DANIEL FLITTON | The Age (Melbourne)

FOR most of the last 40 years, Sean Dorney has been the voice of Australia on radio and television. But his gentle cadence, "bruised by a north Queensland accent," he jokes, isn't a voice that many Australians would immediately recognise.

Dorney has reported on the South Pacific for the ABC since 1974, starting in Papua New Guinea. In the decades since he has traipsed back and forth across each of the tiny independent nations in the neighbourhood. He's covered coups, corruption and natural eruptions - a warlord once put a price on his head and he's twice been deported.

But much of Dorney's reporting about the Pacific has been aimed at an audience in the Pacific, a service Australia provided to foster good will in the region and a sense of community.

Now that voice is lost to the airways. Dorney's job is one of dozens axed from the ABC in the wake of the Abbott government's decision to squeeze the broadcaster's budget and cancel the $223 million contract for the overseas television service, Australia Network.

The cuts have also cost Radio Australia after ABC management combined the once separate radio and television newsrooms in 2012.

ABC chief Mark Scott last week lamented that more than 1000 years of combined professional experience was disappearing in 70 redundancies. Yet the cost may be far greater than just the journalists' jobs. While a much diminished service to the Pacific will continue to be aired, the price of the cutbacks could be Australia's influence and understanding of the region.

"Sean is the grandfather of Pacific politics," says Titi Gabi, a reporter and managing director of PNG Loop, a news website with a growing profile in Australia's closest neighbour. "He knows PNG politics like the back of his hand … we learned about ourselves from Sean."

Dorney certainly has some impressive and unique achievements in what colleagues universally applaud as a distinguished career in the Pacific. He arrived in PNG in the year before the country's independence, just 23 years of age, seconded from the ABC in Townsville to the local National Broadcasting Commission. He delivered regular radio updates about the fledgling nation's constitutional debates.

But his journalism was only part of the story. Dorney went on in 1975 to represent PNG in its national rugby team, the Kumuls, becoming captain in his last game in 1976 - a "huge honour", he tells The Age.

Around the same time, Dorney married Pauline Nare, the first female broadcaster from Manus Island. They had two children and in 1979, Dorney took the job as ABC correspondent in Port Moresby. He immersed himself in the local political scene, getting to know many of the key players who would shape the country's future for years to come.

But he upset those in power, too. In 1984, Dorney was on the receiving end of a deportation notice for having helped television program Four Corners put to air an interview with James Nyaro, a bush commander with the West Papuan rebels fighting for independence in the neighbouring Indonesian province.

"It was particularly tough on Pauline, because to keep her own family together she had to accept being deported from her own country," Dorney says.

Barred from PNG, Dorney gazed out to the rest of the Pacific. He cobbled together enough internal support within the ABC to establish the role of Pacific correspondent, based out of Brisbane. Plenty of stories needed to be told. He covered the conflict in the French colony New Caledonia, only 1200 kilometres off the Australian coast, and the myriad challenges besetting the 14 independent nations of the region.

But the job wasn't easy. In a sign of the precarious place the Pacific has ever held in the priorities of Australian newsrooms, his position was financed by three separate departments within the broadcaster. Getting approval to travel was extraordinarily complicated. Frustrated, Dorney quit the ABC in 1985 and went to Darwin, working for about 18 months as a press secretary in the Northern Territory.

But Pacific politics gets under your skin and having been forgiven by authorities in Port Moresby, Dorney won back the PNG job with the ABC in late 1987. He stayed in the role more than a decade, an extraordinarily challenging time marked by a vicious separatist war in Bougainville. The rebel leader, Francis Ona, offered a bounty for Dorney's capture, accusing him of bias towards the government in Port Moresby.

But colleagues - and rivals - only ever saw Dorney as scrupulously fair.

"His journalism is from a different era in many ways," says Mary-Louise O'Callaghan, who for many years served as the Fairfax correspondent in the South Pacific, and later with News Limited.

The pair were often the only ones reporting the region and O'Callaghan says Dorney was the kind of reporter who always understood that once a story is broadcast, there was no taking it back. Facts needed to be carefully checked, especially in the Pacific, where rumours are rife.

And while the two competed for stories, they shared frustration at the way the region could be ignored in Australia.

"He always had the attitude the more the merrier because his concern was not enough people were covering the Pacific," O'Callaghan says.

Now there are even fewer. Ironically, these latest cuts come at a time when the Pacific island nations loom large in Australia's hard line approach to deterring asylum seeker arrivals and are under stress from global warming.

The newswire service Australian Associated Press last year closed its Port Moresby bureau, and with revenues in decline, Fairfax and News Corporation have long abandoned the idea of posting a correspondent in the region.

Among Australian media organisations, only the ABC has journalists dedicated to the Pacific. But that has now been reduced to a PNG correspondent and a handful working the phones out of Melbourne. The ABC, obliged under its charter to have an international broadcasting service, told The Age it now has just 60% of its previous budget for that service.

"The reduction in funds means a reduction in services, but the ABC is working very hard to ensure the impact on our audiences, partnerships and syndication – including in the Pacific region - is minimised as much as possible," a spokesman said in a statement.

The cuts mean Radio Australia will broadcast more domestic content, from News Radio, Radio National, Triple J and SBS. Australia Network will cease in September, with a new television schedule to be revealed then. A six-hour daily service has been mooted.

But a number of staff are dismayed that the dumping of Australia Network - what was a fee-for-service contract run for the Foreign Affairs department and subject of a rancorous 2011 tender - has also cruelled Radio Australia, which had long stood alone.

Most regretted are the cuts to Radio Australia's Tok Pisin service, a language widespread in PNG and Solomon Islands. The Tok Pisin service has gone from five full-time and two casual staff, to just two.

What used to be two hours of local stories in the local language, broadcast live each weekday, plus another hour each day on the weekend, has now been reduced to just 30 minutes of pre-recorded news Monday to Friday.

"For many rural kids like myself, Radio Australia was a link to a wide world beyond the tree lines," PNG blogger Martyn Namorong wrote last week in regret about the cutbacks. He grew up in a remote logging village in PNG's western province, and said even in an era of mobile phones, radio "broadcasting the Waltzing Matilda radio sign" still offered better coverage.

"Some of the voices I grew up listening to will no longer be on the airwaves. I had the good fortune of meeting Sean Dorney, Jemima Gareth, Kenya Kala, and various other broadcasters in recent years."

"I will forever be grateful to these broadcasters for contributing enormously towards my understanding of the world I live in."

The hope of fostering precisely this kind of goodwill motivated Australia's policy makers in years gone by to encourage the ABC to reach out to the region. But the chance that other countries will attempt to fill the void leads some to believe that Australia will be eventually forced back to broadcasting in the neighbourhood.

China's official news agency, Xinhua, set up a bureau in Fiji in 2011. In June this year, Xinhua signed a deal with Vanuatu to supply news in English, French and Chinese. Xinhua gives China massive clout. Cai Mingzhao, China's minister for the State Council Information Office, told a forum in Sydney on Monday that Xinhua's worldwide average daily coverage from 171 foreign bureaus amounts to 1400 stories, 2500 photographs and some 600 audio items.

With that massive platform Beijing's influence has been steadily growing across the Pacific. It's not only in the media, but with officials regularly at leaders' meetings where Australia and New Zealand had previously held sway. Dorney has also observed the trend.

"The Chinese have really upped their interest in the region," he says. "You just need to go to these countries to see what the Chinese are building" - often prestige buildings or other infrastructure on soft loans that local politicians want.

"I don't think in Australia we realise just how much of this area, where we once had a huge amount of influence in, that we just don't have that much anymore."

Dorney revelled in telling stories about the Pacific for the Pacific because he could assume a measure of local knowledge - not have to "dumb it down" for an Australian audience that knows so little about the region. He could appear grumpy at times, especially with the fly-in, fly-out habits of Australian media who might turn up at the annual Pacific Island's Forum trailing the prime minister, but did not understand the local issues.

