Solomon Islands residents live in fear of WWII bomb explosions

Billy, a resident of the village of Yandina in Russell Islands, Solomon Islands, sits next to unexploded munitions near his home.

Photo: UNDP Pacific Office/Christopher Teasdale After playing in a forested area in the Solomon Islands, Billy’s children often break out in rashes or itchy boils at home.

A few years ago, the family became dizzy, suffered headaches and vomited – they believed it was due to the clams from nearby mangrove beds that they had eaten. “It was lucky that we stopped the children from eating them,” said Billy, whose family lives a hand-to-mouth existence in the village of Yandina in the Russell Islands.

The 50-year-old farmer suspected that contaminants had found their way into the food chain through an unlikely source: unexploded ordnance left over from World War II.

But it could have been much worse.

Three of his friends were killed in an explosion as they tried to get explosives out of a bomb to go blast fishing. “Of course, we’re worried about the bombs, especially with the children,” said Billy. “When we find them, we tell our neighbours and the police.

We warn the children and make sure nobody builds a fire there.

We don’t know if there is a link between the bombs and the sicknesses, but it makes a lot of sense if there is.” A woman stands next to a poster warning residents to be careful of unexploded munitions in the Solomon Islands.

Photo: UNDP Pacific Office/Christopher Teasdale More than 80 years after Japan and the US stopped fighting on the Solomon Islands, aerial bombs and landmines, artillery rounds and mortar shells, phosphorus grenades and individual bullets still litter much of the archipelagic country.

And they are becoming less stable and harder to locate. “The bombs are everywhere.

They are all over the land, by the sea and in the water.

They are covered with soil now, becoming part of the island, part of the reefs,” Billy said.

Saturday marks International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, with a team from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) visiting Billy’s community as part of a Japanese-funded project to help residents on the islands remove the lethal weapons. “Unexploded ordnance continues to pose a long-term risk in the Solomon Islands, particularly in fishing grounds, farming areas and reefs,” said Munkhtuya Altangerel, resident representative of the UNDP’s Pacific Office. “Ongoing clearance in high‑risk areas, sustained monitoring of water and food, and consistent i

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