White River, Honiara Explained

White River
Settlement Type:Suburb
Pushpin Map:Solomon Islands Honiara
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Honiara (Council boundary-red box)
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Solomon Islands
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Honiara Town
Subdivision Type2:Island
Subdivision Name2:Guadalcanal
Population Total:4000
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Blank1 Title:Ethnicities
Timezone:UTC
Utc Offset:+11
Coordinates:-9.4333°N 214°W
Elevation M:30 - 100

White River is a suburb on the fringe of Honiara, Solomon Islands and is located west of the main center on the Tandai Highway.[1] White River is in the Honiara City Council ward of Nggosi.[2] A water spring supplies water to the community.[3]

White River is East of Kakabona and West of Tandai.

Tandai/Tadai Highway

In 1966, the main coastal road out of Honiara west of Rove Creek as far as Poha River was named Tadai which connected the Mendana Avenue through Honiara and after Mataniko River to Prince Philip Highway.[4]

Villages

Squatter settlements

According to a 2009 study 23% of the White River community are squatter settlements.[5] Tensions surrounding the squatters continue and in 2014 houses in the Independence Valley were burnt down.[6] [7]

Government approved areas were provided in White River where people were allowed to settle providing they had a licence and had to pay rent to the Lands Division usually for a 12-month period at $10.00 per household per year.[8]

Education

Churches

Culture

A dance program held in 1974 at White River recorded 20 dancers taking part in the mu'aabaka [10]

Law and Order

Before the 2006 riots 3,000 Malaitans, mainly youths and young men insulted by graffiti, went in pursuit of Rennell and Bellona settlers in White River. Shops were ransacked and people were injured and forty-five arrests were made, the national Government paid Malaita Province S$200,000 in compensation.[11]

2014 Floods

White River was severely affected as a result of the 2014 floods [12]

Commerce

There are several commercial areas in the area, near the Centre there are six or seven shops, and on the main road across from Karaina is one of the largest betel nut markets in Solomon Islands. There are several new Chinese shops near the O1 and O2 bus stops.

The White River market was established in 2001 by the Westside Women for Peace. Women from rural North West Guadalcanal, on the provincial side of White River, would bring fresh vegetables, root crops, fish, andraw meat such as wild pig. Women from Malaita, based in the capital Honiara, would bring non-perishable food items from the stores.[13] On October 11, 2005, notices were served and signed by the government official, instructing the Westside Women for Peace to remove all privately built stalls in the market within five days, to cease market activities on Sundays and to cooperate with government officials on any developments in the area.[13] The White River Markets still operate unlicensed and informal, with marketers targeted by the Honiara City Council for operating without a license.[13]

Employment

A study reports that 67% of youths at White River state they receive no regular income sources.[15]

Tourism

Recording Studios

The song Bereft of a mother (composer Pu Timoio of Tavi lineage of Kafika) was recorded in 1928 and in 1973 at White River. The composer mourns the death of his mother in a moving reference to the care she took.[18]

Sport

Health

Power Station

Land has been acquired for the construction of a 33kV White River Substation.[25]

Languages

Notable people

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Geographic Information Unit. HONIARA LOCATION GUIDE. June 2004. Department of Lands and Survey. 205.
  2. Web site: Honiara City Council. Ward Map. 19 April 2015.
  3. Web site: SOLOMON ISLANDS TECHNICAL MISSION REPORT WATER QUALITY MONITORING & WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT, HONIARA. EU-SOPAC. 21 April 2015.
  4. Web site: Tadai Highway. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20141030030300/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/148989/20141030-1403/www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000305b.htm. dead. 30 October 2014. Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893-1978. 21 April 2015.
  5. Book: Jack Maebuta. Household livelihoods in Solomon Islands squatter settlements and its implications for education and development in post-conflict context. 29 November 2009. Australian Association for Research in Education International Education Research Conference.
  6. News: Squatter Burning Raises Concerns. 22 April 2015. Solomon Times Online. 1 August 2014.
  7. News: Squatter camp burning raises Solomons tensions. 22 April 2015. 1 Aug 2014.
  8. Book: Leonard Mason,Pat Hereniko,Andrew Ala. In search of a home. 1987. Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of the South Pacific. [Suva, Fiji]. 978-982-01-0016-9.
  9. Web site: RODOLFO MAGGIO. Pentecostal Churches in Honiara. 26 April 2015.
  10. Book: Rossen. Jane Mink. Songs of Bellona Island = Na taungua o Mungiki. 1987. Forlaget Kragen. Copenhagen. 978-87-980636-8-1. 22 April 2015.
  11. Web site: Clive Moore. Helpem Fren: The Solomon Islands and RAMSI, 2003-2006. The University of Queensland. 22 April 2015.
  12. News: Floods hit Honiara, communities prepare for cyclone. 21 April 2015. ReliefWeb. 4 Apr 2014.
  13. Web site: Economic Opportunities for Women in the Pacific. World Bank. 22 April 2015.
  14. Web site: B2 Seaweed Traders. 22 April 2015.
  15. Book: World Bank. East Asia Pacific at Work: Employment, Enterprise, and Well-being. 7 May 2014. 978-1-4648-0005-4. 22 April 2015.
  16. Web site: Lonely Planet. THE BEST Honiara Accommodation of 2022 (Prices from AU$103) - Hotels in Honiara - Tripadvisor . 21 April 2015.
  17. Web site: The Ofis Facebook Page. . 21 April 2015.
  18. Book: McLean. Raymond Firth with Mervyn. Tikopia songs : poetic and musical art of a Polynesian people of the Solomon Islands. 2006. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 978-0-521-03205-6. 1st pbk. 26 April 2015.
  19. Web site: Meet Daudaulinga Mafrosi String Band. 22 April 2015.
  20. News: Australian AFL football team cleans up hospital in flood-hit Solomon Islands. 21 April 2015. 17 April 2014. Radio Australia.
  21. News: White River triumph in Rugby. 21 April 2015. Island Sun. 11 September 2014.
  22. Web site: School visit earns All Whites top marks with locals. NZFootball.
  23. Web site: The White River Boxing Club - The Solomon Islands. Sport for Change. 21 April 2015.
  24. News: White River clinic to reopen soon. 21 April 2015. Solomon Star. 5 January 2015.
  25. Web site: Ernst & Young Sustainability Co., Ltd.. Ex-Post Evaluation of Japanese Grant Aid Project The Project for Improvement of Honiara Power Supply in Solomon Islands. 22 April 2015.

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