Indeed, as Dorney's former ABC colleague Graeme Dobell puts it: "His journalism can count as one contribution to the understanding PNG developed of it itself as a country. He did the same duty for South Pacific regionalism, the idea that these newly independent island states could also have a collective South Pacific identity. That's quite an achievement for one man with a microphone."

Looking back, Dorney remembers the 1994 volcanic eruptions on Rabaul as the most visually spectacular story of his career, the ash spewing thousands of metres into the air from two vents either side of the harbour. A good evacuation plan meant only a few people perished.

This was a sharp contrast with the hardest story he covered, a 1998 tsunami on the northern PNG coast near Aitape that killed more than 2000 people - including perhaps as many as 150 children at a single school.

Dorney finished his PNG posting soon after and returned to the role as Pacific correspondent out of Brisbane, this time with more success. He spent a lot of time training and mentoring Pacific journalists and worked primarily for Radio Australia.

In 2006, Dorney joined Australia Network and three years later ran afoul of Fiji's coup leader and strongman, Frank Bainimarama. Dorney was deported from Fiji for reporting Bainimarama's abrogation of the country's constitution.

Never one to skirt a good story, Dorney later bailed up a PNG foreign minister at a dinner event. He complained the customs arrival form when flying in to Port Moresby asked: Have you ever been deported from PNG or another country?

"It's not that I objected to the question," Dorney says. "It's just they didn't give me enough space to fill it out."

MATHIAS KIN

I grew up listening to stories of an Australian Administration patrol that killed my people at Warasua in south Simbu in 1947 (1).

After university, and seeing these killings against the perspective of today’s morals and principles, I became angry that modern day humans of Anglo-Celtic descent could be so barbaric.

This story is included in a history of Simbu I am working on, which I hope will come out by the end of 2014.

In Simbu, there are many stories of the killings of highlanders by the early kiaps and their policemen. Prospectors also killed many highlanders, although these encounters are usually not documented. And, in the Chimbu Valley, Catholic missionaries killed some tribesmen in self-defence.

Surprisingly, these killings did not seem to trouble the cultured white men back then as they might today. These Australians seem did not hold indigenous people’s lives to be of great value.

They presumably claimed racial superiority and were here to teach primitive highlanders better ways. A few dead natives were OK. They even killed for the stealing of a cheap knife.

In many situations, outnumbered by many thousand natives and on foreign soil thousands of kilometers from authority and support, these Australians may have been left with few choices. They had to demonstrate their authority and the power of their weapons.

To medieval highlanders, killing and being killed had been a way of life for centuries. Seeing a few tribesmen go down was nothing new.

But these Australians, by the essence of their premeditated acts, were murderers, and worse than the tribesmen they were killing.

Michael Leahy’s magnificent collection of photographs never showed images of the natives he killed. These white people were the only ones who could record the events they were responsible for and many were never reported to authorities. Or, if they were, they were understated and hid the truth. These Australians got away without being punished.

On the first Taylor-Leahy patrol through the Wahgi area in April 1933, in one incident three men were shot dead. Taylor himself reported that he shot over their heads and the natives ran away. Leahy did not mention the incident at all.

In their book First Contact, Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson quote surviving people of that area as confirming that the three people died. Taylor later conceded he did not usually report shootings. He believed the killings were unavoidable and the outside world would find it difficult to understand. He thought it best not to mention them.

Taylor impressed this on his subordinates and many killings in Simbu were never reported. My interviews of the tribesmen from the area uncovered many killings as a result of encounters with kiap patrols. We modern Simbus never knew these had occurred.

Just last month when I interviewed them, the people of Kimba clan were still grieving over the shooting of Ate Nolkal 80 years ago.

The killings at Kumul by Assistant District Officer Kyle and his policemen were understated. The Chimbu valley punitive expeditions by Taylor, J Black, Danny Leahy, Allan Roberts and others after the killing of the two Catholic Divine Word missionaries were not fully investigated at the time.

The unprovoked massacre at Dirima was fully (and privately) researched and captured in the book.

Here I tell of the massacre at Warasua.

And I write of all of these killing in the history I am working on.

In 1933 the proud Simbu tribes would never allow other aggressive people through their territory unless they were invited.

The European patrols were large parties of usually more than 50 people. The Taylor-Leahy patrol had more than 100 and other attendant tribesmen could inflated the number to well over 200.

Attacks on these interlopers were within the rules. Warfare had been part of our culture for centuries. The lure of white men’s cargo was an incentive but not the only reason.

The Simbus never stood a chance against the superior weapons of these invaders. Hundreds of tribesmen, including women and children, were killed before they understood the power of the shiny and deadly sticks.

I reproduce here the story of the killing of my people by Assistant District Officer Jack Costello and his policemen at Suanule (Sua Creek).

My fathers (2) confirmed it was Holtoru and not Jim Taylor or another person. When I mentioned the name Costello, they agreed; “owoo Holtoru!” (yes, Costello!).

My father, Raphael Kin Hobel, was a hausboi for some months for these people and knew the character Costello well. Costello sometimes sent my father to bring his cousin sister Mege to sleep with him.

I know the story well but for good measure I confirmed all the information with my fathers Raphael Kin Hobel, Mikal Nime Nul and Bane Bayal, all of the Keri tribe. From the Golen tribe I also interviewed old Sime Kora of the Egeku clan and Nehamakumel of the Mlaku clan.

This is the account told to me by my father, Mikal Nime Nul:

“……Our Golen Keri people were still fighting. Holtoru and his policemen came from the direction of Gunange across the Pleme (Wahgi) and to Sua. They came and lined up in the middle there [pointing], some looked towards the Golen and some looked towards us. At that time we did not know the power of the white men gun yet.

“They pointed their sticks and suddenly, bang, bang, bang, everywhere! Golen and Keri men were falling everywhere, plenty, plenty, not a little! Some were even shot in the protection of their shields. Your grandfather (who was the lead warrior and chief of our tribe) fell into a ditch up there [pointing] with his shield attempting to run.

“I was a little over there. Luckily he stayed down with his shield on top. I thought he had been shot so I ran down into Suanule below (gully). I had told our family who had run away into the gully also of the killing of Nul Haralsunga [his father] and others. However later we were surprised he was still alive. Two women were also killed. It was a big thing. Some people we did not locate their bodies until many days later.”

Mikal Nime Nul continued:

“….Then they went up to Mul and Bokil and shot some people there. In our tribal fights there are not so many deaths. Sometimes we do not kill leaders or family friends or in-laws. This killing of the red men completely wiped out my people. We should have taken them to court at the time but we were still bush kanakas so we did nothing. Now it is too late.”

Far from the fighting site at Sua, the policemen chased the people in the valley for kilometers in both directions to kill them. Raphael Kin Hobel and Mikal Nime Nul gave the names of the tribesmen shot. Altogether 23 able fighting men of their tribe, two women and a child were shot.

On the same fateful day, 10 able fighting men, one women and a child from the Golen tribe were also killed.

Old Sime Kora provided this account and the names of those who died:

“Holtoru and his policemen shot all our people. They were shot everywhere here. Some we did not see their body until two or three days later. The people from my Egeku clan were here. Kora Kummel was shot there near that rock. He was holding his four year old son in his arms when he was shot.

“After Kora fell, his child who had fallen with his father was crying so wildly the policemen picked up him up and swung him against a big boulder smashing his head killing him instantly. Bomai Ninkama, Bill Ninkama’s (3) grandfather, was shot up there. When Bomai fell, Ginbol Ninkama, his son rushed in with his shield to save his father, but he was also shot. His whole arm was blown off. He lived for four days and also died. Teman was also shot near here.

“The Melaku clansmen shot were Sulkumel, Bogi and one other women. From the Neraku clan Kumai and Guimelenonga were shot. From the Kunareku clan, Molikumel and Maimakumel were shot. They the men were really pained inside that our men were shot dead finish by the Semelnen (policemen).

