STEFAN ARMBRUSTER | SBS

TUBERCULOSIS infections in the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea have doubled in the past 12 months but the death toll has fallen from a peak three years ago, figures from Queensland Health show.

A Torres Strait woman died in Cairns last week from suspected multi-drug resistant TB and authorities are trying to trace people who had contact with her.

The latest death comes as the Papua New Guinea government announced an emergency task force to tackle its TB crisis, including on the international border with Australia.

PNG health authorities says they expect 29,000 people will be infected with the disease this year, up by 26% from 23,000 in 2013.

Australian authorities have long feared cross-border transmission of the multi-drug resistant strain of TB. The federal government has spent millions of dollars in recent years supporting TB treatment clinics on the PNG side of the border.

The 32-year-old Torres Strait islander woman died in Cairns Hospital on 29 September. A Queensland Health statement says she had close contacts in the Torres Strait and was a frequent traveller there and to Papua New Guinea.

Twelve people have been identified who had contact with her but it is believed there could be more but Queensland Health did not say if they any were infected.

It is the first reported TB-related death in Queensland this year. Three people died from TB last year, four in 2012 and nine in 2011.

Eight cases of TB have been notified to authorities in the Torres Strait region up to September this year, up from four in 2013.

Six non-Australian residents of the PNG-Torres Strait international border have been also been treated for TB in Queensland, up from one last year according to Queensland Health figures.

Queensland Health says the risk to the general public of developing TB is very low and 119 cases have been notified across the state up to September 30.​

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

THERE is growing concern in Papua New Guinea that the increasing size of the informal economy is giving rise to more petty crime such as pickpocketing and other law and order problems.

In Port Moresby, markets such as Gordon and Koki are frequented by pickpockets and drug dealers. It is common to see drunkards roaming the markets armed with a bottle of SP and no sense of care or respect for the rule of law and fellow human beings.

The situations is such that law abiding citizens, especially women, are encouraged not to attend these markets either as a buyer or a vendor in fear of falling victim to harassment and abuse.

A couple of weeks ago, a policeman was harassed by market vendors while on patrol in Gordons Market. Police retaliation was swift and the canopy of umbrellas sheltering vendors was set alight. People ran in all direction as police fired bullets into the air.

It is also about time municipal authorities took stock of the alarming rise in criminal activities orchestrated by young people usually residing in squatter settlements in and around the fringes of Port Moresby and other major urban centres.

Most of these youths retract to the informal economy due to the lack of employment opportunities within the formal sector.

Many end up spending much of their time taking drugs and drinking cheap homemade alcohol such as “coffee punch”.

Looking to the future, the constant movement of people from rural areas to urban centres will further intensify this problem.

A lot of law and order problems affecting major urban centres have been attributed to the rise of informal squatter settlements.

These unplanned settlements are said to harbour people who are unemployed and to have a high prevalence of violence and crime. Not conforming to the rule of law through formally registering their properties also allows them to take advantage of their anonymous status.

Criminals who originate from these settlements take advantage of this situation by avoiding the arm of the law and instilling fear into the community.

On the other hand they are able to secure the community’s support through a Robin Hood existence where they rob the better off and share the spoils with their communities.

They may be seen as heroes and protected by the community through a “keep your mouth shut for your own good” policy. This makes it very difficult situation for police to track down these criminals.

When I first thought about this issue, I drew inspirations from Hernando De Soto’s book The mystery of capital, in which he argues that the absence of a national formal property system supported by appropriate legislative reforms has prevented most of the poor in developing countries from unleashing “capital” to transform their lives and the economy as a whole.

As a result capitalism has been blamed for many miseries and much suffering in the developing world while at the same time benefiting only a few elite individuals.

De Soto stresses the importance of governments creating laws around prevailing social contracts to facilitate transition from the informal economy into the formal sector.

He offers developing countries such as PNG a set of policy tools that address squatter settlement issues and the petty crime and violence associated with informal economic activities.

If settlements in PNG are turned into suburbs with house owners holding their own titles and homes connected to basic household utilities such as water and power, municipal authorities will be able to better address law and order problems and tackle challenges posed by the informal economy.

Records of homeowners kept in a central property registry will enable agencies like the police to tap into them if ever they are after a person of interest.

A formal property system will effectively instill accountability when house owners are securing loans or when government is providing services such as garbage collection, electricity and water.

Even traffic infringement or parking charges can be billed to the allotment number of the house. There can be confidence that violations of laws and regulations can be dealt with thoroughly.

Informal squatter settlements are now home to most working class Papua New Guineans who cannot afford to own a house or rent decent accommodation. And this movement into settlements is gradually changing their situation and image.

For people who dream of owning a house one day, informal arrangements are explored with landowners to access cheap unused land in settlements to build houses.

Houses built on this land are usually high covenant and of similar design and market value as those approved by the Building Board. They are built to win the favour of landlord and authorities so that a formal title may be secured.

There are also reports of people colluding with bureaucrats to secure titles over land in major towns and cities.

These examples illustrate the need for the government to develop laws that will allow people access to titles that can be used for multiple purposes.

Informal squatter settlements are not necessarily the fundamental problem so much as the system and laws that are in place. If informal squatter settlements are converted to properly titled areas, these homes can become assets that can be used as capital to grow the PNG economy.

Through such action ordinary Papua New Guineans can own assets and aspire to leverage them to become successful entrepreneurs.

The informal economy, historically responsible for filling in the gap and clearing up the mess left behind by the formal sector, can be the remedy to address stagnation in formal sector growth and not an ailment.

De Soto and his team of researchers found that the value of most informal squatter settlements around the world is trillions of dollars but they remain dead capital.

By government introducing appropriate laws to formalise these squatter settlements, they can inject life into dead capital and transform the economy.

The author is an Economist and a Senior Project Officer with the Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council specializing on issues concerning informal economy in PNG

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION | Port Moresby

CENTRAL Province educators are learning innovative methods of teaching children to read in a project to boost the province’s literacy rate.

Eight educators recently completed a workshop in the use of phonetics - a method of teaching children to read by associating sounds with letters in the alphabet.

Funded through the Kokoda Initiative and facilitated by the Central Province Education Division, the workshop was part of Australia’s ongoing support to elementary and primary education in the Kokoda region.

One of the educators at the workshop, Senior Standards Officer Dimsok Patrick, said: “The literacy rate in Central Province schools is currently 30-50%. One of the reasons reading has been a difficult area for improvement in our schools is due to the lack of correct sound with letter recognition and formation.”

Central Province Education Superintendent Gaile Gaoma said: “The workshop was initiated by the province and aims to improve teaching standards and student learning outcomes.

“Competency in phonetics is the key to unlocking challenges when reading in other academic disciplines. Courses of this nature help us tackle the literacy challenge in our province head on.”

The successful completion of the LNG project has turned attention to new PNG investment opportunities. A panel from the International Finance Corporation, Austrade and Nambawan Super share their thoughts for Business Advantage PNG

DESPITE the clear success of the ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project, where the next wave of opportunities lie is varied and the resources sector doesn’t feature highly for either Carolyn Blacklock or Michael Block.

Block lists energy ("we’re looking at solar farms right now"), agriculture (in particular safe, renewable forms), telecommunications, finance, tourism and education.

"They’re all the areas that we think will be areas that will have a divergent and different return," he says.

Blacklock says the IFC is also looking for the development outcomes:

"So we want it all basically. We want job creation, particularly creation of good jobs for people.

