By OFANI EREMAE


STUDENTS of St Joseph's Tenaru were evacuated last Friday by police and Red Cross as a precautionary measure in light of the high tensions experienced on the Guadalcanal plains, east of Honiara, last week.
  The evacuation also meant the early closure of the school for its mid-year holiday break.
  According to one school teacher spoken to, the decision was taken due to the movement and presence of both militant groups, the IFM and Malaita Eagle Force, within and around the school's vicinity.
  "Really, we are not chased out by the militants.  The decision to evacuate the students and close the school earlier for its mid-year break was due mainly to the high tensions in the area brought about by the presence of the militants.
  "Their presence around the school poses a great risk for the staff and students.
  "Should a shoot-out take place between the two groups, there is a high possibility that we may get caught in the cross-fire," the teacher explained.
  Since the eruption of the ethnic unrest in late 1998, St Joseph's, a Catholic-run institution, has remained virtually undisturbed by the tension.
  Last Friday's evacuation of the more than 200 students was the first, and a sign that the two militant groups are not laying down their arms.
   One student told the Solomon Star that after a shoot-out between the two groups in the Foxwood area last Wednesday, members of the IFM moved in and set up a road block on the main road just before the entry road to the school.

Some of the St Joseph's students at the Holy Cross hall where they are staying after their evacuation from the school campus last Friday.  Some of the evacuated teachers are also staying there.

"They used the area as a base, while at the same time moving in and out of the school compound with guns.
  "Although they don't chase us out, both students and staff saw the presence of the militants around our school as a great risk.
  "We knew that at anytime, as soon as the members of the Malaita Eagle Force arrived in the area, there is going to be a shoot-out," the student said.
  He said the students were relieved when school authorities announced the evacuation exercise last Friday morning.

"The presence of the militants alone within the school compound has scared us to the neck.
  "It was a great relief that we were now out of the school area," the student said.
  A school teacher said the reopening of the school now depends on the situation on Guadalcanal.
  "If the situation improves, it is likely that we will resume classes while other secondary schools are having their mid-year break.
  "But if the current situ-
ation remains as it is now, then the school will remain

closed," he said.
  Meanwhile, there were reports of shootings between the two militant groups in the Tenaru area over the weekend, but the Solomon Star was unable to verify this from police authorities.