“But we did not believe white men could shoot women and break a child’s head on rocks. In our fights children and women we do not harm. Also in our fights we sometimes do not kill some people. This kiap and policemen killed anyone and everyone. Today we know the white are not bad but that man Holtoru was the devil.”

After this shooting the policemen stayed in my village in Deri for many months to ensure peace and control was established after such horrifying acts. Hausboi Raphael Kin Hobel was used to collect water and firewood for Costello and his men. He remembers the names of all these policemen and where they came from:

In this incident, 34 able tribesmen, two women and two children of the Keri and Golen tribes were massacred. This Australian, Costello, did not report the shootings. There was nobody else at the time who could have written of this terrible incident.

But my fathers remember this shooting very well. How would they ever forget such a calamitous event?

Today, as their son, I am writing so my children and other outsiders know of this terrible event.

____________

(1) Fr Alphonse Schaefer, the first missionary into the area, makes reference to this shooting in his book, The Cassowary on the Mountain. He visited the area in 1947 and heard of the shootings by a Mr Costello and his policemen. It is possible, however, that they occurred in 1946.

(2) In true Simbu culture, it is polite to take all uncles and kin as fathers. Bane Bayal died a very old man in 1998. Raphael Kin Hobel died at a very respectable age of more than 100 years in 2012. Nime Nul is blind and alive today in Sua. He is more than 100 years old. Nehamakumel of the Mlaku clan also died a very old man in 2009. Sime Kora still lives in Sua with his grandchildren. 

(3) Bill Ninkama was Gumine member of parliament for two terms between 1982 and 1992. Prior to that, his father, Ninkama Bomai, was also a two-term member for Gumine from 1972 to 1977. Bomai Ninkama was Ninkama Bomai’s father.

Photograph: Old people say this is the man Costello but I am not sure. They recognise the policemen. This picture was taken by the SDA Missionary Gilmore who was based at Boromil Gumine in the 1950s.

KEITH JACKSON

THE great motivating force behind the establishment of the Crocodile Prize lay in a recognition that the people of Papua New Guinea barely had a home-grown literature.

The response Phil Fitzpatrick and I developed in 2010 was simple in concept: to encourage Papua New Guinean writers to write; to publish the best of their work; and to distribute this writing in digital and book forms throughout PNG through the production of an annual Anthology.

Simple in concept; more difficult to implement.

As it turned out, the writing and publication were a lot easier to achieve than the distribution of hard copy books.

After struggling in the past to secure efficient distribution, this year we devised a simple scheme.

To recruit PNG Attitude readers in PNG to assist in the task.

And that is working. It is working very well.

But there’s something else (there’s always something else).

Not only are we getting more requests than we can meet, for reasons best known to itself - given there is no significant publishing industry in PNG, the O'Neill government levies punitive duties on the importation of books.

This is seriously eroding our limited funds and means we can’t get as many Anthologies distributed as we want.

So, for the first time this year, we’re asking readers to help with a funding project.

If you can afford a few dollars to assist get PNG writing to PNG readers, you can make a gift to the Crocodile Prize bank account here…

Bank:               NAB
Address:          105 Miller Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
BSB No:           082 401
Account No:     39 286 5774

I’m kick starting the process with a $200 donation. Many people in PNG will be grateful to you if you can provide whatever funds you’re able.

Thank you. And we’ll keep you informed of progress.

BERNARD SINGU YEGIORA

FACTORS like natural resources, location, size, topography, demography and climate have a huge impact on the international political behaviour states.

Such things cause countries to issue travel warnings, enforce sanctions, spy on each other, engage in various activities to safeguard their citizens and even go to war.

These factors also have an impact on international tourism. Some tourists are attracted to a particular place because of its topography, climate or location. They want to enjoy white sandy beaches and warm sunshine. Others seek exotic destinations.

At the moment few tourists will go to West Africa. Governments throughout the world have issued travel warnings and bans to avoid the possibility of a global ebola pandemic.

Tourists are also advised not to travel to countries like Iraq, Syria and Israel because of current conflicts.

This prompts one to question the implications of the so-called ‘PNG Solution’ on our tourism industry. The arrangement to send asylum seekers to Manus continues to attract a lot of international media coverage. This can play a major role in influencing potential tourists whether to come or to stay away.

If the coverage is positive, describing PNG’s keen interest in addressing the international issue and its suitability to house asylum seekers, it might help increase the flow of tourists.

If the coverage is negative, highlighting how manipulative Australia is and the inability of the PNG government to manage the wealth of the country, then it might deter potential tourists.

According to the PNG Vision 2050 strategic plan, the increase in the number of tourists will be an indicator that security agencies like the National Intelligence Organisation, Royal PNG Constabulary, Department of Defence and Customs have played their part in ensuring that PNG is a safe and peaceful society.

Tourists are classed into various categories based on their motive for travelling. Those who travel to PNG for topographic reasons (mountaineering, trekking, scuba diving) are important to the economy.

Mountaineers will travel to PNG to climb its mountains if the tourist products are attractively packaged. The same can be said for fishing aficionados, our seas and the many rivers are well stocked.

High mountains and deep gorges mean fast flowing rapids suitable for kayakers. Surfers, cavers and bird watchers will travel to remote places to experience something new.

There is a need to register all terrestrial and marine resources as outlined in the strategic plan. Clans or individuals who own land with potential for tourism can register their groups and start marketing.

Our rugged terrain has made it difficult to build roads to connect population centres on the main island and the popularity of air transport is reflected in high fares. The national carrier, Air Niugini, has for years made much money for the government.

Tourists may be susceptible to acts of violence. They can become victims of petty crimes like pickpocketing and bag snatching. But the perpetrators, who are mostly unemployed youths, have adopted another tactic that is more dangerous.

They creep up behind an unsuspecting tourist and grab their belongings. If the tourists try to struggle they will be stabbed with a knife or sharpened screwdriver.

A tourist on a European cruise ship was the victim of such an attack a few months ago. He was taking pictures at the makeshift Madang market at Sir Donald Cleland Park when out of nowhere a youth who was high on drugs came from behind and grabbed his camera. In his attempt to pull back the camera the tourist got stabbed with a sharpened screwdriver.

The use of the PNG Solution as a deterrence strategy has worked well for Australia because of the decrease in the number of asylum seekers. But this picture is not good for tourism in PNG; it brings to mind a somewhat negative image of PNG.

This is echoed in Australian television advertisements about asylum seekers. The way it is communicated gives one the impression that PNG is a little hellhole in the Pacific that can easily be manipulated by a more powerful Australia.

The take home message that one gets is this: If you decide to come to Australia via the various people smuggling syndicates you will be shipped to this hellhole where life will be difficult and your dreams of living in Australia will fade as you find yourself stuck on a godforsaken island.

The Tourism Promotion Authority is spending a great deal of money marketing PNG as a very attractive destination but the PNG Solution is detrimental to their campaigns.

The brutal death of the late Reza Berati has had a negative impact on the perception of potential tourists. On the other hand, Australia has placed PNG on the world map with the wide dissemination of information about the PNG Solution.  The media coverage is giving this once unknown country global prominence.

PNG is seen as a vital partner who is willing and able to help address this global phenomenon.

Freedom of press means that the information shared with the international audience about the PNG Solution is both positive and negative. This will either entice or push away potential tourists.

At the moment the impact of the PNG Solution on the plans of potential tourists is unknown. 

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION PAPUA NEW GUINEA

NEW Australian-funded school facilities have been opened in the Okapa District of the Eastern Highlands, improving access to education for hundreds of boys and girls.

The facilities at Dr Alpers Memorial School include a fully furnished double classroom, office, teacher’s house, separate toilets for girls and boys and water tanks for improving water and sanitation.

“For a remote school, students and the community are very proud of the new facilities and we are taking ownership of them,” head teacher Oma Koka said.