"We want companies where, when our name and their name are together, something magical happens and we create more good than working by ourselves, and we help those companies enter into new markets around the region," she said.

Blacklock says the goal is to own a portfolio of diversified investments with good exit strategies.

"We’re investing because we know that at some point in time we’re no longer going to be needed."

Austrade Commissioner David Knapton says Australian companies involved in resources, mining, power, water roads, telecommunications, health and education have a lot to offer PNG.

"We advise people to be patient and realise they’re not going to come up on a visit, score business in the first trip, and then walk away rubbing their hands, saying this is an easy market.

"If you don’t get the relationships right, if you don’t talk to the right people, you don’t connect to the right people, you usually don’t get very far.

Block says the main thing Namabawan’s analysts look for is good governance, and secondly, good planning.

He also says the greatest obstacle to SMEs moving forward is the lack of finance available.

"Right now with the banks having lost a lot of revenue from foreign exchange they are falling over themselves to lend to the corporates with good names, good security, to the detriment of SMEs [small and medium sized enterprises].

"So, there needs to be some form of encouragement and some form of subsidy for SMEs, because after all they really are the lifeblood of any economy."

But for Blacklock, the priority is to invest in big infrastructure projects which provided the backbone for business to operate projects which create power, for example.

"I’m not sure how we go about really transforming SMEs if they can’t run an iron, if they can’t fix a motor car because they haven’t got a light to see underneath the bonnet, if they can’t bank because the electricity’s not working so they can’t add up what their returns are.

"I see women in PNG having a particularly difficult plight, yet on the other hand, women are generally more reliable, and have better governance standards inherently.

"So if we are going to see women in PNG become business owners, we need to make the place safer."

Carolyn Blacklock, David Knapton and Michael Block were panelists at the 2014 Papua New Guinea Advantage Investment Summit

JACK KLOMES

BACK in 2007, during one of my history classes at Wawin National High School, we studied the rise of the German Empire and the Schlieffen Plan.

At about the same time, a retired colonel of the PNG Defence Force published an article in The National newspaper entitled “Australia Invades PNG - Operation Charlemagne”.

I remembered the article clearly because my history teacher brought it to class one morning and we discussed it at length.

The article argued that Australia was playing mind games with Papua New Guinea and its leaders as seen in incidents such as the 2005 Brisbane Airport Somare shoe scandal and the failed Enhanced Cooperation Plan of the same year.

The colonel’s thesis was that Australia was planning to gain the upper hand in influencing PNG politics to suit its national interests and he revealed that Australia’s covert operation was code-named Operation Charlemagne.

My history teacher drew parallels between the Schlieffen Plan and the Operation Charlemagne, explaining that, in the past, states used the military to pursue and secure their strategic interests whereas today they tend more to pursue their strategic interests with politics and clever diplomacy.

I was fascinated by this and asked the teacher to make me a copy of the article. It was one of the motives that later influenced me to study international relations.

On 2 August 2011, the Member of Parliament for Vanimo-Green, Belden Namah, moved to declare the prime minister’s seat vacant while the incumbent Sir Michael Somare was in Singapore for medical treatment.

The government, under the leadership of acting prime minister Sam Abal, was caught by surprise and, despite the Constitution providing no grounds for such a move, Speaker Jeffrey Nape allowed the motion.

Nearly half the members of Somare’s government voted for the motion which saw Peter O’Neill voted in as prime minister. A frail Somare returned from Singapore and declared that he was still prime minister thus beginning a torrid legal battle.

PNG ‘s highest court, the Supreme Court, handed down its decision on 12 December 2011 declaring the O’Neill government as illegitimate thus restoring Somare’s government to power.

O’Neill and his deputy Namah refused to recognise the Court’s ruling and, with the numbers on their side, maintained that they were the legitimate government.

This resulted in a period of PNG’s colourful political history where it was claimed there were two governments with their own cabinets and police commissioners. The media reported that one was a ‘government by the Parliament’ and the other a ‘government by the Supreme Court’.

Amongst the confusion, the situation then took another twist when a retired soldier wrote his name into PNG’s history.

I was not surprised to read in the papers that retired Colonel Yaura Sasa had been called back to active duty by Somare to try to enforce the rulings of the Supreme Court.

People watched and critiqued the unfolding power play in Waigani’s corridors of power. A learned few knew that some international players were quietly maneuvering behind the scenes to influence its outcome.

Sasa’s action was vilified by the media, the elite and by political commentators. He was regarded as a coup leader, a puppet and power hungry. 

The media reported the issue as it was presented to them. There were no in-depth political analysis of what was a politically-complicated issue.

The image presented internationally and in PNG was of an old soldier attempting a military coup with a bunch of rogue comrades keen on keeping an unpopular government in power.

I wonder if the majority of PNG citizens paused to ask two most pertinent questions: how did this come about and why did it come about?

The issue evolved when two political factions of the PNG Parliament claimed to be the legitimate government. But the PNG Constitution provides for only one prime minister, one police commissioner and so on.

It was possible to have two prime ministers because government bodies, media, elite and even the international community allowed it to happen by accepting this situation.

There was a reluctance to side with the rule of law even when the Supreme Court spoke clearly on two occasions.

That was the saddest day in PNG’s history. We killed our own Constitution and committed the worst crime against our country with our silence and indecision.

But why? When he accepted Somare’s request to command the PNG Defence Force, retired Colonel Yaura Sasa was fully aware of what he was doing and its ramifications.

Quizzed by the media about whether it was a military takeover, he responded that it was just the normal government process of replacing a PNGDF commander. Which government? The legally recognised government of PNG according to the laws of this land.

Colonel Sasa was simply carrying out the government’s orders.

His action resulted from Police failing to enforce the rule of law and the military, under the command of incumbent Brigadier General Francis Agwi, reluctant to carry out its duty to uphold the Constitution.

Meanwhile, the international and national media kept up the pretence that there were still two governments when they surely knew there was only one government according to the rule of law.

The media contributed to the confusion by reporting vague information lacking in facts that were necessary if people were to understand the scene unfolding before them.

Australia was silent about the crisis and then the final blow came with Julia Gillard’s recognition of the illegitimate O’Neill - Namah government.

Few people saw the irony of Australia’s role in terms of investment of millions of dollars promoting good governance and the rule of law in the Pacific.

Thus it was that the Constitution of PNG was ignored: a Constitution that was proudly home grown and had united a thousand different tribes under one flag to create the independent state of PNG.

Retired Colonel Yaura Sasa was called back to active duty by the government to protect the integrity of that Constitution because the agencies obligated to protect it had failed in their duties.

The media focused people’s attention on the so called ‘mutiny’. No one asked the question whether the colonel’s actions qualified to be designated mutiny.

Mutiny is a situation where there is a rebellion against constituted or lawful authority. How then can this action have been called mutiny?

Retired Colonel Sasa is not a mutineer, villain or someone who has wronged this country. He is a patriot. He stood up for his country’s prime national interest by seeking to protect its Constitution.

Simply put, he stood up for the rule of law even as most people fell for the illusion of mutiny created by the media’s lack of understanding and analysis.

By their silence and refusal to take the right side, the side of the Constitution, the elite allowed our Constitution to be undermined, its reputation tarnished and left in tatters.

Retired Colonel Yaura Sasa’s reputation was also left in tatters but his conscience was clear and he was at peace with himself.

He knew deep within that he fought a battle like a good soldier to protect his country – even though it was from itself.

