Tumby Bay - a fine place to be born and  to die - but cast my ashes to the winds, writes the much travelled Phil Fitzpatrick

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - It is not so long ago that people were born in one place and remained there for their whole lives.

This can still happen, as we know, but many people now pass through multiple places over the course of a lifetime.

In places like Papua New Guinea it is still common for people to spend their lives in one area, just as it is in rural regions of Australia.

My next door neighbour, for instance, who is in his eighties, has spent the whole of his life on the southern Eyre Peninsula.

He finds it fascinating and somewhat inexplicable that I have lived in so many places in the course of my life.

There is no hint of regret in his voice when he says this, and I suspect he is simply puzzled that anyone would want to live anywhere other than Eyre Peninsula.

For my part, his attachment and loyalty to his place of birth echoes a distant past laden with tradition and heritage and contrasts markedly with my multiple attachments to many different places.

These began in rural Suffolk in England among rolling fields of kale and barley and shady lanes lined with ancient beech trees. I wasn’t born there but it is the place that formed my earliest memories.

Next were the dusty paddocks of the Adelaide Plains in South Australia where roads were being carved into the hard red clay for a new city and an optimistic future.

To me, that place has an attachment mixed with the disappointment of a rosy future never realised.

In stark contrast my next connection came in the form of high mountains and grassy valleys in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

And this was followed by the rugged limestone karst and endless swathes of hot rainforest on the Great Papuan Plateau.

Those highland mountains must have made a great impression because, upon my return to Australia, I settled in the green hills of the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia.

So too must have the hot tropics because after that I found myself giving in to a nagging yearning for long white beaches and swaying palm trees and moving to Hervey Bay in Queensland.

There I enjoyed the delights of that magical sand island called K’Gari by the local Badtjala people and Fraser Island by everyone else.

And now I’m living in remote Tumby Bay, South Australia, on the edge of a great dry peninsula, driven there by the urge to get away from the seething masses of humanity dicing up the east coast of Australia.

In contrast to my elderly neighbour, I have an attachment to all those places and the formative roles they have played in my life.

If we are shaped by our environment, as the scientists tell us, then I must owe something of my character to all those places.

My neighbour duly expects that upon his passing he will be laid alongside his many ancestors in the cemetery just outside town.

His is a tradition common to many peoples and cultures, that one should be interred in the same place that one is born.

I don’t really care where I end up. I think, if I have a choice, I would like my ashes cast to the wind to blow wherever they wish.

Who knows, perhaps a speck may eventually come to rest in all those places where I have lived and to which I hold so many fond attachments.

Cr Paul Kiap Kurai (sitting) as a schoolboy in 1975, his father, Joseph (Bosboi) Kurai towering over him

DANIEL KUMBON

WABAG – That night in Wapenamanda, Mathew Kandamaine had a strange dream in which he saw his father, Joseph Kurai Tapus, come to his house and ask for a single K5 note so he could attend a party in heaven specially prepared for him.

Early next morning, Mathew woke with a start. He was glad the dream wasn’t real. But he had a sinking feeling, worrying it might turn out to be true.

He shared it with his wife, from Ialibu in the Southern Highlands.

As Mathew and his wife finished talking, they heard a car honk its horn several times from where it was parked on the highway near his home.

One of his brothers, Timothy, had driven their father down from Wabag. Mathew’s heart sank when he saw his father. But Joseph Kurai Tapus was his normal self.

Mathew’s house was owned by WASO Ltd, a company run by the Gutnius Lutheran Church. He had started working for them in 1972 after he left Form One at Mt Hagen Hagen High School because he couldn’t cope after a prolonged bout of malaria.

Joseph Kurai Tapus was a popular man in Enga Province. When people heard that he had come to see his son, they showered him with presents: cash, live chickens, store goods, soft drinks and bunches of bananas.

Everywhere he went in the small township that day, people greeted him with much respect.

“But he did not live to enjoy the presents,” Mathew recalls. “The very next morning I took him back to Wabag, half dead and lying in the back of a Toyota Stout.”

Joseph’s first day in Wapenamanda was filled with fun but that evening he fell ill. Mathew was convinced his father would die when Joseph told him to watch for some signs during his funeral at Kaiap village.

Mathew knew this wasn’t a natural reaction to a sudden sickness.

He later recalled the painful moments of his father’s last couple of days of life.

“I had this dream at about 5am. By 7am, I was telling my wife about it. Not too long afterwards, my brother Timothy drove our father to my house. It was clockwork, a sort of movie replaying before me.

“My father came up the stairs. He began removing his shoes on the verandah before entering the house exactly as I had seen in the dream.

“My father said, ‘The party in heaven is ready. I am coming to request if you can give me K5 if you have any’. Then he came inside, sat down and ate some food my wife offered. Timothy had gone back after dropping dad at my house.

“My father said he would stay with us for a while. He said he had something important to tell me. But that night he complained of feeling sick.

“My father said to me, ‘Mathew, if I die and if the day is fine and sunny during the funeral, put a rope around my neck, drag my body to the Lai River and throw my useless body to be carried away by the currents’.

“He said, ‘Fine weather would mean that my soul would end up in a place of misery, pain and suffering. I do not wish people to waste their time crying over a body that lived a useless life.

“The he said, ‘But if there is bad weather and you see my casket abandoned in the middle of kama (the common ground) on its own, know that I would end up in a good place. Remember to give me a good decent burial’.

“Next morning, his condition worsened. I asked my wife to look after him before I went to work.

“But soon somebody came to fetch me. My father was nearly dead. I was worried he might die away from his own people. So, I told him to exercise his willpower, not give up his spirit yet. He had to go home and die in Wabag.

“I hired a Toyota Stout belonging to Timinao, a Kii clansman. We struggled to fit him properly in the back tray. My dad was a very big man and hard to handle.

“A short way up the dusty road, I thought he was dead. There was no breath coming from his mouth or nostrils. But at Birip, he started to breathe again. We drove on, straight up to the hospital in Wabag.

“That was on a Friday. He had come to Wapenamanda the day before, a Thursday. My dad was in the hospital for three more days. Then on Tuesday he died. That was in 1980.”

Mathew was certain his father would die so he went back to Wapenamanda to collect his family to see him one more time.

But, as he returned with them, near Pawas, they received the sad news that Joseph Kurai Tapus, the former bosboi and the first Wabag Council president had just died.

The news quickly spread. Hundreds of people poured into town.

One of Kurai’s other sons, Paul Kiap Kurai, had been with him when he died.

“I never saw anybody die in my presence,” Paul recalled. “This was the first time to see my own father die before my very eyes. There was a sudden noise, a rush of air escaping out or pulled into his throat. And that was it. He was dead.”

Cr Paul Kiap Kurai at Kaiap village today with the Bosboi's last wife, Kipaukwan, and some of his own children

Paul Kiap had come up from Jimi, where he worked as Council executive officer. He had heard his father was very sick so drove up in a Toyota open-back loaded with marita, pineapples, bananas and other fresh produce hoping his dad would eat some and recover.

But Joseph did not touch the fruit. Nor any of the presents the good people of Wapenamanda had given him. His condition worsened. Paul and his mother, Maria Tukim, continued to keep vigil beside his bed.

