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South Pacific island nations have armies of unemployed and underemployed people who will turn to violence if its economic, social and political problems are not dealt with, a report by a Sydney-based think-tank said.

“It is only a matter of time before the growing army of unemployed and underemployed turns from restless to violent,” said a new report on the South Pacific released on Thursday, adding that the region’s poor economic development lags similar island nations like those in the Caribbean.

The report by the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney said two million Pacific island men, or four out of five, were unemployed in towns or villages.

“These islanders are bored and frustrated. Unemployment and underemployment are at the core of the Pacific’s ‘arc of instability,’ ” it said.

The South Pacific has some of the world’s smallest and poorest countries, with economies reliant upon tourism, logging, royalties from fishing and foreign aid. The island nations of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji have all suffered coups, military rebellions and civil unrest, and have been labelled an “arc of instability” by Pacific analysts.

The report titled The Bipolar Pacific”said the South Pacific was divided into nations which are developing and those failing to even supply running water and electricity in homes. Those floundering islands included Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, while those developing were the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Samoa and Tonga.

“Without employment-led growth, crime and corruption will worsen. Port Moresby (the capital of Papua New Guinea) has become one of the most violent cities in the world,” it said.

“With major criminal interests now operating in the region, the Pacific is developing its comparative advantage as a location for international criminal activities such as people-smuggling, drug production, and arms trafficking,” the report noted.

The danger was that about 80 per cent of the South Pacific’s population was found in the failing group of islands, where employment was rare and living standards were not rising, it said.

More than fifty years after World War II, the Solomon Islands Police Bomb Disposal Unit are still destroying live bombs.

Senior Sergeant Emmanuel Maepurina of the OIC Bomb Disposal Unit stated that since January, 732 live bombs were disposed at the Tenaru area where some of the bombs were also collected. It is estimated that thousands more are around, posing danger to unsuspecting citizens.

According to Mr. Maepurina, all Provinces except Makira Province, Temotu Province and Rennell and Bellona were visited to confiscate bombs. Makira, Temotu and Rennell and Bellona were believed to have never been visited during the war.

Three tours have been conducted to the Weather Coast in Guadalcanal, Central Province and the Western Province. Guadalcanal and Western Provinces were the main Provinces where both American and the Japanese had fought in. This is quite evident from the ship wrecks, plane wrecks, water tanks and the air fields built during World War II.

Senior Sergeant Emmanuel Maepurina advised the public to alert the police whenever a bomb is sighted. Either alive or dead, Mr. Maepurina advised that bombs are not to be touched or moved, as from experience, Solomon Islanders tend to move the objects not realizing it could be dangerous.

Mr Maepurina also stated that home made bombs are illegal, therefore anyone caught doing so will be dealt with accordingly.

“For example, early this year, a person from the Kakabona area was using a home made grenade made from World War II relics to catch fish, exploded before he could use it and was rushed to the hospital where he died the next day.” Says Mr. Maepurina.

He also confirmed that home made bomb victims are high.