“This is truly a blessing for students and the Ivingoi community with this gift from Australia.”

Dr Alpers Memorial School has about 430 enrolled students, of which 185 are girls.

Australia is helping to remove barriers to education access in PNG by building up to 1,100 classrooms, of which 90% will be in rural and remote areas.

Many have facilities including toilet blocks, which provide appropriate sanitation to encourage girls to attend and stay at school, and ramps to improve access for disabled children.

Opening the facilities, Provincial Representative of the Australian High Commission, Freddy Hombuhanje said all children, particularly girls and those with disability should have the right to an education.

“That is why Australia is supporting new school facilities such as these at Dr Alpers Memorial School. We want to help Papua New Guinea in its efforts to provide all children with access to quality education,” Mr Hombuhanje said.

Mr Hombuhanje commended the spirit of cooperation within the community which resulted in the new facilities.

“None of this would be possible without the support and the hard work of the community, the teachers and staff, the parents, the students and the School Board of Management.

ARCHBISHOP STEVE REICHERT

DURING the past year I’ve travelled by plane from Madang to Wewak and back many times.  It is an enjoyable trip.  What a beautiful country we live in.

Following the coastline one sees the high mountains inland, the vast forests, the rivers and the small villages here and there in the bush.

Then suddenly the mighty Sepik River appears, confidently strolling out of the hills onto the plain, meandering toward the sea. 

But just before it accomplishes its mission of depositing its contents into the ocean, it turns back on itself, as if it has lost courage at the last minute.

It twists and turns in indecision before finally making its way through the sandy beach to the sea.  And I said to myself, I’m like that sometimes.  Many of us are like that sometimes and often our fear and indecision is a cause for doing wrong and hurting others.

Ramu River – It is bold, dirty and undisciplined.  It is selfish and greedy. It eats away at the banks and the foundations of the village houses.  It builds up sand and silt like so many excuses until its only escape is to slink off in another unplanned direction.

We all know people like that.  But sometimes we also see him or her when we look in the mirror. How many of us fail to meet the challenges of life with honesty?  It’s easier to run away from responsibility and accountability.  We need wisdom and strength.

Manam Volcano – white smoke and black smoke – arrogant, moody, sometimes angry and dangerous.  It is not reliable.

Karkar Island – Elderly, quiet, stable, settled and generous.  It’s like everyone’s grandmother. 

And then comes the broken coastline of Madang – the little islands and lagoons, the coral reefs – inviting, peaceful and compassionate.

We humans are created in the image and likeness of God, but sin makes us less beautiful than we are meant to be.  But there is hope for us.

Wisdom that comes from loving God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, will restore God beauty in us.  And loving our neighbour as ourselves no matter what, strengthens the gift of wisdom within us.

As you circle to land on the sea side of the airport you might catch a glimpse of Long Island in the distance to the Southeast – across an angry sea to this volcanic island which erupted 300 years ago and made its mark on the world, causing a time of darkness.

It is too far away to see it in detail.  But with the help of modern technology, Google Earth, one can see the great beauty of this volcanic island. 

Long Island features a beautiful blue lake in its spent crater - and as you scroll closer and closer to it, the name of the lake pops up on your computer - Lake Wisdom.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could drink the water of that lake and gain wisdom? 

WARDLEY BARRY

They shared dreams and purposed to last;
Yet their promises become memories of the past,

Like the breeze across the face,
That pleases merely on the surface.

Take a look deeper, beyond and yonder;
You'll see nothing save the two made asunder,

By the curse of dissatisfied eyes
And the sun's purposeful march across the skies.

Soon both are left with the common fear
Of being equal and (oddly enough) queer.

So one eloped east, the other wandered west,
Each taking scorns for the other - offering no rest.

JIMMY AWAGL

THE existing roads in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands region have collapsed and lost their form. Some are not even accessible by trucks.

The government funded the road to be at a peak state through development grants and loans from overseas. However, there are many deteriorating sections of road. The most vulnerable is the Okuk Highway.

Poor road conditions are due to a lack of reliable supervision, especially by the government engineers from the Works Department, to ensure the contractor is meeting requirements and expectations.

The construction companies lack skillful civil engineers, machine operators, foremen, and labourers to build a durable quality road. This may have been due to the LNG Project offering the best packages to attract the most qualified.

Additionally, most construction companies do not have permanent engineers but engage engineers and designers casually. The advice doesn’t seem so much to produce a quality road but to consume the money allocated to be spent on it.

The other issue is land compensation. The government spends millions of kina to pay compensation; money which doesn’t go to help improve the road.

Nature also plays a role. Topography and geographical features are a paramount concern since most civil engineers don’t seem to talk to geographers and surveyors before imparting their civil engineering concepts. Vegetation and weather cause the quality of the road to vanish in a short time span.

The Okuk Highway is a trunk road that benefits the bulk of the population including the mining and gas companies that generate billions of kina for the country.

But road users struggle to get to their destinations. They are directly affected since they depend on the road.

The worst part of the Okuk Highway is in Simbu Province particularly the Gera and Mindima section of the Highway.

Most people living along the Okuk Highway and the feeder roads use the bad road condition to abuse trucks and commuters. Day and night they claim portions of the road as their garden or ATM to draw hard cash from commuters and trucks.

They claim compensation, demand for money to patch the potholes and put their hands out to push and pull cars and trucks through mud and clay.

Despite this, the road network is paramount infrastructure that cannot be denied.

It is needed to sustain the daily livelihood of the people and to provide for their development.

Lets's get those Crocodile Prize Anthologies to Papua New Guinean readers
The stories have been written. The best have been chosen. And the Anthology has been published (all 500 pages). Now we need to get  those books to as many readers in PNG as we can. Click  here to find out how you can help
SO FAR OUR READERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED $450 - THAT'S  45 BOOKS

KEITH JACKSON

AUSTRALIA has decided not to send any more asylum seekers to Manus Island in what appears to be a response to the Papua New Guinea government’s reluctance to resettle refugees on its soil.

Three months ago Australian prime minister Tony Abbott announced that asylum seekers would be resettled in PNG, but - showing characteristic 'drift' - the O'Neill government never responded to the decision.

Of the asylum seekers on Manus whose claims have been processed, more than half have been assessed as genuine refugees.

But the PNG government has remained mute on resettlement.

Now controversial Australian immigration minister Scott Morrison (pictured) has ordered that asylum seekers be sent to Nauru.

The ‘PNG Solution’ has turned out to be a particularly nasty piece of Australian policy and a source of great shame for many Australians.

Originally nutted out between Kevin Rudd and Peter O’Neill, it resulted in the death of an asylum seeker, the injuring of scores and psychological and physical damage to many more.

Despite this lamentable track record, Mr Morrison claims success for his policies.

There are presently 1,084 asylum seekers on Manus.

DEBORAH STOKES

Remarks by Her Excellency Ms Deborah Stokes, Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, at the opening of the PNG - Australia Alumni Conference at the Gateway Hotel, Port Moresby, 29 August 2014

JUST the other week I was in Kokopo for meetings. On the weekend we took a banana boat to a little island called Pidgeon island for some snorkling.

Pidgeon island, no more than 100 metres across, was a classic Pacific island – white sandy beaches, coconut palms, azure blue waters, abundant fish and colourful coral reef – I thought, this is paradise.

Many people live in such beautiful places throughout PNG and while they are indeed fortunate they would be the first to tell you that their island homes need to be improved with, better medical facilities, better schools, electricity and reliable water to name a few.

I have heard it claimed that PNG and the Papua provinces of Indonesia share the largest island in the world, but then I think of Australia which some claim as a continent but could well be an island.

But the notion of island – also conjures up isolation. Perhaps the only true island is the planet earth orbiting the sun and in a vast universe.

No man is an island – no woman either – nor a child. Nor should anyone be. For we know that we not only need other humans but together we can achieve much more.