At one stage Joseph regained consciousness, saw Paul sitting there and said: “Paul, when I die, take me to Sari catholic mission first. After the priest conducts a funeral service, take my casket up to Kaiap and bury it.”

“I told him I would do that,” Paul said. “Then he drifted back into unconsciousness again.

“After a while he woke and said, ‘Paul, take me to Kaiap right now to where my brothers are. I want to see Erapan, Puki Pii and others. Take me there’. I said OK, I would do that.

“The next instant dad said, ‘There are many angels with wings waiting to take me away. Some are talking to me right now. They want to take me away. But first, take me to aioptenges akalyanda (the men’s house) so I can see my brothers’.

“I knew his time was near. I rushed up to Sangurap catholic mission and asked Fr Herman Raich SVD to come and bless him and perform the last rites before he died.

“When we arrived, my father confessed all his sins in the presence of the priest. He asked for forgiveness and pleaded with God to take him to heaven.

“My father had a clear mind. He knew what he was talking about. His words did not differ or waver. My dad died with peace of mind, never doubting anything.

“I made one mistake. I did not take my father’s body to Sari catholic mission as he had requested from his death bed.

“I took it straight to Kaiap on the road he had built as a bosboi, the same road he had walked down on with Michael Maki to tell people his new Christian name was ‘Joseph.’

“There was a sudden big storm when people came to Kaiap in their hundreds for the funeral. The heavy rain came from nowhere.

“Strong winds began to blow from every direction accompanied by thunder and lightning and a thick fog covered the area. The mourners who filled the kama dispersed leaving the casket alone in the open.

“Only Mathew Kandamaine stood there with an umbrella protecting the casket from the pelting rain.”

Paul Kiap thought this had happened because he did not take his father’s casket to Sari catholic mission. But Mathew knew his father’s prediction had been fulfilled.

His father had told him there would be rain, thunder and lightning and a thick fog during his funeral. It would mean his spirit would go to a fine place of rest and complete happiness.

But if the weather was fine, Mathew had to put a rope round his neck, drag his body to the Lai River and dump it there to be carried far away from his tribal lands.

It would mean that he had lived a useless deceptive life only to end up in a place of misery, pain and suffering.

Joseph Kurai Tapus didn’t want his people to cry over his body if his spirit was not going to end up in heaven – a useless vessel that was home to a sinful spirit which would only perish.

Mathew explained the last moments of his father’s funeral.

“There was a very big storm like dad said there would be. Nobody dared stand with me to protect the casket, not even one of my father’s many wives, sisters, children or grandchildren.

“But that didn’t matter. I knew my father’s spirit was travelling to a good destination. Everything happened exactly as he told me in Wapenamanda.

“The strong winds and heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning with thick fog engulfing the entire funeral area was something out of the ordinary. It seemed as if unseen forces were trying to take my father’s casket away undercover.

“When I was a young boy, I had seen his strange nocturnal behavior at the aioptenges akalyanda (men’s house). I had seen him speak to somebody behind bright lights in the early mornings.

“Now I conclude, my father was no ordinary man.”

Joseph Kurai Tapus wished to be near two of his sons before he died. It seems he had gone to Wapenamanda to bring Mathew back to Wabag. He forced himself to stay alive long enough to allow Paul Kiap Kurai to come all the way from the remote Jimi District.

And he seems to have died a contented man. Paul Kiap Kurai knows his father loved him, as he explained in these words:

“I know my father loved me. He probably admired me for being close to him. I was always close when people came with presents or with problems for my dad to solve and to discuss social issues of the day.

“I watched very closely how he dealt with each person, how he spoke, the type of advice he provided and how he distributed food and wealth. And I know he must have favoured me for being close to him to observe and learn.

“I was the one who went to fetch water when visitors came. Bigger boys were there but I always volunteered. I was always alert.

“I do not intend to boast but I was born special. When I came into the world, I was wearing my umbilical cord around my neck like a necklace.

“The woman, Mrs Puki Pii, who made the announcement to say whether I was an axe (boychild) or yari (wooden spade signifying a female0 described me as no ordinary child. She predicted I would make it in life.

“When I came up from Jimi to see my father on his sick bed, I could have been anywhere outside. But I sat there right beside him when he died. I know he imparted his blessings on me. And that’s why I think, I have succeeded in life.”

Paul’s only regret is that he did not take his father’s casket to Sari catholic mission first for prayers because that is where he was baptised and given the name ‘Joseph.’  But he made up for it by asking Fr Herman Raich SVD to perform the last rites.

He knows that if his father were still alive he would shrug it off and forgive him, for he never held grudges against anybody for long.

Cr Paul Kiap Kurai says his father could have lived a little longer but died prematurely from arrow wounds he sustained when he took part in a tribal war against the Timtim major clan of the Kunalin tribe in the Ambum Valley.

The cause of the fight was over a dog. It had happened many years previously.

“Our father told us not to claim compensation because the reason for the fight was not over some important issue,” Cr Kurai said.

“Dad felt it wasn’t right for us to claim compensation when the cause of fight was over a dog. And especially when he died a Christian.”

Community consultation at Karawara Island,  East New Britain (BRCC)

PETER SOLO KINJAP

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea was identified as one of the most vulnerable countries in the wake of global climate crisis.

Lack of basic government services in the most remote parts of the country have further deteriorated since then and the current coronavirus crisis may increase PNG’s vulnerability.

As such, PNG needs help and support in many areas including climate resilience action.

The impacts of climate change will grow. Among those already affected are PNG’s small island and atoll communities.

Despite the critics, much is being done by way of response. Led by the PNG government through the Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA), partners like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are doing their bit to support these efforts.

Based on the recommendations of an independent expert group, PNG was selected as one of the Pacific countries to participate in an ADB-funded project, Building Resilience to Climate Change in Papua New Guinea.

Focus group discussion,  Kaileuna Island ,Milne Bay (BRCC)

The goal of this program is to help countries transform to a climate resilient development path, consistent with national poverty reduction and sustainable development goals.

It seems there is nowhere left on the planet where the effects of a changing climate are not being felt. Unfortunately, these effects of climate change are hitting developing countries harder than most.

Across the Pacific, a changing climate is expected to have a significant impact on future yields of everything from fish to rice.

For PNG, action against climate change requires long-term commitment. The causes and consequences of climate change stretch far beyond the boundaries of individual countries.

They are long-term and pervasive. Effective efforts require local, national and international action. Most importantly, it requires country ownership and political commitment.

During the last 50 years or so, increasing pressures on resources have intensified PNG’s vulnerability due to extreme events such as natural hazards, including cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

PNG’s rural coastal populations are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and other weather-related manifestations of climate change.

Within the five target provinces of Manus, East New Britain, Bougainville, Morobe and Milne Bay, vulnerable communities have been identified on 24 islands.

Water tank on Piul Island, Bougainville (BRCC)

The Asian Development Bank is providing K83 million grant to help PNG build its resilience and include climate resilience into development planning in these five provinces.

According to the ADB, PNG’s economy is likely to suffer the biggest losses in the Pacific from climate change impacts. It forecasts severe failures in sweet potato and other agricultural crops as well as land losses due to a rise in the sea level.

