Honiara tablets inside the monument compound. The Solomons Peace Memorial Park, built by the Japanese war veterans in memory of all those who were killed in World War II, is about down the coastal road. There are numerous other relics from World War II in and around Honiara, described by "Lonely Planet" as "spooky". Also seen is the memorial erected in honour of Sergeant Major Jacob Vouza, a highly decorated war hero who escaped after the Japanese tortured him and lived to tell his story. The National Parliament house, located on the hill above Hibiscus Avenue, built with American aid, is
Honiara with the addition of many administrative buildings, the town began to develop and grow in population. Since the late 1990s, Honiara has suffered a turbulent history of ethnic violence and political unrest and is scarred by rioting. A coup attempt in June 2000 resulted in violent rebellions and fighting between the ethnic Malaitans of the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) and the Guadalcanal natives of the Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM). Although a peace agreement was made in October 2000, violence ensued in the city streets in March 2002 when two diplomats from New Zealand and numerous others were murdered. In July