The Cessna 180 Skywagon was a common aircraft in 1960s PNG

ED BRUMBY

MELBOURNE - In the mid-1960s, Mary and her partner, ‘Mads’ Madsen – no-one used his given forename, ran a small trade store at the top end of Angoram’s infamous Tobacco Road, a few metres from the banks of the Sepik River.

Both were in their mid- to late forties, although no-one knew for sure, and kept mostly to themselves in a small house attached to the trade store which they shared, literally, with a collection of possums and cuscuses which, as you’d expect, provided the house with a none-too-pleasant odour.

A well-built man, Mads, as his name suggests, was of Baltic, probably Danish stock, spoke English with a noticeable accent and was generally taciturn by nature. He supplemented their trade store income via a range of trading ventures up and down the river.

Of Scottish stock, Mary was, by contrast, petite and, when the relatively few opportunities arose, was convivial and hospitable.

Compared to Mads, she could be downright talkative.

Both resisted the pressure prevalent on all outstations to engage actively in the expatriate social life of the station which, in Angoram, centred on Saturday night gatherings at the ‘club’.

These were deemed to be compulsory for expatriate government officers and ‘voluntary’ for private enterprise persons like Mary and Mads.

When I met them, Mary had not left Angoram, on leave or for any other reason, for some considerable time – and for a simple reason: she had a pathological fear of flying.

She could have taken a boat to Madang or Wewak and then a ship to Moresby and Australia or wherever. But that would have entailed an unbearable amount of time away from her store and her much-loved animal housemates. So she was quite content to enjoy her quiet life by the river.

Mads, on the other hand, had no fear of flying. Indeed, he could see the value in having a pilot’s licence and the convenience and efficiency it would afford him in his various trading activities.

So he undertook the necessary training and practice and, in early 1966, secured a licence.

That he managed to convince Mary to join him on a flight to Mt Hagen shortly thereafter was a complete shock to the Angoram expatriate community, most of whom, on the appointed day, gathered at the airstrip to bid them farewell.

Those of us who were there will never forget the look of terror on Mary’s face as she boarded the Cessna and how, once aboard, put her head in her hands, unable to acknowledge our waves of farewell and best wishes.

We heard, subsequently, that they landed safely in Hagen and, presumably, enjoyed a few days together in a different clime.

We also heard, in the same missive, that, shortly after take-off on their return flight, the Cessna plunged into the ground, killing both of them instantly.

Papua New Guinea joins the global aviation shut down

NEWS DESK
| NBC News

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea is shutting down international flights amid Coronavirus fears.

Flights in and out of Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Sydney, Honiara and Nadi will cease next Sunday.

Prime minister James Marape said flights will be limited so as to only allow “controlled entry” from Brisbane, Cairns and Singapore.

Mr Marape said incoming passengers will require medical certification to show that they have undergone 14 days of isolation before arriving in PNG.

Initially, for one week, no inward passengers will be allowed to land except for specially credentialled personnel, like medical staff.

Outbound passengers will be allowed to fly as usual if they are accepted to pass border control at their destinations

Mr Marape said that Jackson's International is the only designated international airport for international flights.

There will be similar restrictions applied to four designated sea ports where similar checks will be conducted - Port Moresby, Lae, Madang and Kokopo.

KEITH JACKSON

PORT MORESBY – Even as Papua New Guinea's airline, Air Niugini, announced it will cease carrying inbound international passengers from midnight tomorrow, expatriate workers and their families were flooding back to Australia to escape the closure of its borders.

Australia has been a late starter in providing an adequate response to the spread of coronavirus and even now there is controversy about whether it has done enough.

The crack down on foreign nationals represents another step up in a response that many experts have criticised as being too little, too late.

Australia has shortages of coronavirus testing kits, protective gear for health workers, intensive care unit capacity and respiratory equipment.

Meanwhile yesterday was a severely shambolic day for Australians in PNG including diplomats and people working in the private sector and on aid programs for NGOs and contractors.

There is serious concern that if the disease takes hold in PNG – which has so far not had one confirmed case – the poor state of the health system will result in its rapid spread and many deaths.

The double talk of aid and corruption (C Gado)

ROLAND RAJAH & ALEXANDRE DAYANT
| DevPolicy Blog

CANBERRA - Is development aid an effective solution to lifting countries out of poverty?

Some argue that aid plays a central role in promoting economic development in the poorest countries, while others are still very sceptical.