This applies to countries as well as individuals. 

That is especially the case in the 21^st Century.

As alumni, you represent a strong and growing group of Papua New Guineans from across the public service, private enterprise and civil society.

You have more in common than your study experience in Australia. 

You form a powerful network.

You are leaders in your field. You are passionate about PNG’s development. You have an important role in helping PNG to face challenges and to make the most of its huge potential.

I can’t think of a better group of people to be debating the tipping points for PNG.

Australia is committed to helping PNG to address many of the challenges you will talk about today.

We are PNG’s largest development partner. We are also a strong security and economic partner.

Education must be a priority for both of our countries.

It is essential for addressing critical issues, such as the need for health services to fight TB or to ensure women don’t die during childbirth.

Education is equally important if PNG is to maximize prosperity for all Papua New Guineans from mining and LNG.

PNG is benefitting from its natural resources but it will be its human resources that drive and shape those benefits – including how they are governed and who receives them. 

I firmly believe comprehensive and quality education is vital for PNG.  It provides people with foundational skills integral to driving development.

It is not enough for nations to just provide access to education, whether that be elementary, primary, secondary or tertiary levels. 

It is just as important to deliver a quality education, including better governance of institutions, better teaching and better learning – for girls as well as boys, women as well as men.

Education could and should be the tipping point in PNG – the one that multiplies development opportunities for everyone in the country.

Everyone in this room has benefited from tertiary study in Australia.

Higher education helps define societies, their values and fundamental principles.

Highly educated individuals are better able to influence and shape governance systems, accountability mechanisms, and civil society engagement. 

An educated population is central to a country’s competitiveness and its future.

I return to my theme that no man, woman or child is an island.

PNG’s future prospects are entwined with that of the global economy.  This brings huge opportunities such as that brought by the PNG LNG project. 

PNG’s economy is now closely linked with economies in North Asia in addition to its traditional links with the Pacific and South East Asia.

This brings disciplines and pressures.

It means for example that PNG now has a direct interest in the global energy market and LNG developments in places such as Qatar and the USA.

It means that PNG now has a direct interest in the security of sea lanes eg example in the South China Sea.

In a globalised world, no country is self-sufficient in goods, services, investment and technology. 

Australia is very reliant on foreign investment for its economy – at the same time Australian companies are big investors in other countries as diverse as the US, Malaysia and PNG.

In a global economy you are competing with other countries for investment and for markets – you simply can’t ignore this. 

Good leadership in the 21st century is about leading in a globalised world.  It’s about looking outwards.  That is the challenge you have as leaders in PNG.

Hosting APEC in 2018 is a tremendous opportunity for the whole country to look outwards.  It could be a tipping point.

I want to congratulate the PNG-Australia Alumni Association for organising today’s event.

The Australian Government is proud to continue our support to alumni. Your network is critical to PNG’s future and sustained economic growth.

We are very pleased to be supporting this event and to continue to provide Australia Award scholarships to Papua New Guinean men and women.

KEITH JACKSON

IN August we announced the seven Crocodile Prize winners for 2014 (the awards event will be held in Port Moresby in a fortnight’s time) and received a great deal of positive feedback from readers.

PNG Attitude and the Crocodile Prize are linked inexorably because it was the existence of the blog as an outlet for issue-oriented and creative writing that triggered the idea to establish a literary award.

Now in its fourth year, the Prize would not exist without its sponsors who both underwrite the cash awards given to winners and the production of the annual Anthology, which this year tops 500 pages and is a great credit to its editor, Phil Fitzpatrick.

At the time of going to press, the Crocodile Prize Organising Group, COG, had distributed nearly 800 anthologies throughout Papua New Guinea, and PNG Attitude had begun an appeal asking readers to support this project.

If you can spare a few dollars, you can help provide the people of PNG with access to their own literature. A noble cause. Check out how to do this here.

The story that most attracted readers’ attention in August was the death of much loved broadcaster Phil Charley at the age of 89. Phil’s decade in Papua New Guinea was marked by a number of significant achievements and the making of some great and enduring friendships.

That PNG and Australia enjoy a special relationship is due in large part, on the Australian side, to people like Phil Charley.

Phil was a very close mate of mine, and I miss him.

So, now to the writing that most galvanised readers during the course of the last month….

TOP 10 MOST COMMENTED UPON ARTICLES

23 comments - Phil Charley OAM, PNG commercial radio pioneer, dies at 89 (Keith Jackson). Phil's career in radio began during the last years of World War II, after he was boarded out of the Royal Australian Air Force with a medical condition. This life's work continued for 65 years. Phil and I worked together in PNG and throughout south-east Asia and the Pacific. We even wrote a book together. Of such relationships is a satisfactory life constructed.

18 comments - 21st century so very far away: PNG’s tragedy of remoteness (George Kuias). George related the harrowing first person story of how a young man died of asthma while being transported to hospital by canoe because a health centre had run out of oxygen, hydrocortisone and salbutamoland the foot pump for nebulising patients was malfunctioning. This is the real cost of corruption and inefficiency in PNG – the lives of its people.

16 comments - Iriani Wanma wins Buk bilong Pikinini Award for Children’s Writing (Keith Jackson). The first award for children’s writing in the Crocodile Prize was won by the daughter of parents from Kairuku in Central Province and West Papua. Iriana is a 25-year old graduate, currently job hunting and living in Brisbane with her family. Iriani described her tale, Oa Grasshopper and Kaipa Caterpillar, which she also illustrated, as “an educational story about friendship and transformation.”

16 comments - On the road: A Simbu man’s lone quest for the unknown crocodile (Jimmy Awagl). Jimmy penned a fascinating coming of age story with a mystical and enigmatic ending that had readers competing with each other for explanations. Jimmy wouldn’t shed any light on this, telling us to await the sequel.

15 comments - Ok Tedi Mining Book of the Year: Brokenville by Leonard Fong Roka (Keith Jackson). It might be said that a nation’s literature has matured when its authors are producing enough books to provide competition for a Book of the Year. Well, this was PNG’s first and the prolific 35-year old Bougainvillean writer took out the prize for his civil war memoir, Brokenville. “I salute Ok Tedi Mining and its endeavours in this politically sick PNG climate to aim high for the ordinary people since the greatest thing is for us all to serve humanity in our own ways,” the straight-talking man they call ‘Captain Bougainville’ told me.

14 comments - Crocodile Prize: Sil Bolkin wins Chamber of Mines Essay Award (Keith Jackson). Sil consistently produces the goods whenever he sits down to write.Taking his subject matter from everyday life, he offers keen insights into PNG society and always comes up with stories that are gutsy and newsworthy. Sil’s work has been published in all four annual Anthologies of the best PNG writing and, for the first time, this year he added the Crocodile Prize to his portfolio.

13 comments - Rude sisters of the delivery theatre – mothers must have dignity (Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin). Sil’s exposé of nurses who harass and bully women in labour was an eye-opener. Here in a society where half the women live with the omnipresent threat of domestic violence, they are also copping it from people who have a professional duty of care and who should know better.

13 comments - Cleland Family Award for Heritage Writing won by Arnold Mundua (Keith Jackson). Arnold is 50 and works in the Simbu capital, Kundiawa, not far from Gembogl where he was born, in the important role of provincial forest officer. He started writing in 1998, eventually having his novel, A Bride's Price, publishedin 2003. His article on Simbu birthing rituals, now receding into history, was a worthy winner of the heritage award and brings his writing to national prominence.

11 comments - Holmes & the incredible mystery of the dinosaur of Mt Wilhem (Peter Kranz). Peter is still disclosing hitherto untold tales of Sherlock Holmes’ and Dr Watson’s PNG exploits. This time the evil Moriarty’s dinosaurs had more than a passing resemblance to particularly venal politicians. Or was that all in the beholder’s eye?

