Police patrol Honiara streets

Police in Solomon Islands say they are maintaining a visible presence in the capital, Honiara, following a weekend of riots which saw business close their doors on Monday.

Twenty-one men have been arrested in relation to rioting.

They face charges of arson, unlawful assembly and alcohol-related offences.

Rioting and looting occurred on both Friday and Saturday nights and police used tear gas to subdue the offenders.

Several businesses, mostly owned by Chinese, were wrecked.

The police say they have met the Chinese Association and assured it the situation is now under police control.

Earlier reports said at least four buildings were looted and torched during Friday’s unrest.

But Acting Police Commissioner Juanita Matanga says only one building was damaged after being set on fire and there were further disturbances again on Saturday.

She said the streets of Honiara are now quiet, despite yesterday’s fears that more riots were being planned.

“We have deployed more than 200 police officers on the ground,” Matanga said.

“In terms of the whole assessment and response, we have contained the situation.

“We will continue to do our operation, depending on how our situation arises, but yes our operation is still on.

“We won’t take the incident that happened on Friday lightly, and we will continue to make sure that our officers are on the ground to curb any problem that may arise.”

According to reports, the unrest was sparked by dissatisfaction over aid distribution following floods last month that killed 23 people and left thousands homeless.

Matanga says criminal opportunists were to blame for the rioting on the weekend.

“Some people are opportunistic,” she said. “They took advantage of the situation that came out during early evening when there were some arguments between the students of the Solomon Island National University, and some people who say that they are flood victims.

“And as a result of that, some people who see the opportunity they took advantage of it, they went out to try and do certain things that they had been intending to do for some time.”

Rumours of possible further rioting prompted most businesses in Honiara to close their doors on Monday.