God bless you Yaura Sasa for the patriot that you are and for standing up against the ignorant and for the powerless and the voiceless.

THE RIVERS PRIZE
Write an article, story, essay or poem on the theme
Peace & Harmony in PNG – Past & Present
K1,000 first prize; two prizes of K350 each for runners up
Closing date: Monday 17 November. Details here

Another riveting Sherlock Holmes saga from the quill of PETER KRANZ, eminent world authority on the escapades of the great detective in Papua New Guinea

HOLMES and Watson had just relaxed to an afternoon Darjeeling with some hot scones, raspberry jam and Devon clotted cream when they were rudely interrupted by the doorbell.

"What is it now Missus Okuk? Please don't interrupt us when tea is up."

"Don't get your knickers in a twist Mr 'Olmes,” said the old retainer, “it's just the postman. Gore luv, I ain't got time for such mauswara! Talk about susu wobbles!"

And she delivered a letter to Holmes.

"Watson, it's challenging news"

"What is it Holmes? An expedition to track the Yeti in Tibet? The Inkanyamba of Africa? The famed Thyalacine of Australian folklore?"

"I'm afraid it is far worse than that."

"What can it be Holmes?"

"It is an invitation to meet brother Mycroft at Whites."

"My God!"

________________

Mycroft was purring.

"Pray take a seat.  Dr Watson, Sherlock, may I interest you in some brandy?  The club has an excellent Danflou Cognac from the '60's"

Watson - "My, that's over 40 years old!"

Mycroft - "That's the 1760s good doctor."

Watson - "I say Holmes, that brandy is a treasure!"

Holmes - "We will decline.  We have to drive home."

Mycroft - "In a hansom? Well let's get down to business."

"You know that small altercation we had with the Germans in New Guinea last year?"

"Yes I do recall" replied Holmes.

"Well it seems we left some business unsettled."

"I will have nothing more to do with your colonial adventures in the Pacific."

"Quite so dear brother, but this is something different, for which the Government requires your extraordinary skills, although I must say I believe them to be somewhat overrated."

"Thank you Mycroft, your enthusiasm is boundless."

"We need a quiet hand."

"And if I decline the offer?"

"Then I am afraid you will suffer the consequences. Does Missus Okuk like Manus? At least listen first."

"There is a local legend  which has been somewhat amplified by the Germans and they are using it to their advantage."

"Yes, there are many legends. What of it?"
 
"This one speaks of a beast which preys on supporters of the English. The Government wishes you to investigate."

"And what is the nature of this beast?"

"It is a hound.  A giant hound and a devourer of people. It is said to live in the highlands. Locals have given it a name - the Hound of the Simbuville."

_________________

Before Holmes and Watson arrived home, two bloodthirsty intruders had broken into 221b! But Okuk had heard the disturbance, and before they knew it she was on them!

Biff, bang, an uppercut to the jaw! Whoosh, smash, an openhanded slash to the throat! Whirl, kick and the opponent went down!

Yes, Missus Okuk was trained in the ancient Simbu martial art of Kunda Eriqwa.

Holmes and Watson arrived to find the place devastated.

"Missus Okuk, whatever has been happening here?"

"We 'ad some intruders Mr 'olmes, and if you don't mind I dealt with them in my own way. Na raskol kinde kaninga."

"Watson, remind me never to disagree with Okuk over a cup of tea again."

"Right you are Holmes. I must say she made a fair mess! But these two fellows seem a lot worse off. One has a broken jaw, the other concussion."

"You don't argue with a Simbu meri!"

Okuk - "Get yer houses up!, I'm just off for a Jimmy Riddle. Up the apples and to the water, but don't worry, there's no Richard the third."

"Holmes, has she gone completely insane?"

"No, I'm afraid it's a severe case of RSS.  Rhyming Slang Syndrome. Brought on by stress. Too much fraternising with the locals. She'll be alright in the morning."

__________________

"Let's examine his pockets before the police arrive"

"I say Holmes!"

"First rule of detection Watson.  Look first, ask questions later."

"What have we here?" said Holmes as he rummaged through the villain's pockets.

"It's a one way ticket from Aldwych to Baker Street. Now that is a little-used branch line. The ticket collector may remember this fellow.  Follow me Watson. And take his photograph before you leave.  I know you have a box brownie."

"But Holmes! it will take at least half an hour to develop!"

"Quite so Watson.  We have no time to lose."

___________________

Missus Okuk had proved right. The developed photgraph identified the intruder with the broken jaw as an agent of their dreaded enemy, Moriaty!

"Look here Holmes. What's this?" said Watson, still rummaging.

"It is ticket from Consort Express Lines Limited, to travel from Gravestone to Lae. You know what this means Watson?"

"No I can't say I do."

"This break-in is directly related to Mycroft's inquiry.  We must take up Mycroft's challenge."

"You don't mean...?"

"Yes, another trip to New Guinea!"

"Well bagarap to sanguma.  I suppose I better pack my pith helmet?"

"Yes dear friend, and keep the chinstrap. We wouldn't want anyone to take the pith off you."

____________________

Holmes and Watson climbed their arduous way to the base of Mt Wilhelm for miles, and were eventually welcomed by an old acquaintance, Granny Betty. 

"Mr Holmes and Doctor Watson, Wagai wei! come in and make yourselves welcome! And how is my old friend Okuk?"

"She is well Betty. But we have important business and we need your help."

"Well rest awhile whilst I make dinner. Smoke-grilled fresh mountain trout with Bernaise sauce, kaukau in coconut milk, steamed abika with Highlands-chilli and gene, and buttered garlic snake beans, followed by suksuk with brandy cream, and freshly brewed Simbu coffee - would this be to your liking?"

"I tell you Holmes", said Watson some time later and with a mouthful of trout, "this woman is better than Escoffier!"

"Excellent Missus B. We haven't had such good kaikai for a long time."

"Well bless. And how can I help my old friends?"

They spent some time devouring the delicious treats offered by Grandma Betty, washed done by an 1860 Margaux. How on earth that found its way to Kegsugl is another story.

_____________________________

"We have heard talk of a terrifying beast which prowls the highlands, devouring people who support the English. Do you know of this? or is it just a legend?"

"Oh I know of it alright Mister Holmes, but I don't give much credence to such tales. Mind you there have been some mysterious disappearances of late. Old Pius went out the other night and never came back! And Daddy Kuman hasn't been seen for this last fortnight. 

"I put it down to the steam those young mangi will keep brewing. And that new herb they grow, called hemp. They smoke it like brus then come over all funny.  I've tried to stop them but to no avail."

"Where did these disappearances take place?"

"Up the valley there" she said pointing toward the mountain. "And there have been strange howling sounds heard late in the night."

"Thank you Mana. We must be off."

____________________________

Holmes and the ever-faithful Watson trudged wearily upwards and onwards. Suddenly Holmes' alert ears caught something.

"Listen!  There's something coming towards us!"

And sure enough Watson heard the clunk-clunk of giant footsteps coming down the track.

"Quick Watson! Take this rope and tie it firmly to the tree on the other side there! Then hide."

Watson did as he was told just as Holmes tied off the other end of the rope.

"When I say go, pull as hard as you can on the rope."

Soon a menacing figure appeared in the distance, steadily moving towards them and sniffing the ground as it went. It had fierce red eyes, was belching steam and was uttering a strange unearthly screech.

"Awyoo! Awyoo!" as it moved ever closed.

Watson was convinced he had seen the devil in the shape of the hound from hell.