Peter S Kinjap is providing media and communication consultancy support for the ADB-funded Building Resilience to Climate Change in PNG project in conjunction with the Climate Change and Development Authority. Email: pekinjap@gmail.com

SCOTT WAIDE
| My Land, My Country

LAE - There is no other way to say this to the government of Papua New Guinea.

Prime Minister, you need to issue the orders to shut down our borders starting with our international airports.

While every other country is initiating lockdowns, PNG is still receiving flights from Singapore and the Philippines knowing full well we cannot adequately screen and track suspected cases.

There appears to be no sense of urgency.

We need to shut down our borders and prepare our people before there is an outbreak. Our efforts will be uphill if we allow the global crisis to arrive on our doorsteps.

I know for a fact that passenger traffic has dropped significantly.

If Air Niugini is operating, how much revenue has it made in the last two months? How much of a loss will it be if a shut-down is ordered?

How much of a cost will be for this country if an outbreak happens because we kept our borders open?

Philippines president Roderigo Duterte has locked down Manila City due to coronavirus. Australia has banned public gatherings and initiated some travel bans. US president Donald Trump has banned travel from Europe for the next 30 days.  Smaller Pacific Islands have issued orders for their own travel bans.

The amount of investment going into this emergency globally is massive. Fiji has opened a new biomedical lab. Australia has announced a K36 billion stimulus package for its economy.

We are yet to see even an outline of an economic strategy to cushion the effects of coronavirus. There has to be some clarity and certainty on what we as a country can and should do.

We understand there has been an ‘allocation’ of K45 million but none of the provinces yet have a fully functioning coronavirus isolation centre.

Morobe’s Angau Hospital response team is still waiting for the money to come. They are ready to work.

We appreciate all that is being done so far. Your hard work is highly commended. However, members of the National Executive Council need to show leadership and ensure there is trust and confidence by maintaining dialogue with the media.

We, the media, don’t desire a standoff around coronavirus related information gathering and sharing. We want to help.

But it is absolutely frustrating when we get no answers at all or the answers come with little clarity and direction.

Information needs to be shared and people need to be reassured through its timely release at both bureaucratic and political levels.

This is my personal view.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - The government of Papua New Guinea has been meeting to discuss the possible impacts on the nation of the coronavirus (Covid-19).

So far the emphasis seems to be centred on economic matters and how revenue losses from any downturn in resource income will affect the bottom line of the budget.

In a statement issued two days ago, the Treasury identified two possible scenarios, one where the virus does not spread to PNG and the other where it does.

It calls the first scenario ‘contained’ and the other ‘uncontained’.

Anyone with an ounce of sense will realise that the possibility of the virus being kept out of PNG is remote in the extreme.

Why the government is seriously talking about such an option beggars belief.

It is not a case of whether the coronavirus will reach PNG but when it will arrive.

Given that there are now cases in Indonesia and a free flow of legal and illegal migration across the Indonesia-PNG border, to consider any lesser scenario is patently absurd.

According to the Treasury the uncontained’ scenario “is where coronavirus spreads throughout the country”.

“The economic and health implications will be much more serious,” the statement says. And it admits that “modelling is still occurring on the possible extent of the crisis”.

The statement goes on to say that “we are actively exploring options to fill some of the gaps from international assistance”.

These ‘filling the gap’ options include getting loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

This is way too little, way too late.

In defence of PNG it should be noted that many governments the world over are similarly lagging behind in their preparations. The USA, for instance, is way behind the eight ball.

A chastened Australian government, burnt by its terrible response to the recent bushfires, is now attempting to get ahead of this new crisis and, as far as can be ascertained, is beginning to do better.

But one thing it doesn’t seem to have factored into its thinking is the impact of the virus on places like PNG and other Pacific nations which will inevitably come looking to it for assistance.

This oversight is hard to figure out because a rampant and uncontrolled outbreak in PNG will be a major threat to Australia.

All that has been done so far is an attempt to close off travel across the Torres Strait.

The border between PNG and Australia in the Torres Strait is permeable and almost impossible to police.

So if there is a major outbreak of coronavirus in PNG it is inevitable that it will travel down that route.

Without being too alarmist, history tells us that outbreaks of disease in PNG are notoriously difficult to manage because of the terrain and the lack of resources.

The PNG government is trying to put a positive spin on the whole affair.

As the Treasury says: “We want to assure you the Marape-Steven government will continually demonstrate its leadership through action and using facts to inform our advice instead of preaching doom and stirring up panic that is counterproductive and misleading for the people of PNG”.

That sort of spin is not what is required now.

Neither are ‘modelling’ of impacts or ‘actively exploring options’. The time for that sort of head-in-the-sand navel gazing is long past.

The spread of coronoavirus seems to have spared PNG so far, but nevertheless the economy will suffer a big hit

SCOTT WAIDE
| EMTV | Extracts

LAE - Papua New Guinea may need to review its economic outlook for the medium term as global economies contend with the wide-ranging impacts of coronavirus.

While Papua New Guineans have been debating the preparedness of the health system, and bracing for a possible outbreak, the economic burden brought on by the global pandemic could further cripple efforts to contain the spread of the disease.

As a small economy in region, the impacts are being felt in pockets across various sectors.  However, this is expected to become more pronounced as the Chinese economy continues to slow down.

Heavy industry imports out of China have been delayed by two months. Staff from one PNG-based drilling contractor said machine parts ordered aren’t expected to arrive until May. Parents are being told that school uniform orders have also been delayed due to the coronavirus.

While the government is yet to quantify the impacts on tourism, there are reports of a marked drop in the number of travellers on inbound Air Niugini flights from Singapore, the main transit port for international travellers coming to PNG.

Agriculture exports are also expected to take a hit from the global crisis.

In February there was an oversupply of Arabica coffee in the global market which saw prices plunge. A dip in global coffee consumption due to the closure of cafes and restaurants will see a further drop in coffee prices over coming months.

Similar lower prices are also expected to be seen in cocoa growing provinces.

Professional policing should never involve unlawful conduct, especially torture - which they glibly call "interrogation"

LYDIA KAILAP

KIMBE - The common practice of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary picking up youths going about their legitimate business in the street, throwing them in the back of a police 10-seater and belting them to try and get information (torture), that they may or may not have, has to stop.

Police Minister Bryan Kramer, your officers cannot expect our youth to respect the rights of others, and not steal from them or harm them, if they themselves are victims of illegal violence from police officers.

Many of us are working very hard to get youth away from crime and violence and substance abuse; the injustice of police brutality is just sending them wild as a result of the trauma.

Professional policing should never involve unlawful conduct; especially torture - which they glibly call "interrogation". They are killing our sons just because they are not dressed in frigging suits and ties.

Please have police trained to perform their duties within the law. Their violence just leads to more violence and crime as the cycle spirals out of control.

Three young members of Youth For Change were 'abducted' by police off the street in Kimbe one afternoon recently.

They were on their way home from a week-long training workshop for youth on Family Violence and Community Healing. They were "interrogated" in the back of the vehicle and then released.

They had spent the whole week with more than 70 others finding solutions to youth crime and violence, including alcohol and drug misuse.

They had contributed their ideas to strategise genuine change. Then this.

A group of witnesses and other participants from the training workshop - all members of Youth For Change - gathered at the police station in protest.