A recent World Bank research paper has added to the debate (and garnered a lot of media attention) by drawing a strong link between World Bank aid flows to poor countries and deposits from those same countries in international financial havens like Switzerland, Singapore and the Cayman Islands.

The researchers cannot definitively say that the leakage is due to corruption.

But the various controls used in the study and the fact that there is no similar link found between aid disbursements and offshore deposits in non-haven jurisdictions provides a pretty strong suggestion that the flows are probably for the most part illicit.

Corruption is not a new argument against development assistance. The innovation of the World Bank paper, however, is to provide a precise estimate – suggesting a ‘leakage’ rate of about 7.5% for the average poor country, with that figure rising for more aid-dependent countries.

While certainly an interesting result, it’s important not to draw the wrong policy conclusions about aid and where and how it is delivered (especially for Australia which is currently updating its aid policy).

First, some amount of leakage to corruption is almost inevitable given the kind of countries we are talking about. What do the latest findings add to this?

At first glance, a figure of 7.5% leakage might actually seem pretty good – suggesting over 90% of aid is in fact getting through.

Unfortunately, the estimated leakage rate is very likely an underestimate since it does not capture any diverted funds that stay in the country rather than getting sent offshore.

Equally, though, it also remains far below the estimates of the most strident aid sceptics. On its own then, the 7.5% result hardly amounts to evidence of a grotesque amount of diversion.

A more relevant question is whether the developmental benefits that aid might still be achieving (for example in health, education, infrastructure) are worth the cost.

That’s an issue well beyond the scope of the particular study in focus. The literature on the link between aid and growth, however, provides one answer – with some evidence suggesting that aid given for developmental reasons (rather than commercial or geopolitical ones) tends to have a positive impact on long-run growth.

The paper’s finding that more aid dependent countries tend to see more leakage to corruption must also be interpreted with some care.

The key point again is to recognise that the countries that tend to be more aid dependent also tend to be the most underdeveloped, both in terms of effective governance and in terms of poverty and general living standards.

It has been recognised for some time that there is a deep tension between giving aid to countries where it is most effective (that is, those with better governance) and giving aid to those where it is most needed (typically where governance is weak).

There is no easy answer to resolving this tension. For the most part, it comes down to recognising that trying to promote development in countries where the needs are highest is inevitably more difficult and expensive, including because of corruption.

One might think that the most sensible response then would be to increase the focus on actively mitigating the risk of corruption through tighter oversight and fiduciary controls.

But imposing tighter controls carries its own problems – encouraging aid agencies to impose unnecessarily burdensome administrative procedures, focus on reducing risk rather than managing for results and rely more heavily on foreign contractors and project-based approaches that operate outside local systems.

While serving the purpose of minimising the chance of corruption, this risks merely coming at the expense of undermining the actual developmental benefits the aid is trying to achieve in the first place.

You cannot expect to work in a difficult place on difficult issues and make a difference if you spend all your time ring fencing yourself from what’s going on and making your partners jump through hoops.

For Australia, the most pertinent potential implication of the World Bank research is to raise questions over the heavy focus on aid to the Pacific island countries, which are some of the most aid-dependent countries in the world and therefore ostensibly at higher risk of aid leakage.

While most Australian aid is delivered outside of recipient government systems, that does not apply to budget support operations or co-financing delivered through the multilateral development banks.

There is also the potential for corrupt officials to indirectly benefit from aid projects, for example as direct contractors or subcontractors.

Yet, most Pacific island countries tend to score quite well in international league tables for controlling corruption – suggesting this shouldn’t necessarily be a huge concern. The exception is Papua New Guinea.

But PNG is also an important case in point that the countries that are in greatest need of external assistance also tend to have the weakest governance. Australia’s motivation in giving aid to PNG also goes well beyond development to include other foreign policy considerations such as maintaining Australia’s influence with a key neighbour.

Corruption does happen in developing countries and sometimes aid money ends up in the wrong hands. But this doesn’t mean we should stop trying to help the citizens of the developing world.

Otherwise, in the words of Robert Barrington, executive director of Transparency International UK, we are simply “punishing people twice over”.

Indian pangolin. Some people believe coronavirus entered the human domain because the pangolin  (found in Africa and Asia) is considered a delicacy in China

CHRIS OVERLAND

ADELAIDE - I spent 32 years working in various capacities within the health, hospital and aged care sector.

It was a continuous learning experience for me and one which, despite the anxiety and distress it sometimes generated, was richly rewarding in providing insights into the nature of humanity.