But Holmes suspected there was more to this creature than met the eye.

As it approached them it glanced around as if searching.

"Awyoo! Awyoo!" The piercing howl rent the night sky.  But soon it was at the rope.

"Watson pull your hardest NOW!"

And the massive beast went down in a crash and tumble, the rope having tripped it. It's legs wildly thrashing as at last it seemed to go quiet.

"What have we here?" ejaculated Holmes. "Watson, this is no ordinary or even supernatural beast."

"Holmes I had no idea you were familiar with the supernatural!"

"This is nothing supernatural Watson.  It is an electromechanical automaton. Listen!" he gave it a kick. "It's legs are made of metal."

"Watson, you must find and remove its electrical power source while I go in search of its operator."

"But Holmes, I don't understand!"

"It is a mechanical machine.  You must find and remove it's power source."

"But how?"

"Usually the rear end is a good place to start."

"Holmes, you don't mean?"

"Yes.  I'm sure you have delivered calves before."

So Watson gritted his teeth and inserted his arm into what seemed to be the creatures back-passage.

"My God! I'm on the side of a mountain in New Guinea with my arm up the rectum of a beast from hell!"

"Stop complaining Watson.  You'll find it. You are familiar with proctology."

"What the...?"

____________________

But Holmes had disappeared up the track in search of the operator. Holmes sneaked from tree to tree along the track and eventually found what he was looking for.  A man!

He was crouched down in front of a large box which emitted a low humming sound and had a long antennae protruding from it. It was the operator!

Holmes worked his way around the man and jumped him from behind.  With lightning fast movements he secured his hands behind his back with a rope and pushed him down to the ground where he could observe his face.

"Moran! What are you doing here, and why are you operating this mechanical beast!"

"Confound you Holmes! This was merely a ruse to confuse the locals. You can torture me, but I will not reveal any more!"

"I can read the likes of you Moran. You are playing on the superstitions of these good people to take their allegiance away from the British!"

Just then the unmistakable sound of a Rolls Royce engine could be heard rumbling and grumbling it's way along the mountain track. It was a Rolls-Royce armoured car! A prototype of the 1914 pattern Mark 1.  What on earth?

A man in a Fedora stepped out.  "You can hand him over to me now Sherlock. And why in God's name did you take me from the comfort of Whites to come to this god-forsaken place?"

"Mycroft.  How good to see you. Thank you for inquiring into my welfare.  You will find Sebastian Moran next to that tree and over there you will find a Marconi radiographic device used for controlling a mechanical monster, which I believe Watson has just managed to disembowel."

"Well at least in the end you were successful, but you did leave old C with some interesting problems in tracing you."

"It was of course a subversion on behalf of the Germans to further their interests. And Moriarty was a willing participant, employing Moran as the local operative."

"I'm surprised it took you so long.  Join me back at Whites for a glass of Danflou. Toodle pip." And bundling Moran into the Rolls he trundled off with nary a farewell.

Watson came bustling up the track. "I say Holmes, you were right.  I found a battery pack in the lower intestine."

"My friend, I think we have earned another of Grandma Betty's famous feasts!"

And Betty had a gift for them. A puppy! He snuggled up to Watson and started wiggling and licking.  Watson had found a new friend!

"I say Holmes" said Watson as he rubbed the puppy's head between it's ears. "I do believe this is a New Guinea singing dog!  You know they can put Nellie Melba to shame!"

"Indeed Watson. What say we take him back to Okuk?"

"A fitting tribute!"

Curtains.

(Except there remains the Mystery of the Margaux!)

CECELIA GEND

MY grandmother is the most noticeable human being.  It is not how she looks; it is her personality.

She is one of those people who always quickly blames others if something is wrong.

Her vegetable peeling knife went missing ... must be one of the children stealing it to cut up green oranges.

She thinks her firewood supply is low… it must be our neighbour coming in and taking it.

And when she finds out that the knife is there, just under the mat she is sitting on, she goes her way without saying sorry for accusing us.

But, despite this, she is a very kind person and full of sympathy for anyone who is in trouble. She is very happy to have all her grandchildren around her ... until the next problem.

Grandmother’s life centres on food.  She starts early in the day and cooks continually until night falls. She isn’t like the other women in the village who cook once or twice a day. That is one reason the firewood disappears more quickly than she expects.

Cooking and providing food for her family is her greatest delight.  She always wants her food to be eaten with nothing left behind. She gets cross if we don’t eat. When people are walking on the road near her house she calls them and gives them food if there is any. 

As to what she looks like, she is like most old women. Her hair is cut very short. Her eyes crinkle softly in laughter and snap hotly with temper.  She was once a big heavy woman but now she is thin.

Her skin hangs loosely on her body. When at rest, she sits with her legs straight out in front, ankles crossed, dress neatly pulled down.

Around her neck is a grey greasy string, which has a bunch of keys, only one of which opens the door to her house.

Her ears have quiet large holes in the lobes. In these holes are useful objects such as safety pins and decorations such as ring tops from soft drink cans.

When I think of my grandmother, I see her sitting pulling the strings of pumpkin shoots or peeling kaukau while she keep an eye on the life going on around her.

She is being watched by several pigs. In front of her is a bubbling pot.

Next to her is her old bilum, full of useless things. I want to go and sit next to her right now.

Cecelia Gend, 18, is a Grade 10 student from Onguma village in the Sinasina-Yongomugl district of the Simbu Province

VATICAN RADIO

BISHOP Arnold Orowae of Wabag has delivered the homily at a service during the Catholic Bishops Synod in Rome

In his remarks, Bishop Orowae focused on the family as the place where most people come to know Christ and learn to be members of His Church.

“We encourage our families to search for the joy that comes from meeting Christ in the Gospel. It is there they will find this happiness,” Bishop Orowae said.

“Families should be encouraged to rediscover the Gospel, read the Good News with children in the home, and in the basic Christian communities….

“Today, many families are struggling with challenges and distractions. These have to be faced and overcome to build healthy families. The families are at their best when it comes to discussing and tackling problems and conflicting issues.

“The Church is grateful for the many Catholic families who believe in the gospel values, follow them in family life, teach the faith to the children, and set examples that other families can see and imitate.”

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

God said blessed are those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs
But why let them wait till death to be happy

Why am I poor?
Why must I be this way?

Is there anybody there who feels the vibrations please show me the way to my renewal?
Am I a statistic? Am I a product of violence and greed?
Can my cup be filled so as to satisfy, my thirst, or maybe still let it overflow for once in my life?

Why am I living in a violent suburb, bilums, bags being snatched around me, missiles being pelted at me, and the F and K word ruining every moment a feel like meditating.
Why is it so? That I live in constant fear of being a victim another statistic of this lifetime?

Is there a hope a glimmer of light at the end of this dark forsaken tunnel, let he who has more share a bite with thee.
Let arms for the poor be a blessing for now, but I need more than petty pity, lose change,
If I am willing I am able, please help me be a product of change, I can if I am given a chance like any other soul.

Teach me a trade, a course, a lifetime experience in a short time, I may scurry the streets for my survival, but I long for a feast of my own providence,
I theft and rob, you fear me and condemned me, but I long for the day you help me.
Am I not a citizen, am I not born of this nation,

Punish me but help me help a community to change,
I may be seen as society stereotype, but I live and breathe the same air as you,
Create an opportunity for me and my folk, we all long for equality in every aspect,

If we are a God fearing nation, than God wants us all to help each other, 

ISHMAEL PALIPAL

RESEARCH by Bougainvillean author Leonard Fong Roka (pictured), conducted as part of his just finished studies at Divine Word University, reveals that many people in his home province are retaining weapons because they fear another war may break out.