10 comments - Why can’t we all live peacefully? (John Kaupa Kamasua). John’s father died after being violently attacked in August 2012. After the immediate grief passed, John had to wrestle with the desire for revenge and retribution against the men who were responsible for the atrocity. That John did not succumb to these urges took him on a personal journey after which hediscovered that his life had changed forever.

10 comments - Helping outside the spotlight: the AFP mission in PNG (David Connery). The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is increasingly commenting on PNG affairs, not always with a semblance of great authority. This article resulted in a spirited discussion about whether Australian Federal Police officers deployed to PNG late last year are doing any good.

TOP 10 MOST LIKED ARTICLES

50 likes - Phil Charley OAM, PNG commercial radio pioneer, dies at 89 (Keith Jackson)

47 likes - How Australia & the US gave away the people of West Papua (Gan Donker)

26 likes - Croc Prize winners’ profiles display the great diversity of PNG (Keith Jackson)

24 likes - Ok Tedi Mining Book of the Year: Brokenville by Leonard Fong Roka (Keith Jackson)

24 likes - Rude sisters of the delivery theatre – mothers must have dignity (Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin)

18 likes - Bougainville: a tragic adventure by an Australia seeking credibility (Kristian Lasslett)

16 likes - Why Bougainville landowners oppose Rio Tinto’s return (Kristian Lasslett)

14 likes - Leaders provide rationale behind Bougainville’s new mining laws (Keith Jackson)

14 likes - Media reporting that Rio is threatening to quit Bougainville (Barry Fitzgerald)

14 likes - Crocodile Prize founder says aim is to foster PNG’s creative talent (ABC Australia)

14 likes - Being gay in PNG – a photo-essay on the ‘gelegele’ lifestyle (Vlad Sokhin)

BAL KAMA | Dev Policy Blog

WITH a rapidly depleting Opposition, the National Capital District Governor, Powes Parkop, made a controversial remark at a public gathering in Port Moresby, that ‘PNG democracy can survive without the Opposition‘.

According to Governor Parkop, the members of the O’Neill-Dion government are capable of holding the Executive accountable and democracy can flourish under this condition.

The Registrar of Political Parties, Alphonse Gelu, is concerned that the mass exodus of members of the Opposition to the coalition government is ‘very dangerous’ for Papua New Guinea’s democracy.

But for Governor Parkop, it appears the Opposition is unnecessary. As evidenced by commentators on social media, the remark is controversial for three reasons.

First, it comes at a time when the Opposition is vocal and has been responsible for bringing to light the ‘Parakagate’ affair.

It was the Opposition Leader, Belden Namah, who raised the issue in Parliament and tabled the alleged evidence, including the purported letters implicating the prime minister.

Namah’s deputy, Sam Basil, continues to release media statements challenging the government, while Dr Allan Marat appeared to engineer awareness on many of the complex legal issues implicating the government.

Given the size of the Opposition (three out of 111 MPs), their achievements in keeping the government accountable in an era of unprecedented socio-economic development is commendable. Putting a stop to the Opposition is unimaginable.

Second, PNG’s political history has clearly indicated that the Executive should be held accountable to greater scrutiny.

While members of the government, including Governor Parkop, may try to make some noise against the Executive in an attempt to demonstrate accountability, one can hardly hear them raising the most critical issues.

The silence during Parakagate is an example, and Governor Parkop is an individual example of such silence. He initially threatened to challenge the Manus deal in the Supreme Court, but has remained quiet and the task now falls to the Opposition.

It is likely that the silence within government ranks on these critical issues was to maintain solidarity within the coalition government or, as the Opposition claims, it could be due to the apparent threat to withhold $4 million of District Support Improvement Project (DSIP) funds from the MPs – a charge dismissed by the government.

Whatever the reasons, the Supreme Court, in handing down its decision in the 2011-12 constitutional impasse, reinforced the need for scrutiny of the Executive.

In that case, the Court criticised an abusive Executive with a tendency to exploit ‘fundamental gaps’ in the PNG constitution for ‘political convenience rather than acting in the best interest of the country’.

The recent criticisms by members of the Executive against the decision of the Ombudsman Commission to recommend Prime Minister O’Neill to the Public Prosecutor for alleged misconduct in office further reinforce the need for scrutiny of the Executive. That cannot be achieved within the government ranks, as Governor Parkop seemed to suggest, but externally, and the Opposition is best placed to make sure it happens on the floor of Parliament.

Third, a comment coming from a learned parliamentarian raises some serious questions about the durability and relevance of the current Westminster system of government in PNG.

Finance Minister James Marape dismissed fears that ‘weak opposition is bad for our country’ as mere ‘western political idealism’ but he and Governor Parkop failed to prove that the alternative can work.

The constitutional drafters were very cautious in accepting the Westminster system and Sir Michael Somare recently admitted that he ‘rushed many things’ in claiming PNG’s independence. Could this be one of those ‘rushed things’?

Maybe it is time for PNG to reassess these systems as the country nears its 40th year of independence. Australia may also need to reassess its objectives in dealing with that system.

But for now, a vibrant Opposition is critical for Papua New Guinea and must be encouraged.

Bal Kama is a PhD candidate in the College of Law at the Australian National University.

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

THE recent call by the member for Lae Open, Loujaya Kouza, to rename the informal sector of the economy is not new.

For a number of years now, the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council (through its Informal Economy Sectoral Committee) has been calling for the renaming of the sector.

However, the reasons calling for the name change seem to differ in terms of their intent.

While Ms Kouza wants the name change to elevate the status of the informal economy into the small-medium enterprise sector, the Informal Economy Sectoral Committee recognises that the term “informal sector” does not do justice to its size in terms of the number of people employed and the output it produces.

Furthermore, the term itself has provoked negative views from both the public and the government and it has been one of the reasons why the informal sector has not been given due consideration by government.

Therefore, it is hoped that by changing the name to “informal economy” (instead of sector) it will change the government and public view from negative to positive.

While Ms Kouza is calling for the informal sector to be recognised as part of “SME cottage industry” and the Informal Economy Sectoral Committee wants a name change to “informal economy”, the end goal for both is to establish an economy that is led by Papua New Guineans.

However, Ms Kouza also needs to give ample recognition to the importance of the informal economy in laying the platform to stimulate cottage industries within the SME sector.

Logically, there cannot be an SME sector let alone a cottage industry if there is no informal economy.

The informal economy, being the base, provides the elementary skills and training to better equip entrepreneurs if they decide to take the next step to upscale their activities.

The majority of the population of PNG is located in the informal economy. A recent 2014 Asian Development Bank Report recognises this fact and has, called upon the government to protect informal sector workers.

This is supported by the National Informal Economy Policy which recognises that the informal sector makes up the larger part of the PNG’s socio-economic system.

The concerns of both parties seem to be similar in the sense that both call for the name change to remove the negative perception that is attached to “informal sector” in PNG. It is generally accepted that when one talks about informal sector, one thinks of betel nut and cigarette selling, which is totally misleading.

Informal economy businesses are quite different from SMEs. They need a completely different set of policy measures to prosper. They should not be treated as if they were just smaller versions (or a ‘little brother’) of small businesses within the SME sector.

They are different in terms of their culture, structure and operational methods. Governments should administer microenterprises quite separately from small businesses. For instance, there are people within the rural economy who are engaged in production in the “pre-market” stage. They may produce surpluses but it is primarily for their own consumption.

For them the level of monetisation is almost non–existent as they live in a subsistence economy. Trading of food is primarily facilitated through a barter system given poor or absent infrastructure which isolates their participation in the broader economy.

In PNG this group of people is declining given the increased monetisation of the economy. Nevertheless, there are those who still undertake barter trade complemented by trade using “modern money”.

Secondly, there are people who produce and are also engaged in some level of commercialisation but with no real commitment to cash-cropping (for example selling the occasional bucket of coffee ‘cherry’ at the height of the flush).

These are people who need to be brought into the informal economy by understanding the constraints (infrastructural, financial, informational and societal) together with corrective action to address these them.