We held a fruitful discussion with the leader of the task force involved and are hoping it will work with our youth in the future, not against them.

If the police want the community to work with them, then treat us all with respect and within the law. Violence gets nowhere. Ever.

Really sick of this shit. Torture is against every law in PNG and globally; it is not acceptable.

CHRIS OVERLAND

ADELAIDE - In late 1969, I was summoned to the Assistant District Commissioner’s office in Kerema and told I was to prepare to go immediately on patrol in the mountains lying to the north of the town.

I was to be accompanied by three aid post orderlies and several police. Our task was to identify and treat people suffering from the Hong Kong Influenza, which was running rampant across the world and had finally reached Papua New Guinea.

So far as I can recall, similar patrols were being sent out all over the Gulf District and the entire country to cope with what had rapidly become a major public health emergency.

Before my departure, I was sent to the hospital to learn how to inject people with procaine penicillin. This drug was known to be an effective treatment of the pneumonia which was and still is the primary source of fatalities amongst flu victims.

I can still remember how to quarter a buttock and then stab the needle into the upper quadrant of the gluteus maximus muscle with considerable force, before slowly injecting the buttock with about 30 millilitres of the drug.

The result was a large, sore lump in the bum, which slowly released the drug throughout the body to fight the infection.

Less than 48 hours later my colleagues and I were deposited by helicopter at Paingoba village in the Pepike census district.

From there, we were asked to visit as many nearby villages as possible to identify and treat flu victims who had subsequently contracted pneumonia.

We soon found many people who were very sick indeed and began treating them.

Anyone who has had procaine penicillin will know that it is unpleasant. I can verify this from firsthand experience, having endured several such injections at various times to treat serious infections, notably very severe tonsillitis.

The people bore this treatment stoically. Nevertheless I was especially sorry for the children we treated in this way. But it had to be done.

Over the course of several weeks, the patrol saw or treated more than 200 people. At least 22 people died in the relatively small area our patrol could reach, 11 of them in one poor village.

I have no idea what the overall death toll was in PNG, but total deaths across the world were estimated to be between one and four million.

By inference, some thousands of Papua New Guineans must have died as a consequence of contracting a disease for which they had no natural immunity.

Residents of the highlands, who lived in areas remote from medical services, were particularly badly affected.

The response of the colonial Administration was very rapid and comprehensive, at least as far as its resources allowed.

This no doubt mitigated the worst impact of the disease but fell short of the effort required to reach everyone in the country at that time.

Now, with COVID 19 spreading rapidly, PNG is once again under threat, this time by an apparently much more virulent disease with a death rate of around 3.5%.

My sense is that PNG is much less well prepared now to deal with this disease than it was in the case of the Hong Kong Flu.

There seems to be a certain amount of complacency and dithering on the part of the government.

This impression may be wrong, and I hope it is, but the consequences of an inadequate response could be devastating.

Charlie Lynn argues it's about time the Kokoda Track came under the management of locals not imported park rangers

CHARLIE LYNN

SYDNEY – The Australian foreign affairs department (DFAT) 'Kokoda Initiative' has managed the Kokoda Trail through their surrogate Kokoda Track Authority for the past 11 years at a cost of more than $50 million (K105 million).

But in that time they have not been able to identify a single Papua New Guinean with the expertise to maintain the trail in a safe condition and protect the local environment.

Not a single one from PNG’s eight million citizens who include CEOs, professors, scientists, teachers, builders, pilots, doctors, geologists, anthropologists, conservationists, businessmen and expert bushmen as well as a host of professions and trades.

So the Kokoda Track Authority has reverted to a patronising colonial system of management by engaging Queensland park rangers as the new kiaps to do the job for them.

To add to the insult, the Authority is using local PNG rangers to show the new kiaps the trail so the kiaps can then tell the PNG rangers how to manage it - something they, their fathers and grandfathers have been doing for generations.

It will be interesting to see the reaction of Papua New Guinea’s leaders to the reintroduction of colonialism on the trail.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - I’ve got a host of friends and acquaintances who don’t wholly exist. They all live just shy of the cusp of reality.

Most of them are amalgams and constructs. They contain a good bit of me, elements of people I have known or read about and a fair slab of pure imagination. In short, they are the characters in the stories I write.

This doesn’t make them any less real in my mind.

I may have cobbled them together from disparate sources but once assembled they have settled into my consciousness in much the same way as all the living and breathing people I have known.

If I met one of them in the street I’m sure I wouldn’t be surprised. I would ask them what they had been up to and invite them for a coffee.

I would ask them where they had been, what they had done and what they planned to do in the future.

Just because I created them doesn’t mean I know all about them. From the moment of creation they took on a life of their own and I lost all control over them.

In the stories I wrote about them I only acted as a guide. In many cases I simple followed and wrote down what happened.

Every single one of them acted with an independent mind. More often than not what they did surprised me as much as anyone else.

Sometimes I forget that they are creations and not real people. Sometimes I forget that the things they did, their ups and their downs, didn’t actually happen.

The world of a writer’s imagination is a magical place. A place where all sorts of crazy things can occur.

A writer’s mind can make the most improbable dream, or the most horrific nightmare, seem commonplace.

On the other side of the looking glass, time can be bent and turned back on itself. The physically impossible can become commonplace. Strange worlds inhabited by fantastic creatures can coalesce.  Death can be cheated and life can bloom in unexpected and strange ways.

Did I really create these people and creaures, or did I simply stumble across them? Were they already there patiently waiting for me to find them? And if they were, where were they waiting?

How did their world become my world?  And more to the point, how did that happen in the first place?

Was there some sort of preordained purpose in their appearance? Are they messengers bearing mysterious truths? What compelled me to seek them out?

That last question is probably one that writers down the ages have constantly asked themselves. It is one that reaps as many answers as there are stories.

Why did I write that novel, why did I write that short story, why did I write that poem, why did I write that essay?

Why did I think it was necessary for people to know what I had to say?

Those are questions that lie beyond the purely artistic endeavour, beyond the simple joys of stringing words together for pleasing and dramatic effect.

It is the question that readers ask as they emerge from the cocoon of words that the writer has wrapped around them.

Why was the writer trying to make me smile, why was the writer trying to shock me, why was the writer trying to make me feel so sad? What was it that the writer was trying to tell me?

Little do they know that the writer may not know the answer to those questions either. Little do they know that writers are guided by the denizens of their imaginations.

Little do they know that the message, if in fact there is one, often also comes as a surprise to the writer.

ROBERT FORSTER

NORTHUMBRIA - This photograph is the most puzzling in my Papua New Guinean collection.

I tramped through the bush for almost six years and it is the only example I bumped into that had any resemblance to the totem pole so often presented as typical of Native American culture in the nineteenth century or the mumbo-jumbo, voodoo style, pagan doll depictions so readily associated with early British exploration of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Did kiaps and anthropologists who broke PNG bush much earlier than the late 1960s come across anything that was similar?

It was housed in a traditional sentry box-like structure standing at the end of a line of village houses in the Pilitu section of the Goilala Sub-District that I came upon in January 1974.

The dominant mission in the area was Roman Catholic but it was not a wayside shrine. Nor was it a place where an individual might sit alone and enjoy solitude or perhaps meditate.