Under the Bougainville Peace agreement of 2001, which brought to an end a 10-year long civil war, weapons disposal was agreed as one of the pillars for the conduct of a referendum on independence.

Roka’s research was carried out earlier this year in Zone 3 of Arawa Town, where most of the factional leaders and other citizens from around Bougainville live.

The 40 male and female participants said the major reason why Bougainvilleans are not surrendering guns and other weapons because they feel another war might erupt.

They represented both sides of the people involved in the civil war as well as other Bougainvilleans.

“So much has happened during the crisis and still we can’t trust anyone, especially the politicians, because we cannot know how much each Bougainvillean has gone through,” Mr Roka said.

Mr Roka said some people felt Bougainville might have to fight for independence if PNG is not willing to let Bougainville free itself.

However the main problem his research uncovered is that Bougainville Peace Agreement does not give alternatives to weapons disposal.

He suggested that the terms of the Agreement relating to weapons disposal be re-designed and that Bougainvilleans and their government take ownership of the peace process without external stakeholder pressures.

He also proposed that Bougainvilleans, donors and the ABG need to explore measures for a museum project which would preserve the weapons.

Part of this would involve writers and video journalists recording the experiences of Bougainville combatants during the conflict.

Roka said that from 2001, the first weapons disposal was planned and carried out by the United Nations with financial benefits offered to make people get rid of guns and many Bougainvilleans did surrender them.

But it was not from their heart, he said, since the UN was funding the event.

People disposed of guns to benefit from cash or food that was plentiful at weapons disposal ceremonies. The people threw away low powered guns and home-made guns just to get money.

Roka concluded by saying that museums could also be a good way of preserving Bougainville’s history and also generating income in terms of tourists.

FELIX BARAKA

When I say I love her. She say she don't deserve it.
When I say I need her. She say she deserve someone better,
When I say my life is better with her. She says I don't know any better.
When I have to go, she says I need you.

But for me, I will never choose any more
The power of my desire, was she alone
Because her name was of high definition
The definition of her name was the essence of my love for her

Her speech, short and sharp-to the point
Her smile, the sun ray in the early dawn
Her voice, a mother welcoming her son back home
Her approach, the rain on the dry land

I never knew her until I realise, I need her.
Look into her eyes is like a spotlight directed to your eyes
Her true nature can be defined, if you truly want to live with her
She was a mysterious girl-the one after my own likeness

KELA KAPKORA SIL BOLKIN

IT was 15 September just past and I had returned to Port Moresby for the 2014 Crocodile Prize literary awards.

From the air looking down, Port Moresby was shimmering under the dust emanating from the plethora of road and building construction.

As usual, the savannah grassland surrounding the city had patches of black from burning and torching mostly by Eastern Highlanders and Simbus who, as if they own the landscape, use fire to clear the land of weeds to plant corn and peanuts to feed the growing population.

The smoke produced by these fires added to the thick haze.

Still, it was a good feeling coming home to this unforgiving city that is unfairly ranked by The Economist Intelligence Unit as one of the 10 most dangerous cities to live in.

I may have brought Canberra’s chill with me as rain started to drench the dust and grey of the nation’s capital as I took a taxi from Jackson’s International airport to the DHL office. I was after the box containing 100 books – the weighty Crocodile Prize Anthology 2014.

It was Independence Day eve and the DHL staff were dressed in PNG colours, some adorning themselves with Bird of Paradise plumes, beads and ornaments.

The office was also festooned with decorations, showing that the ordinary people have a love for their country unlike most of the fat cats we know. They all greeted me warmly, something that you rarely find in most Port Moresby offices.

The box of anthologies was placed on the back seat of the taxi and I headed for Morata where I used to live.

The rate of construction and growth in Port Moresby is extraordinary, well above any time since Independence. The human pests I intermittently spotted among the law-abiding citizens around the city was a paradox.

Two days later, on 17 September, I packed 10 of the anthologies in my backpack and headed for the National Capital District Education Office. I ended up in Gordons Industrial Centre and was told that Education had moved its office to a building opposite the Health Department. I walked past the Holiday Inn and eventually arrived at the office at 9:50 am.

The NCD Education office looked tired and the receptionist wobbled slowly towards me, mumbling as is common in all government offices.

“Madam, I have brought some books for the NCD Education secondary high schools.  I am thinking of putting a copy in each of their pigeonholes. The schools can pick up their copies when they come in.”

Madam swayed off towards the office cubicles, talked to some people and returned. “The boss is busy,” she announced.

“Can I see any other senior man or woman here?” She returned to tell me that the next in line was also busy.

“Madam, I have brought some free gifts for the schools. These books are flown in from the United States courtesy of some altruists who want them distributed to students in the schools.

“Books published offshore written by Papua New Guineans are expensive nowadays; why can’t your bosses not cherish this act of altruism if they truly care about education for their students?

“It will only take five minutes of their time for me to explain how the  anthology is produced and how they can get involved followed by a photo shot to give to the sponsors to confirm delivery.  That is no big deal.”

She seemed convinced and struggled inside to implore the two bosses again. The answer was still no. So she checked other cubicles and brought out a couple of junior officers.

They flipped through the book and announced they would read it themselves before giving it to the schools.

I explained that the sponsors wanted it for the students so it must go into the pigeonholes and not to private individuals. I told them that they can purchase their copies from Amazon.

“I will return in November and randomly check the secondary school libraries to see if the books actually reach the schools,” I said.

“NCD secondary schools will miss out on the yearly copies of anthologies in the future if the 2014 anthology does not get to the secondary high schools.”

The junior officers seemed to get the message but the sad thing is that, just a day after the Independence Day celebration, there was no sign of love of country among these public servants.

The private sector employees at DHL had more energy and maybe love of country than the government as represented by NCD Education.

Next month, I will be looking forward to a better reception when I deliver the copies I have for Rigo and Abau.

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

The dogs of reform are on the loose.
Out of the pound they go in search of harmony.
Inside the ring they will pound till the last round
Not for money but for peace.

Only the chains are left in our memories now.
Each one a Cinderella ready to box out of depression.
No mouthguard or headgear, just wit and sheer determination.
Two steps right then left jab at life and bam a knockout to hopelessness.

They think to themselves, I am the hound from the pound.
Not for penny, dollar or kina just for peace and harmony.
We are the dogs of revolution ushering a new era.
Home is where we howl for peace and harmony.

A band of brothers, freedom fighters, not prisoners.
Our oath not in letters but in spirit.
The reporter can say what he likes but we are the winners.
He will retire to his dream but we will bark peace and harmony and get the front page.

He ain’t seeing this pack of dogs pound harder.
We are as rough and tough as they come.
Tell him to pick a place and time and he’ll know we’re the best.
The best hounds from the pound.

LEONARD FONG ROKA

IT was the coastal trawler MV Solomon Queen which took me away that February afternoon in 2011.

I was carried away from my Solomon island of Bougainville across the Solomon Sea to the New Guinean town of Rabaul in East New Britain.

Then, after a few hours catching up with relatives from Ragunai village, I left on the ill-fated MV Rabaul Queen for Kimbe and on to Lae.

In 2013, the Rabaul Queen was to sink in bad weather with heavy loss of life.