Thirdly there is a group of people that aim to produce a marketable surplus on a semi-commercial basis but are limited by inadequate capital and limited technical assistance. They have a real commitment to commercialise their activities but have over the years suffered from the breakdown in law and order and important government services such as agriculture extension training.

This group is genuinely looking for an opportunity to link up with the rural informal economy. If properly assisted, they can enter the informal economy as commercial smallholders

In the urban economy, informal economic activities are forced upon many households as a result of lack of job opportunities within the formal sector or inadequate income to sustain their lives.

This group has multiple sources of income (both formal and informal) generated through legal and illegal activities. They usually comprise long time city dwellers and migrants who live in settlements occupying traditional and government owned land.

They are often constrained in their attempts to diversify and increase their income by financial, informational and regulatory barriers. Policy must aim to remove such obstacles.

Being unregulated, without any formal system in place, the informal economy operates under its own rules based on social contracts established among participants.

While it is a welcoming call concerning the informal economy, it is also surprising to note that Ms Kouza, who is the former Minister for Community Development, Youth and Religion, did not mention the need for linkages to be established between the informal economy and the SME sector.

Her former Department had been the lead implementing agency responsible for the National Informal Economy Policy. Therefore, one would assume that Ms Kouza had adequate knowledge of issues surrounding the informal economy and the strategies in place to address these issues.

It is interesting to note that, during her tenure as Minister, there was no mention of linking up the informal economy with the SME sector in the public domain. Even when the euphoria surrounding SMEs was at its peak, there was no attempt by her to strategically position her Department to work with the Department of Trade, Commerce and Industry.

While her focus to elevate informal economic enterprises into cottage businesses within the SME sector is commendable, it is important for Ms Kouza to understand that achieving specialisation within an economy is not only driven by resource endowment but is primarily driven by the generation and accumulation of capital. 

Lack of capital will impact on the level of productivity and subsequently on the level of specialisation. In this case the formalisation of informal economy is essential to generating capital but it must be accommodated by an enabling and friendly legal environment.

Therefore, before she advocates the idea of SMEs in her electorate, it is important for her to re-visit the National Informal Economy Policy to understand the definition of informal economy and the strategies to grow the sector.

It is also important that she notes that the conversion from the informal economy into the SME sector depends on having appropriate laws that don’t “force informal sector entrepreneurs into being regulated” but “encourage voluntary regulation”.

Simply, the law must create incentives that encourage informal sector participants to aspire to be regulated and not one that forces them into hiding.

It is therefore important that those laws be driven by the intended beneficiaries and not borrowed from outside. Otherwise we may be faced with the old Hobbesian problem of laws that are created not according to the wishes of the people being very expensive to administer compared to ones that reflect the wishes of the people.

The informal economy is in desperate need of serious government intervention if we are going to see these activities become SMEs as expressed by Ms Kouza. Currently, the informal economy is greatly neglected and, while the government is pushing to stimulate the SME sector, the informal economy, being its foundation, is at present unrecognised, neglected, suppressed and under siege.

While betel nut and cigarette selling do not represent a true reflection of the informal economy these activities do provide a glimpse of the ingenuity and determination that our people have if provided with the right opportunities and incentives.

Even though we aspire to see our people engage in more meaningful and value adding activities such as garments, clothing, fresh produce and so forth, the reality is that there are factors within our market driven economy that influence the types of economic activities our people take up.

For instance, while most of us are against the idea of promoting the sale and consumption of betel nut for hygiene and health reasons, it is known that it is one of the only few agricultural crops that is able to generate large revenues for sellers given that it has a huge domestic market.

In addition, it’s easy to grow with very little labour or capital input and has quite an advanced supply chain linking producer to middle men, retailers and eventually consumers. Its multiplier effects includes the transportation and housing industries where vehicle owners (taxi and PMVs) are hired to transport betel nut while houses are turned into warehouses to store and trade betel nut bags.

Thus, It is really not a case of collectivised economic policies versus individualised but it is essentially about how we are able to create an environment where our informal economy participants can transit into the SME sector.

The informal economy in PNG is currently riddled with so many problems that it is more logical and worthwhile for the government to focus its efforts on addressing these as a way of stimulating the SME sector.

A PNG economy that is led by active participation of its indigenous population needs both the informal economy and SMEs to be strong.

There are already signs that the informal economy is under threat from foreign exploitation and competition. Smaller trade store/tucker shops are now being taken over by foreigners while small micro-enterprises such as the sale of meri blouses are under threat from cheap foreign produced imports from Asia.

In addition, stringent banking requirements to open accounts, the lack of a “savings culture” and poor financial literacy are factors that limit our people from expanding and having the competencies and resources to move up the ladder into the SME sector.

Challenges like these pose huge problems in graduating more Papua New Guineans into the sector and subsequently increasing our people’s participation in the economy.

The informal sector needs a name change but not one that does not recognise its important role in PNG’s socio-economic development.

Instead the informal sector needs a name change to paint a picture of an aspect of the economy that represents the heartbeat and lifeline of PNG’s economy.

It is a sleeping giant that, if befriended, will spin the wheel of economic revolution to take PNG into the cauldron of economic power.

DAVID WAPAR

Dear Lord,

Yesterday I had a bad dream
That I died in a car crash
Leaving all I have behind me

It was the most disturbing dream
Of horror and regret
Therefore I ask if you can forgive me

For all evil I have done in the past
And what I intend to do against you
Please Lord, deliver me from the dark

Point me to the path of righteousness
Where nothing in this world can stop me
From doing right and be your witness

But Lord, would you also consider
Giving me a fine house, a car, a wife
And such to make my life a bit happier?

It has taken me years to finally secure a job
Which is not quite enough
I need a few more stuff without fear of cops

I know you won’t continue to give me fish
But Lord, please this I ask for once and all
So that I live a content life without being selfish

So I can quit living on the streets
And start a life for myself somewhere
Where I can find real happiness 

MARLENE DEE GRAY POTOURA

Sylbeez Hive Learning Centre - ‘Where your child is taught to love school, enjoy school and see the sweetness in learning’

I STARTED Sylbeez Hive Learning Centre, four years ago. I begin with 15 students and, as I write, there are now over 160 students enrolled.

My son Martin was born with a medical condition known as Hypospadias. As he grew, I started to worry when I realised there were no schools here in Lae set up comfortably with clean toilets to cater for young children aged 3 to 10 year old.

Of course there are expatriate private learning centres, but the fees are something like K10,000 a year - far too high for working class Papua New Guineans.

With a vision that seemed impossible, I took the challenge and resigned from my position as deputy principal of the Lae Salvation Army Primary School. It was a heart-tearing when half of my finishing pay was deducted for tax. I was down hearted and worried.

But the vision was fresh and growing in my mind and I enquired about the vacant Lions Hall and wrote a letter to the President asking to let me use it to run a learning centre for Papua New Guinean children.

I asked him to give me a grace period of two months to collect fees and pay the rent. Thankfully he agreed. That’s how I started this school, believing in myself with a determination to create a comfortable learning environment so my son and other children could attend a school that was conducive to their needs.

Since then, I have turned this school into a Progressive and Reading School, monitoring the progress of each child every day from classroom learning to playing outside, toilet use, eating lunches, just about everything they do.

I teach Alpha Phonics in Preparatory and Grade 1 plus enrichment classes three times a day for children who need to catch up with their letter sounds, word blending and reading. At the end of Grade 1, the children read well and go on to Grade 2.

It is a tiring, busy and demanding job, but I find it fulfilling and rewarding at the end of the year when we successfully commend and award outstanding students. Some parents have even asked me how I can handle being the school bus driver, teacher, principal etc and I say it is a commitment and I truly enjoy what I do.

In addition I have 16 staff including teachers, a housekeeping matron, a canteen manager, a driver and a cook.

I get excellent positive comments from parents and I am thankful that my vision is still alive and vibrant.

