APACE to do something which everywhere else has been the prerogative of a centralised authority. In this case, however, the decentralised generation of electricity has been sanctioned by the Solomon Islands Electricity Authority, which will ensure that safety regulations are being observed. Following the success of the first few installations a plan is being drawn up to bring electricity to a large number of villages in the Western Province; this is the Western Province Rural Electrification Program. In addition, a working group called Solomon Islands Village Electrification Committee has been set up to draft a national rural electrification policy and to design an appropriate organisation to implement a community-based hydro-electrification programme. It is APACE's hope that this initiative of the Solomon Islands government will serve as a model for other nations in the Pacific who are looking to bring electrification to the rural areas. Dr. Paul Bryce PO Box 123 Tel.: +61 2 9514 2554 E-mail: apace@uts.edu.au |