From Lae we hit the highway through the Markham Valley, over rugged terrain into Madang Province and thence to Madang town’s Divine Word University.

It was a three day journey from Bougainville to Madang that finally had me stuck to the university for four years.

And today I can claim to have undergone a rite of passage for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in PNG Studies and International Relations. The testamur will be handed to me next March.

When I left my Bougainville, I had a vision. But that vision was not a university-stirred dream, for that was born in 1997 in the classrooms of Arawa High School when a few bullets were jetting around me.

I carried my vision in two exercise books and a binder of some 200 pages of A4 paper. Beyond that my vision was silent in an unheard struggle for realisation.

With my dream burning in my heart at the University of Papua New Guinea in 2004, I faced a number of academics and showed them my bound leaves of paper. But would not win the struggle through them.

My destiny was to wage a lone war through the system; and, in time, this led me to Divine Word University and its resources.

The university gave me the key on my 2011 registration day and it was up to me to open the door and choose from the treasures within.

I came as a self-sponsored student and felt ashamed in the company of scholarship students and talked little.

But I struggled on with my dream. A dream even my course mates knew nothing about.

Then in mid-2011, my Communication Skills lecturer, Mrs Aiva Ore, introduced us to social media and showed us blogs and websites.

Thus I was at work checking blogs and reading them when, by chance, I caught sight of Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG Attitude.

I looked at the professional writings therein and did hesitate at first; but the vision took off and infiltrated PNG Attitude.

So I began doing assignment essays for submission to the lecturer and another version to PNG Attitude. And on every moment I saw my writing in PNG Attitude I was dancing somewhere high in the skies.

Once shy, writing earned me a reputation and some form of status over those first two years amongst my university mates. Now I felt free and I could talk freely.

I debated without fear that I was a self-sponsored student; but even this was eradicated in 2012 when I returned as an assisted student flying on a government ticket just like those I once feared to look in the eye.

As I progressed with PNG Attitude, my dream came to fruition piece by piece in the Crocodile Prize competition. When a few of my writings appeared in the Crocodile Prize Anthology 2011 I felt that I was now an author.

Through 2012, my writing was consolidating with nurturing from Keith Jackson, Philip Fitzpatrick, my Divine Word University lecturers and the free DWU internet service.

It was now beginning to contribute to my academic advancement, and the proof was in that academic transcript that secured me government assistance.

2013 was the greatest year of my life both positively and negatively.

Positively, because of freelance writing I began meeting with people of high stature in films, writing and academia.

Negatively, I began receiving a handful of threats because of the same writing.

Threatening phrases like ‘you in Madang means you under my control’, ‘you need to be death, ‘your writing is your coffin’ and ‘you will do nothing positive under the sun and die useless’.

I felt powerless under these threats and was contemplating withdrawing from university but my Bougainvillean course mates Daphney Toke and Ancitha Semoso helped me back.

But overriding these threats a dream was realised. There was my name on the front cover of a book. Pukpuk Publishing released my first book, a collection of poetry, The Pomong U’tau of Dreams.

Then my dancing heart received the 2013 Crocodile Prize award for short stories. Following rapidly was my second book, a collection of short stories, Moments in Bougainville.

My happy heart half-regretted that I was attaining such significant achievements after so many years. But all I had was this life and I had no right to question it and its ways.

Thus I grasped another life’s desire and decided to settle down. I met my partner, Delpine Piruke, who is from Nakorei village in Buin, South Bougainville, when she was a student at Madang Teachers College, In June this year my daughter Dollorose came into my dreaming life.

But my dream is still dragging me to write more. I have loved calling myself a keyboard politician for Bougainville using all the resources Divine Word University has given me.

In January 2014, I completed by Bougainville crisis memoir covering my experiences with the conflict from 1988 to 1997. That book, Brokenville, is the only book written about the crisis by a Bougainvillean.

I was so proud when, in the 2014 Crocodile Prize, it was awarded Ok Tedi Book of the Year.

Such a life of writing in Divine Word University had taken me from bring a backward little known Panguna man out to the wide world.

Today I am often a focus of discussion in the Bougainville political realm. I have met and chatted with great Papua New Guinean figures like Brigadier General Jerry Singirok and Sir Paulias Matane, who were once just illusions. I travel to give talks away from where I am based. And I feel more is in the pipeline.

Universities overseas used my writings. Organisations are being moved by what I write to do research on Bougainville. And I am still dreaming.

With three books published and a fourth book coming later this year there is a fifth done and snoring in my laptop.

My goal is to reach further in writing where no fellow Bougainvillean has yet reached.

For I am still dreaming. I am dreaming to attain more that life has for me.

My life as a Bougainville dreamer at Divine Word University from 2011 to 2014 is over. That key was given to me in 2011, but it was me that decided whether to open the door or sleep with it.

At Divine Word University, in four solid years, I feel I have written my name into the history books.

KEITH JACKSON

THE eminent Papua New Guinean journalist, Blaise Nangoi, has died suddenly in Bougainville at the age of 51.

Mr Nangoi, who retired only in June this year after 32 years with the PNG Post-Courier, spent his entire working life with the newspaper.

He was editor for seven years before being promoted to general manager, a position he retained until his retirement.

He joined the paper as a journalist from the University of Papua New Guinea and quickly showed his talent for the incisive and fearless reporting of politics and national issues that became his trademark.

His career followed in the footsteps of the renowned Luke Sela, the first Papua New Guinean editor of the newspaper.

Mr Nangoi was very supportive of the Crocodile Prize national literary contest during its formative years, enabling senior newspaper staff to work on its administration, publishing the best writing and providing free advertising space in the Post-Courier for promotion.

I found him to be tough, humorous and decisive and his untimely death deprives Bougainville and Papua New Guinea of a man with superb leadership qualities.

He died on Sunday while being rushed to Buka General Hospital after suddenly falling ill.

Mr Nangoi is survived by his partner, five children and four grandchildren. 

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

THE sun is shining now and all I want to do is indulge in my sweet childhood memories.

The world outside my parent’s garden in 6 Mile made no sense to me back then. I was too busy unraveling the mysteries that awaited my curious mind.

When I was not building my cubby house in the garden or constructing a tree house I was playing a game of marble or backyard cricket with my friends.

In the afternoon we would get excited as everyone including the older boys joined in the fun.

Unwrapping caterpillars coiled up in banana leaves was my favourite activity in my parent’s garden. I could spend the whole day looking for them and often left behind a mess that drew disgust and a stern warning from my parents.

After an eventful day I would climb our mango tree to look for the juicy fruit that abounded within the canopy of leaves. Biting into this delicacy with eyes half shut and head nodding with approval, I got lost in its mesmerising taste.

From my mango tree looking out to the world beyond, I dreamed of a Pacific paradise. How I longed to lie and swing back and forth in a hammock under coconut trees looking towards the endless horizon with the sun slowly disappearing behind it.

Even now when I look to the horizon I remember those childhood moments as among the best times of my life.

On other occasions I was in some different tree pretending to fly an aeroplane or helicopter. No fear of heights or limitation to climb to the top to reach my dream.

I often asked myself how a boy from a humble origin could ever get to fulfill a dream of flying resulting from regular visits with my parents to the old Jackson’s Airport and lying on the lawn under the old DC3 that was Captain Black’s spirit and seeing planes flying in and out at will.

Yet look at me now. So different from yesterday, more cautious of flying and eager to quickly get on and off the plane. The closest I got to being an aviator was a short stint I had with Air Niugini stationed on the fourth floor of ANG Haus in Port Moresby.