It would have been impossible for a human body to squeeze in.

The answers to questions posed by the curious Europeans passing through in 1974 were not obviously evasive – but nor did they offer any clue as to its function.

My dominant thought was that it was an altar of some kind and the middle shelf may at times have carried objects of more significance than the withered flowers on the left and right.

I have since wondered if it was linked to a cargo cult. There was no obvious evidence of any activity when the census patrol moved through but I think back to a casual weekend helicopter flight I enjoyed over the Karuama region to the Pilitu’s immediate north at roughly the same time.

A French commercial pilot was keen to impress my wife’s unmarried sister so Paula and I, along with Rosemary who had place of honour in the front seat, piled in and enjoyed a surprisingly long demonstration of his flying skills.

First off was a landing on the Aibala River immediately below Tapini then a steep climb just feet away (that is how it felt) from the face of one of the unusually steep mountains immediately west of the Loloipa River - now named Angabunga on maps.

The highlight was the exhilarating swoop, deliberately engineered by the hopeful Frenchman, as we reached the summit and accelerated into the next valley.

Below us were a series of traditional Goilala villages strung street fashion along narrow ridges which offered the only chance of flat land.

However everyone we could see in these villages - and memory says they were young men - was wearing an identical scarlet laplap.

Moreover they were extraordinarily excited by our appearance. Many times more enthusiastic than an appearance by a stray (but not exceptionally rare) helicopter might have justified.

Cargo cults were especially active in the Kunimeipa region to the Karuama’s north at that time and the strange bright red laplaps, which could have been removed in seconds if a nosey visitor appeared, may have signalled they were active in those villages too.

Did the strange totem pole signal that cults were bubbling up in Pilitu at the same time?

And did the French pilot succeed in persuading Rosemary to swoon gratefully in his arms?

No chance. He was thanked profusely then ignored as she instead pursued her determination to marry a didiman stationed in Lae.

Robert Forster is author of The Northumbrian Kiap, an account of bush administration in self-governing PNG. If you want to know more click on to this Amazon link

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07DGFV5CJ/

Health staff screen airline passengers at Majuro Marshall Islands (Hilary Hosia RNZ Pacific)

NEWS DESK
| RNZ Pacific | Asia Pacific Report | Pacific Media Watch

WELLINGTON, NZ - Pacific countries have further tightened border measures to try to keep the coronavirus from gaining a foothold in the islands.

Six cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Pacific so far – the first three in French Polynesia and, on Sunday night, three were confirmed in Guam.

Health officials have made no secret of their fears about the rapidly spreading virus, and what it could do in isolated countries with limited health resources. Many have pointed to the devastation wrought by the measles in Samoa last year.

In Samoa, the government further tightened travel restrictions to keep out the coronavirus over the weekend.

Travellers from 33 countries – including Australia, but not New Zealand – are now required to spend at least two weeks in self-quarantine and provide coronavirus test results no more than five days old.

Anyone entering from any country – including returning residents – must show proof of having had a medical check within three days of arrival.

In French Polynesia, all cruise ships have been banned and work permits suspended. Anyone entering must now also show medical certificates.

The Cooks Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga have also banned cruise ships.

This weekend, Tonga also declared a public health emergency, giving powers to authorities to ban mass gatherings and other events, including shutting kava bars.

Fiji’s government has banned cruise ships and international events, while foreigners will be banned from all local events.

In an address to the nation last night, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said all measures were being taken to reduce the spread of Covid-19 when it arrives in Fiji.

He said isolation units had been prepared in each of the country’s divisions.

Bainimarama said all government ministers and officials would be barred from overseas travel.

“Cruise ships will be banned from berthing anywhere in Fiji. Also from Monday, international events are not be allowed in Fiji, and local events will be closed to all guests coming in from overseas.

“We also highly discourage all Fijians from travelling overseas.”

Bainimarama said the government would present a supplementary budget on 26 March to help the economy weather the coronavirus pandemic.

Tim Terrell and two local kiaps on the first course at Finschhafen Training Centre, 1960

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Former kiap Tim Terrell AM died in Canberra last Tuesday at the age of 90.

His passing is significant in the history of Papua New Guinea because he established the first training centre for local kiaps at Gagidu near Finschhafen in 1959-60, assisted by another kiap, Peter Foldi.

In July 1959 the Public Service Ordinance had been amended to allow for the appointment of suitably qualified Papua New Guineans into the public service in anticipation of self-government and independence.

Some 125 positions were created of which 12 were earmarked for local kiaps.

Several departments had already begun training programs but there was no program for kiaps. Tim Terrell was given the job of establishing it.

It was a big job. Not only had he to supervise the building of a training centre but he also had to plan a curriculum, write the teaching notes and look after the welfare of the young Papua New Guinean trainees.

He began by converting an old ex-Army barracks at Finschhafen into accommodation units and lecture rooms.

While the role of a kiap was attractive to many young Australian men it didn’t generally appeal to young Papua New Guineans, most were not attracted by the prospect of service at remote patrol posts in the bush.

There were six local trainee patrol officers on the first course and not many more on subsequent courses.

However, by the time the Finschhafen Training Centre closed in 1965 and the courses transferred to the new Administrative College at Waigani, it had graduated many of the men who would ultimately lead PNG to independence.

They included men like Basil Koe, Jack Bagita, Micky Rarua, Gorua Gomara, Jerry Nalau, Posa Kilori, Bernard Borok, Seaea Avosa, Joe Nombri, Jack Karukuru, William Warren, Cedric Tabua and Noel Levi.

All these men became District Officers, District Commissioners or department heads.

It was to Tim Terrell and his assistants, Peter Foldi, Terry Dwyer, Brian Jinks and Graeme Hogg, that they owed their success.

Charles Edward Timothy Terrell AM was born in Darjeeling in India in 1929.

His death notice reads: “Tim lived a remarkable life devoted to helping others all over the world, particularly the most vulnerable in Papua New Guinea.

“Tim was a gentleman, a man of integrity, commitment and humility.”

The Peië grasshopper

AISHII NOKOVANO GITEHOMA
| Transcribed by Emily Bina

KOTIYUFA VILLAGE 2013 - Gholou-e valley, before human beings arrived, was occupied by two tribes of grasshoppers. One was the dull brown coloured Ganu tribe. The other was the multi-coloured Peië.

During the dry season, as leaves of plants matured and died, the food source for grasshoppers would diminish. As the dry season got longer, the competition for good green leaves to eat became intense.

The chiefs of the two tribes of grasshoppers would call a meeting to set a time for the rain dance. 

When it rained, it watered the plants, the plants put out new leaves and then the grasshoppers had plenty of food. 

There was now an urgency to hurry along the rainy season.  The grasshoppers had their singsing ground at the Paketo Marshes at the foot of Mitega Hill.

It was a good spot because the other animals could watch from the side of the mountain while the singsing took place in the flats below.

All living creatures came from far and wide to see the spectacle of colours of what was now billed as the Ganukanu Singsing. 

The tribes of Ganu and Peië were famous for their artworks. They knew all the colour combinations of the plants, flowers, roots and barks which they used to colour themselves and their fineries.