My son Martin is in Grade 4 now and during that time Professor Paddy Dewan, a urologist, has repaired the congenital problem he was born with and he is now ready to attend another school next year to do Grade 5.

In Term 2 this year, I moved the school to a new location at Telikom College, some kilometres out of Lae town.

I have been collecting books to set up a library and in Lae and find it hard to get hold of genuine children’s reading books. I would really love to hear from people who can donate children’s reading books to Sylbeez Hive Learning Centre to help me establish a proper library for our students.

My goal in the long run is to establish this school at a permanent location with a modern library where students from other schools can be members and can read, do assignments and borrow books.

Photos: (1) Marlene’s son and daughter. (2) Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 engrossed in watching a cartoon. 

MICHAEL DOM

A poem may be wonderfully challenging to write.
Why should it be too easy, if it is to be a delight?
Nothing that has value comes without some struggle or a fight.

…....

A poem may flow with grace, flawlessly for our delight.
Why should it stutter, stumble, deny, defy the skill to write?
Anything of beauty and truth should not spite one to fight.

….....

A poem may sit on a page, no need to pick a fight,
Rather, it could care less if it causes one grief or delight.
Something of moment passes and becomes the cause to write.

…....

A poem fights, it writes of one grief or delight, moving,
But sitting still as a rock, unchanged, its role is changing
Everything and always, without rest, its war is raging.

Modified sijo form

KEITH JACKSON

MORE than 800 copies of the Crocodile Prize Anthology costing over $8,000 are now being distributed free of charge throughout Papua New Guinea, mainly to schools and libraries but also to tertiary institutions and members of parliament.

This is fulfilling the second leg of the Prize’s ‘contract’ with the people of PNG – which is not only to encourage and reward writers but to ensure their work is published and made available to readers throughout the country.

But, that said, we now need help from PNG Attitude readers.

The Crocodile Prize Organising Group, COG, received $5,000 under the PNG Association of Australia Publishing Program and has contributed another $3,000 from sponsorship funds.

So far we have collected just $450 from readers of this blog and are holding outstanding orders for books from PNG schools and other institutions which we cannot meet.

We are asking you to donate money to the Crocodile Prize Anthology for PNG program here:

Bank:               NAB
Address:          105 Miller Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
BSB No:           082 401
Account No:     39 286 5774

I also thought I’d share some of the comments received from our friends in PNG who have volunteered to get the Anthologies to towns and villages where people can read them.

Ilangin Sangkol, who is a statistical officer at the Bank of Papua New Guinea, has the opportunity of distributing books to the Special School for the Blind at Taurama in Port Moresby. “This is where my mum works and the books will be translated into Braille by mum and her volunteers. It would be a good gift and also an encouragement for people who are blind or partially sighted who should not be left out of the world of literature.”

Dominica Are will work through CARE International PNG under its integrated community development project to distribute books to schools in the remote Obura-Wonenara District of the Eastern Highlands. “They don’t have access to technological resources and written information is hard to access,” writes Dominica. “All these schools have been declared as disadvantaged by the Department of Education.”

She not only won the children’s writing award in the Crocodile Prize but Iriani Wanma, although still looking for work, has donated $100 to fund books for PNG. And now we’re providing Iriani with anthologies for Mainohana Secondary School in Bereina and Coronation Primary School in Port Moresby. “The anthology will be an invaluable addition to Coronation Primary and Mainohana Secondary libraries,” says Iriani. “It practically has everything in it - essays and journalism, issues affecting society, heritage writing, short stories, poetry - entertainment as well as awareness. I hope the anthology will strike a fire in the students' bellies to be an agent of change in their community and PNG as a whole.”

Doreen Bauloni, who won last year’s Rivers Award for Peace and Harmony Writing (soon to be offered again), would like to distribute the books to secondary school libraries in Milne Bay Province. “This will encourage them to read locally written articles and give them the perfect ideas to use when writing their essays.”

“I would like some copies for my secondary school, Malala Catholic Secondary School in Madang Province,” writes Emmanuel Marosi. “Malala has been the pioneer secondary school in the country, producing many of Papua New Guinea’s productive citizens and your contribution will assist students to take a keen interest in literature, especially PNG literature.”

Raymond Sigimet will distribute copies to rural schools in the East Sepik area. “I believe the Anthology will be a source of inspiration for the students to aspire to improve their English language skills when reading stories, poems and essays written by Papua New Guineans. We are planning a library for my school and the Crocodile Prize Anthology would be a prize item for the PNG literature section.”

Emmanuel Mambei will provide copies to the Papua New Guinea University of Technology and secondary schools in Bugandi, Lae, Busu and Bumayong. He has promised to send photographs of the presentations to PNG Attitude.

Paul Fuzo has been motivated to establish a Sepik Writers Club which he is currently promoting in secondary schools and wants to donate books to his old school library at Bishop Leo Secondary School in Wewak.

“Certain High Schools in Lae are always involved in school fights,” says Marlene Potoura,“and I have been trying to think of ways to talk to these students. I believe distributing the 2014 Anthology to these schools and talking to them during school assembly about the joys of writing and getting published would shed some light and hope to these students.”

Euralia Paine wants to donate books to the Institute of Business Studies in Port Moresby for the annual IBS debating competition beginning this month. The competition is for Grade 10, 11 and 12 students from high schools around PNG and it is televised nationwide. “I found it very inspiring and would like books to be given out as prizes.”

Bal Kama will distribute books to Simbu schools participating in the Kundiawa Scholars’ Foundation. He’s promised a report at the end of the distribution so we will know how it went.

“To have the 2014 Crocodile Prize Anthology on the shelves of the Marianville Catholic Secondary School library would be a legend,” says Caroline Evari, a former vice-head girl at the school who now works at the World Bank office in Port Moresby. “This will create a great impact in aspiring young Papua New Guinean girls to write, knowing that there are Papua New Guineans out there who are enjoying writing.”

The list that follows shows where the anthologies are heading right now. Many places in PNG are not represented and, with your help, we’ll ensure that even more Papua New Guineans receive the anthology and thereby can read stories about their own country by their own people.

Anthology target destinations at 3 September 2014

PACIFIC SCOOP

AN Auckland academic says the real issue with violence against women in Papua New Guinea is not sorcery, but gender inequality.

Associate Professor Evangelina Papoutsaki says unequal gender relations, which are the result of the post-colonial times and Christianity, are being used to justify violence against women.

Father Franco Zocca said earlier this year that only scientific enlightenment and a massive education effort could help overcome sorcery beliefs in the region.

But Papoutsaki does not believe the Catholic Church is helping women by focussing on sorcery.

“It’s nonsense that the Catholic Church declares war on witchcraft and sorcery,” she said. “They should fight for equal treatment for women and gender equality.

“They shouldn’t attack the end result. The issue is not witchcraft. They are approaching it from the wrong perspective.

”Christianity comes in with a different belief system and sits on top of another society with different spiritual practices and they both try to struggle to exist together,” she said.

“Nowadays women need to be ashamed about their body. They need to cover it.

“All of a sudden women became objects of shame.”

Prof Papoutsaki has worked and lived in PNG as a journalism educator and has been doing research there for 10 years.

KEITH JACKSON

THE National Library of Australia has decided to “provide public access in perpetuity” to the Crocodile Prize website.

This means that the Library, through its Pandora Archive, will re-archive the website each year, recording changes and updates in full so its content will always be available.

The Library says it is currently putting together a Papua New Guinea collection in which the Crocodile Prize website will be incorporated.

The website, which was designed and is managed by Ben Jackson, is now publicly available in the Pandora Archive at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-147795.

The Library has traditionally collected items in print and is also committed to preserving electronic publications of lasting research or cultural value.

It will take the necessary preservation action to keep the Crocodile Prize website accessible even as there are hardware and software changes over time. PNG Attitude was first archived by the National Library in 2009 and has been re-archived each year since.