My life as a child was eventful and adventurous. There was no fear of death and no anxiety about what tomorrow may bring. To a child tomorrow is another new chapter in a never ending story.

Years went by and I realised I was a caterpillar hidden from the world. When the time was right I would crawl out of my childhood to face the reality of adulthood. A reality that lay hidden behind the loving eyes and caring smiles of my parents. 

A child’s best friend is the sight of his parents and the sound of other kids.

In those peaceful years, the air around me was filled with the promising aroma of the golden 1990s.

A juke box on full blast playing Chicago or Little River Band. At lunch hour it was Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers on the radio. In between Roy Orbison, the Beatles, John Farnham and John Travolta soothed my mind.

Elvis, The King, was always a favourite and the announcer behind the mic seemed to like him too. Afternoons were about The Flintstones and Home & Away and in the evening it was Sale of the Century and the Aussie soap, Neighbours.

On the silver screen, America flexed its muscles with Good Morning Vietnam, Delta Force, Rocky Balboa, Rambo, Superman and Terminator.

Yet most families struggled to buy a TV set. I can remember the first that my father bought after much bickering. It was a 14 inch screen from Courts. Back then TV sets were so expensive to buy, the purchase was a big deal to neighbours and community. To add a VHS video cassette signalled real wealth.

For a kid like me Walt Disney was a genius and I loved his legendary creations Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny. Comics were a rarity although I adored superheroes and often imagined I had special powers to fly or lift things.

When we watched a movie about a comic character we talked about it for days and even months. But there were never enough. It seemed Hollywood was too busy indulging in action and drama and forgot about the buying power of kids. How times changed. Today teens rule the world and movies about comic characters are big box office hits.

On the weekend it was all reggae with UB40 and Lucky Dube on repeat.On Saturday an odyssey to the wild west with Bonanza. Sunday was usually church and home. However, when my old man developed a passion for rugby league, we often avoided church to watch matches at the PRL gound.

I was my father’s biggest fan. Still am. I always impressed with his knowledge and insights of the game. For instance, when the Kumuls rubbed shoulders with the mighty Kangaroos, he would tell me before the game that we were going to get whacked with a cricket score.

Even when some of us thought that the game was in the balance he just laughed it off by saying it was early in the match and that the second half would portray a different story. Unfortunately he was always right.

He could also tell when trouble is brewing. There was once a game between Mendi Muruks and Port Moresby Vipers when he left at half time, sensing trouble. Me being young and adventurous decided to stick around.

A few minutes before the final hooter all hell broke loose after the Muruks and Vipers players exchanged punches and were joined by an invading crowds of supporters, mostly Muruks supporters.

In fear of their lives, the Vipers’ players fled in the direction of the grandstand with their only refuge being the tunnel leading to the dressing room. Some suffered concussion while others had cuts on their faces and heads.

One minute I was among the crowd that swamped the field and the next minute I found myself running for cover to avoid the tear gas dispersed by police. This was one of many similar incidents I was involved in.

But until this day, PRL holds a special place in my heart. Not because of the hostility and aggression I witnessed but because I spent a great deal of my time with my father. Today, whenever I enter the oval I re-live those wonderful memories.

The State of Origin contests of that era were some of the best ever. ET, Paul Harrigan, Alfie Langer, Martin Bella, Matt Sing, Laurie Daley, Mal Meninga and Freddy Fittler were some of the best players to have worn a rugby league jumper.

Each time when it rained our 14 inch telly weaved its magic, turning our house into Sesame Street where I met Uncle Sam. Americanism was so radiant back then.

The US is no longer a land of so many opportunities but a land riddled with fear of terrorism and conflict as ideologies and races collide.

To me Sesame Street was a symbol of the good things that America stood for regardless of whether you were Kermit, Big Bird, Elmo or the Cookie Monster.

Now America is battling itself while on the world stage it struggles to maintain global leadership.

The 1980s and 1990s was an era defined by respect for culture and peace unlike today when the culture is synthetic.

While we search for our own peace we should be looking for that peace that is for all to enjoy.

I believe my journey from 6 Mile has got me somewhere.

But where to from here?

JIMMY AWAGL

THE Simbu Writers Association is only six months old as a writing organisation but it is already gearing up for two major activities to accomplish in September 2015.

Over the weekend, the seven-member committee met to deliberate on how the SWA will host and manage the 2015 Crocodile Prize in Kundiawa.

Also on the agenda was the second year of promoting the home-grown concept of ‘Simbu for Literary Excellence’ which involves all high schools in the province in literary and related activities.

The committee got together at 11:00 Saturday at Gum Tree Lookout in Kundiawa. The members were pleased to welcome Jimmy Drekore, recently appointed chairman of the Crocodile Prize Organisation and also SWA president.

His presence gave emotional elevation and confidence to the members as they embarked on their discussion of the two events.

Francis Nii presented a seven-page planning document on the 2015 Crocodile Prize, to be hosted by SWA on 18-19 September.

The members scrutinised the document and provided comments, critique and adjustments and came to a consensus.

The plan has been forwarded to the Keith Jackson and Phil Fitzpatrick for their input and feedback.

A Simbu Crocodile Prize Organising Committee was then appointed comprising Joe Kunda (Provincial Administrator), Essy Walkaima (Provincial Education Administrator), Gabriel Aina (Principal, Kondiu Secondary School), Ware Mukale (Head Teacher, Ku High School) and Jimmy Drekore (COG Chairman and SWA President) as well as SWA team members.

The first day of the meeting saw bright smiles on the faces of SWA members as they look forward to hosting the event typical Simbu style – the first time it has been hosted away from the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby.

The SWA also announced that next year’s ‘Simbu for Literary Excellence’ event will be held on 5 September at Rosary Secondary School.

The culmination of the associated literary competition for the Simbu high and secondary schools – including a debate and quiz - will be held on 19 September to coincide with the Crocodile Prize awards.

Roselyn Tony, Michael Algua and Waugla Wii from Rosary Secondary School are eager to host the students’ event next year.

Mr Algua said that the level of reading and comprehension has dropped drastically in recent times and it has come to the attention of the Provincial Education Authority. The literary contest is being given paramount regard to assure that students benefit from it.

Ms Tony will spearhead the 2015 competition at Kondiu and SWA members will assist to drive awareness in remote Simbu schools.

The committee was also advised that the 2014 Simbu Students Anthology under the management of Arnold Mundua and Mathias Kin is now with Pukpuk Publications awaiting publishing.

MATHIAS KIN

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

AN extremely good-natured, stocky old feller – Joseph - used to come down from the high slopes of Mt Wilhelm every now and then to stay with his ‘daughter’, Dorin Bas, at the DPI compound near Kundiawa, where I also resided in 2004.

Joseph called me “kombani blong mi” and I called him the same. After I learned his age and who he was, my esteem for the bloke increased greatly.

I was amazed that, at his advanced stage in life, he exhibited the stamina and charisma of a 30 year old. Many times we shared a beer at our local Kaugrass Club. He smokes Cambridge brand cigarettes and even chuckled about the opposite sex.

Since I had been indulging in the history of Simbu, I couldn’t let this fellow out of my sight every time I had the opportunity to talk with him. And what an historian he was.

Joseph’s story started in 1933. He was born Miulge. He recounted his story as told to him by his mother, Kogme:

“When I was a few hours old, my mother took me out of the hamlet into the morning sun. She was sitting outside with family members and other admirers when there was a humming noise in the sky in that direction (pointing to the east).