The Ganukanu singsings were the best in the valley with all the best hue of colours and sounds in the land.  They did all types of singsing – the short ghahise, the long ghahise, the tritoro, the wesan sulu and the alu sama - and with so many change of costumes that it guaranteed to be a mind-defying day. 

Best of all, the final of the competition was when the grasshoppers made synchronised beats and sounds using their hind legs.  This was special because it was believed that the rubbing of the hind feet summoned the rain clouds.    This was called the Competition of the Hind Foot. 

Paketo Marsh was divided into two parts and the two tribes took their place on each side - the Ganu tribe took the northern side and the Peië Tribe took the southern side.

The judges to this last competition had been always the two chiefs of the tribes. 

However, every year for a long, long time, Chief Ganu and Chief Peië could never agree on the winner. 

Each of the drummers did their best to outdo the others so that, eventually, it all became a huge choir.  A competitor doing his own special beat was somehow always worked into the beat of the others so that it sounded as though it was a trick or ruse by the whole competition.

The synchronised sound of so many hind feet rubbing soon sounded like thunder which soon brought the rain clouds over the mountains into the Gholou-e valley.  With so much sound, the chiefs always found it difficult to judge which tribe was best.

This singsing time, the chiefs decided they wanted to settle this problem of finding a winner by appointing another person should to be the judge.  After much discussion and debate, it was finally decided that Getipolo would be the judge of the final event, the Competition of the Hind foot.

So, after all the other singsings had been completed and when the competition of the hind foot was called, the two chiefs made the announcement that Getipolo would judge the Competition of the Hind Foot.

Getipolo had been chosen because he had the best natural dance beat and rhythm.  He was so good at strutting his wings and tail to his songs and could step dances that no other birds did.  He was also a good show off.

He was given a high place at the singsing and all those who came to the singsing acknowledged him.

He grew and grew in the respect he was given. So when the competition started and he took his judging position, his head was so full of his own pride.

The competition started and Getipolo began judging.  He walked to the front of the competitors of the Ganu and Peië tribes and listened closely to the different styles in the beating and rubbing of the hind legs.  

He listened to the different beats and long rolls here and the long rolls there.  He listened to the gimbals here and there.  He noted the tomtom beats. 

But he did not just walk among the competitors.  He strutted his feathers and wagged his tail.  He jumped small jumps here and big jumps there.  He soared in small flights here and big flights there.  Finally, he danced to the beat and rhythms of the grasshoppers’ hind foot beat.

He was enjoying himself so much that, in time, he forgot to complete the judging.

Meanwhile, the grasshoppers were waiting for him to make a decision and they made even more hind foot music which grew in volume so that it drew in all the other grasshoppers in the valley who were not part of the competition to join in the hind foot music.

And soon the rains came. 

The grasshoppers had made such a racket that the clouds heard them and came from far and wide.  The whole valley was covered with clouds: big clouds and small clouds, white clouds and black clouds. 

The rains fell all afternoon, and they fell short and long; they fell light and heavy and they fell in small hailstorms and big hailstorms.

The competition dancers waited patiently in the rain for Getipolo to make a decision.  As they waited, and waited, the marshes began to fill up with water.   Still, the chiefs asked the competition to continue and so the grasshoppers still continued their beating of their hind feet. 

Getipolo was still strutting his thing.  He did not just walk.  He strutted his feathers and wagged his tail.  He jumped small jumps here and big jumps there. 

He soared small flights here and big flights there. He did small and long rolls, he did light and heavy muruk walks, he rolled small hailstorms and there. 

He continued to forget that he was the judge of the competition and that the dancers were still waiting for him to make a decision.

And the rain continued to fall. And Paketo marsh filled up.  Getipolo ignored the rain and just continued to dance to beat of the hind feet.

Eventually, the grasshoppers had rubbed their hind feet so much that they had no strength to kick themselves high and fly away.  So they could not escape the rising waters in marshes.

Poor Getipolo, he was so conceited that he never chose a winner as he was still doing his struts and dances. And most of the competitors in the Paketo Marshes drowned when the creeks overflowed the marshes.

The two grasshopper chiefs of Ganu and Peië regretted choosing another person to be the judge.  They collected the remnants of their tribes and flew away. 

Before they did so, they placed a curse on Getipolo that he and his descendants would forever dance around excreta.

So Getipolo and his clan are always doing exactly the same dance styles that he performed for the Ganukanu competition wherever there is excreta lying around – and especially near pit toilets.

This is the legacy that his descendants inherited from the curses of Chief Ganu and Peië.

The Toilet Keeper

Edited by Baka Bina for ‘Antics of Alonaa Volume 2’ with editorial assistance from Ed Brumby

Notes

Getipolo = Willy Wagtail or 'Toilet Keeper' (Tokano language)

Ganukanu = grasshoppers (Tokano)

Ganu = shorter version of Ganukanu

Gholou-e = Goroka, literal translation, ‘the dawn has broken’

JEFFREY WALL
| Australian Strategic Policy Institute

CANBERRA - One of the questions frequently asked about Australia’s closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, is whether a military, or other, coup is possible.

Over the 40-plus years of my association with PNG, my view has been consistent—it is possible but fortunately highly unlikely.

There are two reasons why I have always been confident in this assessment.

First, the basics of PNG’s parliamentary democracy are reasonably secure and stable. PNG has a modern and generally relevant national constitution, a robustly independent judiciary, a generally free press (more recently joined by a growing social media presence and influence), and most important of all a vibrant national parliament—even with its many imperfections.

The second reason for my confidence is somewhat more complex, but nonetheless critical.

When PNG gained independence the founding leaders, such as Michael Somare and Julius Chan, showed great wisdom in ensuring that the newly raised PNG Defence Force established and maintained a ‘balance’ across the country’s administrative regions in the recruitment and training of personnel.

I had the privilege of mentoring the PNGDF’s first commander, Brigadier General Ted Diro, when he left the defence force and won a seat in parliament at the 1982 national elections.

Maintaining the regional balance is something he discussed with me, and he regarded it as one of the most important achievements of his term as commander.

The balance was clearly designed to ensure that harmony and discipline within the fledgling force were maintained, and that young men and women from all parts of PNG could serve the nation in the defence force.

Even though it was largely unwritten, and not enshrined in the constitution adopted at independence, the policy was clearly designed to ensure that none of Papua New Guinea’s four regions (Highlands, Southern, Momase and Islands) could dominate numerically, even though historical factors did see officers from the Southern Region hold more senior positions in the period after independence.

Over the years since 1975, the leadership of the PNGDF was broadly shared by officers drawn from all regions, and care was exercised in the recruitment process to ensure proportionate representation.

There’s been no doubt in my mind since I first went to PNG in 1977 that the commitment to fair representation of all four regions in the recruitment and training process has been an important factor in ensuring the military has generally stayed out of politics and upheld its role as a disciplined force.

The defence force deserves considerable credit for its non-interference in PNG’s vibrant political process despite the fact that the military has been woefully underfunded by successive governments, resulting in limited recruitment until recently, inadequate pay and conditions (especially housing), and a lack of equipment.

There have been demonstrations, and worse, but given the inadequate attention the force has received that’s hardly surprising.

The one attempt at a ‘coup’, if it rates as such, was actually initiated by the then police commissioner, Paul Tohian, 30 years ago when the national government led by Rabbie Namaliu (whom I advised at the time and for many years after) negotiated a ceasefire with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army to enable the withdrawal of PNGDF personnel who had been sent to Bougainville when the rebellion broke out in 1989.

Tohian strongly opposed the ceasefire. He had overall responsibility for the disciplined forces— defence and police—during the state of emergency on Bougainville, but he was overruled by the national government.

The attempt lasted but a few hours and Tohian’s call to both defence and police personnel to join him in bringing down the government attracted almost no support either from the leadership or from the rank and file.

I was in Port Moresby at the time working on some key strategies for Namaliu. I regarded Tohian as a friend, having worked with him during the successful state of emergency to reduce crime in Port Moresby some years earlier. I was quickly briefed on the unfolding events and didn’t feel at all threatened as it became apparent that he was acting more out of frustration than anything else.

Now, however, there’s credible evidence that the crucial maintenance of balance in the PNGDF has been put at risk.

Social media is remarkably robust in PNG—not always accurate, but always forthright.

The newspaper, The National, reported that a PNGDF recruitment team was stood down after claims emerged on social media that of the 320 recruits currently undergoing training at Goldie Recruit Training Depot near Port Moresby, 253 are Highlanders, 37 are from Momase, 16 are from the Islands Region, and just 14 are from the Southern Region.

There’s rightly growing alarm at those numbers. It is absolutely contrary to the careful approach successive governments, and disciplined force leaders, have adopted since independence.

If not dealt with the very stability of the defence force will be at risk. The balance put in place at independence has served the national interest generally well.

A vibrant democracy in Papua New Guinea is not just vital for our closest neighbour as it deals with critical economic and social challenges. It is also clearly in Australia’s interests for democracy and stability among the almost 9 million Papua New Guineans who are our neighbours and friends to be encouraged in every way.

A PNGDF that doesn’t have the balance the country’s founding leaders insisted on is a potential long-term risk to the stability of the country and its democratic systems.

Jeffrey Wall has served as a political adviser to prime ministers in Papua New Guinea, including Peter O’Neill, Paias Wingti and Rabbie Namaliu, and the governments of Michael Somare and Julius Chan

Petrus and the bag

ISO YAWI

LAE - I was in the heart of Lae City this morning, at the centre of the curve of Huon Gulf on the map of Papua New Guinea.

The sun had just come out of the dawn's bilum. It was a promising day with good weather and the people were carrying out their usual early morning activities.

I was escorting an expatriate at the Lae main market: showing him around, giving him a market overview, taking him to various food sections and showing him the various types of local vegetables, spices, protein and fruit.

It was not a laborious task.

When the stranger came up to me holding a needle and string in his hand, I knew he must have been on business.

He smiled at me showing red stained teeth. I returned the smile.

"Young man do you need any help?" he asked.

"Follow me," I said, and winked an eye.

“What’s your name, sir?” I asked the man, smiling.

“It’s Petrus, I’m from Simbu” he replied and smiled back.

“OK angra, holim bag ya.” (“OK bro, hold this bag”) I instructed him.

Petrus took the bag and carried it diagonally across his chest. He was a stocky man and the expatriate wanted to carry his vegetables and fruit inside the bag.

The role of Petrus was to carry the bag for us. It gave me more flexibility to assist my expatriate friend.

We started at the vegetables section. We bought everything we wanted and I gave it to Petrus, who followed us and packed the bag.

We also picked up potatoes, fruits and nuts and our friend Petrus packed them in the bag for us.

Once we were done, Petrus helped us sew the bag's open mouth with a special knot. We paid him for his service and he went off.

As I saw him walking away I thought, this man has a wife, children and family back home to be responsible for.

His services may be small but they were of great help to others. Some of his friends carried kaukau (sweet potato). They had grown muscles overnight by unloading 50 kilogram bags of kaukau from trucks and carrying them to the market arena. They got paid depending on how much work they did.

Another group pushed wheelbarrows and their task was to move bags of coconuts, vegetables and fruit from PMV vehicles for a small amount of money.

As I watched this band of workers, I noticed they were largely unnoticed but their services contributed greatly to PNG’s economy and wealth.

At the end of the day, these workers, mostly men, had something to put on the table for their family, school fees for the children and financial support for anyone within their circle.

Apart from those informal helpers, like Petrus, at the market there were also people – women, men, young old - who came from the rural areas of Morobe.

They kept the Lae market vibrant with their proteins, vegetables, fruits, nuts and all sorts of garden foods. But these people were considered ‘formal’ because they pay market taxes to the city council officials before selling anything.

They too are a hard working band of troops. Their effort contributes to wealth creation and economy building.

I sat down and observed the activities and reflected on Petrus and the other helpers. They were all vital.

I remembered that it must have been like this since our ancestors’ time. It takes sweat and effort to create wealth and build an economy, whether in a formal or informal way.

So, if you are from outside Lae and Morobe Province, here for business or pleasure and want to visit our main market, please recognise our talented band of informal labour.

Their services come in handy and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

SDA church in Goroka

NEWS DESK
| Adventist Record | Edited

MARYLAND, USA - Preachers from other parts of the South Pacific will no longer be going to Papua New Guinea for a harvest program scheduled for May.

Church officers consulted with the PNG Union Mission about the inherent risks of the coronavirus pandemic before taking the difficult decision.

“The Seventh-day Adventist Church values health and well-being, and we did not want to put anyone’s health at risk by possible exposure to the coronavirus by travel and meeting in large groups,” said South Pacific president Glenn Townend.

The PNG church will work with the PNG government to decide whether the meetings will go ahead in May with local preachers instead of international guests.

But they will do so only with PNG government endorsement.

However, the Adventist Church in PNG will continue to meet in small groups to share and consolidate faith in Jesus and His teachings.

“This decision not to have other preachers come to PNG will cause much disappointment for the PNG church because they were looking forward to hosting up to 130 preachers,” Mr Townend said.

“The Adventist Church in PNG has been growing substantially, social justice activities have prepared the soil, and there are thousands of people ready to be challenged to receive baptism and accept a life of discipleship with Jesus.

“Those who were planning to go to PNG in May will be disappointed as they will miss seeing the vibrant and thriving disciple-making movement that is happening in PNG,” he said.

NEWS DESK
| EMTV

PORT MORESBY - The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) has been put on alert as the health minister, Jelta Wong, formally declared coronavirus as a ‘quarantinable disease’ under the country’s health laws.

On Tuesday, the PNG national security council met to discuss additional control measures in light of the worsening crisis in Australia and surrounding countries.

Prime Minister James Marape announced that overseas flights from Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Sydney and Nadi will cease as of next Sunday and there will be controlled entry from Brisbane, Cairns and Singapore.

Flights are now being scaled down.

“We have put the military on standby to assist if a first case is established,” Mr Marape said.

“Their medical facilities and officers who are doctors and engineers will be engaged for now and future pandemics.

“They have given us the Taurama medical centre and 10 medical personnel for use,” he said.

Through a government gazettal notice, health minister Wong listed a series of actions supported by existing quarantine legislation stating the magnitude of the pandemic warranted the measures.

The countries that fall under the 14 day pre-entry quarantine include 27 European member states. Australia, where the majority of expatriate mine workers come from, has been excluded.