“We thought it was the usual morning humming insects in the trees but the noise got louder and louder and soon it was over our head. My mother carried me and ran into the house. All the people were confused and ran in all directions.

“Some people said it was the bad spirits of the Geregl Bundi people who had come to spell another lot of catastrophes on us. We have never heard a noise this loud before.”

In 1930, the Leahy brothers, Michael and Danny, had discovered gold at Benabena near Goroka. At the time, this was the furthest any white men had ventured into the central highlands. But the discovery was not as promising as earlier thought.

Michael Leahy then convinced his sponsors, the New Guinea Gold Field Company, that they needed to explore beyond Benabena to the west.

On 8 March 1933, a bright blue highlands morning, an aircraft carrying three Leahy brothers, this time big brother Jim was along, and officials from the company took off from Benabena and flew over north Simbu as far as today’s Mt Hagen and back.

This was the same plane that Joseph’s mother and her relatives had heard that morning at Amange village in the Chimbu valley.

So Joseph Miulge was born on 8 March 1933. It was the date that marked the end of the isolation of a million mediaeval people and the beginning of the arrival of white men into Simbu and beyond.

Although he did not know it at the time, of course, Miulge was a special boy.

This first airplane was witnessed by many Stone Age Simbu people that morning. They all saw a big bird making much noise fly high through their skies from east to west and back east some time later.

They hid in bushes or ran into their houses. Many talked of astonishment and wonder. Most people thought it was a magic bird.

The Chuave and Sinasina people thought it was a magic bird sent by the Siane and Lufa people, who were known magicians.

Joseph Miulge’s people in the Chimbu gorge thought it was a magic bird from Bundi.

The Kundiawa and Kerowagi people thought it was a magic bird from the Bomai, who were said to be cannibals who would kill-eat you.

Later the Catholic Mission built an airstrip at Kegsugl. Old Joseph (Miulge) told me of the first time a plane landed there in November 1937:

“I saw the first plane at Kegsugl. Traditionally my Inaugl tribe and the Wandigl were enemies but we did not care, me and many other people went up there to see the first plane land. It came in from the river side.

“As it landed, my hands and legs shook badly and I pissed in my kondai (front garment). When I looked across, the other boys also had water running down their kondai. This was our first time.

“It was a one engine plane and they brought a lot of cargo for the mission. Later, when I went back to Amange, I told everybody – ‘Ah I went to Keglsugl and saw the plane’.”

Many years later when Joseph was a teenager, he and his clansmen helped carry sawn timber for the Catholic Mission down from the Kuragmba Mountains in the Bismarck Range to Goroka.

“Near the Catholic Church in Goroka, I suddenly dropped my load and ran into the bush when I saw the biggest brown pig making so much noise and coming up the mountain fast towards us. All the other men also ran.

“Later we were brought back to the mission and I touched my first car”.

Before 1952, when the road to the coast was not yet constructed, the Catholic Mission and a few of the planters and traders like Jim Taylor and Jim Leahy had flown jeeps in by plane to use on the small network of roads in Goroka and the outlying plantations.

Joseph Miulge told me with a grin that, for the timber they carried from the mountains, a distance of more than 70 kilometres, the men were each paid one tablespoon of coloured beads and a small bottle of paint.

He said it was a white man thing but they were more than happy with it. On later trips, they were given more valuable items like loin cloths, shells, shirts and other goods.

Stemming from the superior stock of the Inaugl tribe in Gembogl, Joseph Miulge was traditionally named after Chief Miulge, his grandfather. He was baptised in 1952 at Toromambuno and given the name Joseph.

Toromambuno was the first Catholic Mission settlement in the highlands after Bundi. Joseph was one of the first people of the area to speak Pidgin and thus was a primary contact person every time the kiaps went into the area.

He assisted the kiaps to supervise the construction of roads and bridges and government stations. Later he joined the Administration and worked as a translator for the kiaps in the Eastern Highlands, which then included Simbu.

In the early 1960s, he became an advisor and translator to Highland leader Kondom Agaundo. Joseph Miulge was a pioneer councillor and first president when the Gembogl Council was formed in 1964 and remained a councillor until 2010.

He served many times in the Simbu provincial assembly. In 1978, he and some selected presidents of Local Level Governments in PNG visited the Queen in England. In 2005, he was awarded an OBE by the Queen for distinguished services to his community.

He also attempted to enter national politics but did not succeed.

Being such a vibrant good looking feller in his time, Joseph attracted many young women from the places he worked but settled for a local girl from the Wandigke tribe.

From this marriage, Joseph and Anna had three sons and a daughter. The girl is married to a man from Samarai. My Kombani, Joseph, also had many grandchildren.

In 2010, 'Kombani blong mi' passed away peacefully unto Ende-ewa Kombuglo (The Forbidden Stone) to join his father Bina and grandfather Miulge.

I did not make it to his funeral in his village in Gembogl but to make amends I thought this short story of a worthy character should be shared with other Papua New Guineans. Lest we forget.

STEFAN ARMBRUSTER | SBS World News

TWO weeks ago a Torres Strait islander died in Cairns hospital from the mutant strain of tuberculosis that originates from Papua New Guinea.

“She was a close contact of a known TB case with the drug resistant strain on Saibai Island a couple of years ago,” said Dr Stephen Vincent, director of thoracic medicine at the Cairns Base Hospital.

“So in reality this is the first Australian citizen to Australian citizen transfer of this particular strain of TB.”

In PNG, tuberculosis is at crisis levels, especially in Western Province which borders on Australian islands in Torres Strait in far-north Queensland.

Hundreds of people cross the border every day. Papua New Guineans come to trade goods and Torres Strait islanders go to visit family. But in recent years they have been carrying an unwelcome passenger.

“Essentially the horse has bolted, we tried very hard to stave off TB getting into Australia, especially multi-drug resistant TB,” said Dr Vincent.

“There are two factors that are out of our control. One is that PNG has essentially declared a state of emergency as far as TB goes. They have death every two hours and more than 50% of their TB tested is multi-drug resistant.

“The other issue is the treaty zone between the outer islands of the Torres Strait and the Western Province of PNG, where there’s free movement of Torres Strait islanders to PNG and PNG nationals to the Torres Strait.”

The Queensland and federal governments have long expected multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) would eventually jump the border into Australia but argued over whose responsibility it was to deal with it.

MDR TB is tuberculosis which has become resistant to two of the essential drugs used to treat it. New drugs are still under development.

While multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is now in Australia, authorities say people have nothing to fear.

“Measures currently in place to control and manage TB in the Torres Strait and throughout Queensland will continue to protect the population,” Queensland Health told SBS World News.

Two TB clusters in the Torres Strait are currently under investigation by the Queensland Health department on the orders of the minister.

Dr Tom Konstantinos, former director of Queensland Health’s TB Services, believes Torres Strait and Papua New Guinean communities on mainland Australia like in Cairns are also at risk.

“People in households can be with an infectious case for many months which allows transmission to occur and then that transmission can extend further when people start to mingle in social groups,” said Dr Konstantinos.

TB is a slow and persistent epidemic and can take up to 10 years to incubate. It could be years before the full extent of its reach in Australia is known.

“At the moment the risk is low but once you’ve got MDR in the country the risk is high, and it’s high for the future, and we predicted this a couple of years ago,” said Dr Vincent.