With its first possible case of coronavirus just recorded, James Marape and his government know that they face a testing time

SHANE McLEOD
| The Interpreter | Lowy Institute

SYDNEY - It’s been a volatile week for the PNG Hunters.

The Papua New Guinea rugby league team was celebrating on Sunday after staging a late comeback to clinch a 32-30 win against the Souths Logan Magpies in the first round of the Queensland Intrust Super Cup last weekend.

The Hunters were supposed to capitalise on that win and host their first home game in Port Moresby on Sunday against the Townsville Blackhawks.

But that match, like all Queensland Rugby League fixtures, has been cancelled – put off till at least June as sporting codes around the world contend with the travel and crowd restrictions that are coming as part of global coronavirus responses.

The Hunters’ season pause is an early consequence of the pandemic, but the effects of the virus on PNG will go far beyond sport to have a brutal impact on PNG’s health and its economic stability.

Already PNG’s health system struggles to support its 10 million citizens. Diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are everyday burdens and demand a massive share of limited resources.

PNG’s big hospitals have only a small number of intensive care beds – Port Moresby’s main public hospital has fewer than 10, and only some of those beds have ventilators for patients with respiratory issues.

And for most people, hospital is not effectively an option, as 80% of the population live outside urban centres, supported by the informal economy.

For many people, this crisis will pass without them even visiting a health clinic, let alone seeing a doctor or attending a hospital.

So PNG’s capacity starts far behind where it would hope to be to deal with a viral pandemic.

Acknowledging that fact, prime minister James Marape has over the past few days announced a series of measures to try to prepare the country.

Declaring the virus as quarantinable disease under legislation, Marape said the looming crisis is not just a health issue but a national security concern.

He announced new measures to try to hold off the arrival of the virus for as long as possible, and foreshadowed the first steps in how PNG will respond to the health situation if – or most likely when – it does.

In terms of trying to keep the virus out, PNG moved early to restrict travel from high-risk source countries.

Health checks of travellers arriving at Port Moresby airport are being conducted, passenger movement cards are being recorded, and a number of suspected cases have been tested and reported negative.

In recent days, the government has again tightened quarantine measures for international arrivals. No cases of Covid-19 have yet been detected, although fly-in, fly-out workers at two of the country’s largest mines have gone into quarantine pending test results.

And the Health Minister has reported a ‘probable’ case of the virus identified in a passenger who arrived from Spain via Turkey and Singapore before flying through Port Moresby to the city of Lae.

Among the new measures is a reduction in the number of pathways for people to arrive in PNG.

Flights from Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila, Honiara, Nadi, and Sydney are being scrapped as of this weekend. It means the only departure cities for flights to PNG will be Singapore, Cairns, and Brisbane. 

That helps the health response – but it also is a reflection of economic reality for the national airline Air Niugini. More on that shortly.

The government is also preparing how it will respond if or when the virus is detected. The PNG Defence Force is being asked to provide facilities and staff to help deal with the first cases in Port Moresby, an isolation ward has been configured at Port Moresby General Hospital, and there are plans for additional facilities at Six Mile.

The World Bank has offered funding to help PNG to prepare for the virus. And while those funds are gratefully received, they are a tiny amount alongside the potential challenge the virus presents to a country of 10 million people.

And that’s before the economic challenges that also loom.

The tanking of global oil prices would seem to put any deal on an expansion of PNG’s LNG industry into the distant future.

The government’s interlocutor on stalled talks for the P’nyang project ExxonMobil has announced a dramatic cut in capital spending already.

The country’s most prominent producer, Oil Search, has seen its share price fall by around 70% since February.

The glimmer of hope might be gold prices, which are up amidst the global volatility and could provide more momentum for projects like Morobe province’s Wafi Golpu project.

The flight reductions announced as part of the virus response come alongside brutal reality for the country’s national airline, Air Niugini.

In a nation where the capital Port Moresby remains isolated by road from every other major centre in the country, air travel plays a critical role in everyday life.

Even with the dramatic cuts in international capacity, the financial viability of the airline is set to be tested. Capital injections are already being discussed.

It makes for a testing time for Marape and his cabinet.

The PM concluded his statement on coronavirus preparations with a call for the country to remain positive in an environment of uncertainties.

His optimism is commendable in the face of the challenges ahead.

Still from  ABC-TV footage of what appears to be an extra-judicial killing of an Afghani civilian by an Australian SAS soldier

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Apart from the escalating disaster of the coronavirus epidemic, a couple of other unsettling items have come to my notice this week.

The first was the release of the appalling footage of an Australian SAS soldier executing an unarmed villager in Afghanistan in May 2012.

The second was an email relating to a horrible and disgusting incident involving police and defence force personnel in Papua New Guinea in 1998.

In both cases it is apparent the authorities went to considerable lengths to cover up the events.

This made me think about the moral basis of such actions and about the nature of the people who had made the decisions to cover up – to try to ensure the incidents did not become known.

Covering up unpalatable facts has been widely practised by governments and bureaucracies since time immemorial. To decide that the public must not know is relatively commonplace.

Apart from the obvious advantage of avoiding embarrassment, sliding around the law and covering important people’s backsides, the excuse is that releasing such information will cause more harm than good.

It may breach security, it may invade privacy, it may traumatise people who don’t really need to know anyway, it may cause harm to the national interest…. There are many excuses available.

The excuse adopted in the Papua New Guinean incident I refer to is that traumatised people should not have more trauma heaped upon an old distress.

The Papua New Guinean incident in 1998 has yet to be exposed but no doubt it will be in the fullness of time.

I do not intend to canvass it here.

Why further hurt someone who has managed to get through the healing stage after personal trauma?

The cover up of the incident in Afghanistan exposed on Australian national television this week was apparently rationalised on the basis that reporting the incident would seriously and unnecessarily dent the reputation of Australia’s military forces, which has always been held in high regard by the Australian public.

A year or so ago Mathias Kin reported on a couple of unpalatable events involving official killings that occurred in colonial Papua New Guinea. His words attracted a lot of disapproval and outraged disbelief.

It seems that, whatever the motives of the people covering up such events, whether they be moral or cynically expedient, the truth will eventually be exposed, even if it is decades after the event.

We’ve all exercised similar moral discretions in the past, albeit not at the level noted here. Not telling a child that they are adopted or failing to mention illegitimate liaisons within the family are typical examples.

In this sense we are attuned to the tricky moral dilemmas that disclosure verses cover up presents.

We are also aware of the terrible capabilities of human beings to be cruel and ruthless to each other. We wear that knowledge as a sort of mental armour against the worst things we see and experience.

At the same time we also exhibit a remarkable capacity to shrug off even the most horrific human abuses and consistently fail to learn from the experience.

Time is a big healer people say. But the dirt we throw over unpalatable facts to conceal and forget them is often more likely to see them fester not heal.

My sense of the coronavirus epidemic is that the extraordinary measures being introduced to combat it far outweigh the apparent threat that it poses.

This makes me think that the threat is much more serious than our governments and authorities are telling us.

There are all the hallmarks of a cover up going on already.

I hope this is not the case. I hope this novel and terrible disease will not be a new volume added to the library of unpalatable facts.