A fascinating part of my long term learning experience was working in the public and environmental health division of South Australia’s department of health.

Over a period of about four years I was exposed to information relating to all manner of public health issues ranging from the basics of disease, dunnies and drains through to the more esoteric but no less important worlds of radiation physics, pharmacology, food technology, epidemiology and communicable disease.

Public health as a speciality is often regarded by doctors as a slightly quaint branch of medicine, a place where failed clinicians tend to congregate.

This is a very unfair characterisation of the discipline which is undoubtedly the most important and effective in protecting overall public health.

Imagine what sort of world we would live in if the sewage system ceased to function properly or the water supply became tainted or, as we are now discovering, a new and lethal communicable disease got loose.

The great fear that has haunted public health specialists for many decades is the possible emergence of an organism which was so virulent and so fast moving that it would leave our health systems playing a desperate game of catch up while it wrought havoc across the world.

Let me tell you, there are some very, very scary organisms out there that fully justify this fear.

The COVID 19 virus (coronavirus), horrible as it is, does not rank amongst the most virulently lethal communicable diseases that might one day confront us.

History has provided many horrible examples of diseases that have killed huge numbers of us in very short order.

The best known is, of course, the black plague (Yersinia pestis), which wiped out at least one- third of Europe’s population when it first appeared there in the 14th century.

It carried on killing humans across the world in great numbers well into the 19th century before effective preventive and treatment methods finally brought it under control.

The last known case in South Australia was a sailor who contracted the disease at Port Adelaide in 1919.

Still, there is no room for complacency, as the black death is still with us, notably in parts of Africa. Rather startlingly, cases continue to be reported in the USA from time to time.

Other hardly less virulent communicable diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, cholera and yellow fever cut a swathe through humanity for centuries before large scale immunisation finally brought them under control.

Less virulent but still serious so-called “childhood diseases” like measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella and scarlet fever are also well controlled.

Influenza, a disease that most people erroneously regard as innocuous, still kills around 3,500 Australians every year. This is despite a large scale and very effective vaccination program.

So successful have public health services been in suppressing communicable diseases, that many people in the so-called developed world have become very complacent about the risks attached to such illnesses.

Indeed, we now have the anti-vaccination movement which is based upon the utterly wrongheaded belief that vaccines are in fact more dangerous than the diseases they are designed to suppress.

This belief is only possible because the incidence of these diseases is now so low that people have completely forgotten how much harm they once did and, in fact, can still do.

This has led to a resurgence of cases of diseases like measles and whooping cough. Although the associated death rates are still low, the distress and residual disabilities that are caused by a disease like measles, notably partial or total deafness, can be life changing events.

It is important to understand that, almost without exception, communicable disease arises from human interactions with something in the environment.

So, the black plague was transmitted by the bite a flea carried by the common rat, while yellow fever probably first passed from primates to humans in Africa during the 18th century. Cholera has existed for many millennia and humans contract it by drinking from a contaminated water supply.

The essential lesson from the origins of all these diseases is that we ignore the environment we live in at our considerable peril.

This brings me to COVID 19 (the virus) which is now raging rampant across the globe. This is one of a large family of Corona viruses which exist in our environment, mostly without causing humans any harm.

This disease made the jump from an animal species to humans only a matter of a few months ago. Where and when this occurred is not yet clear but it seems to have originated in the so called ‘wet’ animal markets in the Hubei Province of China. These markets specialise in the sale of exotic animal species for human consumption.

It is a peculiarity of Chinese culture to eat such animals. Usually, humans stick to a diet of animal protein derived largely from domestic animals or wild animals that have been hunted for food for many centuries.

Whatever the causal mechanism, it turns out that this virus is very easily spread by human to human contact and is unusually virulent compared to most other viruses of its type such as the common cold.

The overall death rate appears to be not less than one percent which is 10 times higher than that of influenza, but could turn out to be as high as 3.5%.

Italy is currently reporting a death rate of around 7% but there may be particular factors in Italy, such as its higher proportion of the population over age 65 years that is skewing the death rate upwards.

The speed with which this virus has spread has been simply incredible.

In a globalised world, crossed daily by tens of thousands of air journeys, the virus has arrived almost simultaneously on every continent and seems destined to invade literally every corner of the planet within a very short time.

The health impacts have been profound enough, with many people dying very rapidly and our health systems being overwhelmed by the need to admit and treat the 20% or so of victims who need hospitalisation.

The race is on to develop a vaccine for the virus and no doubt the winner of this race will make a vast fortune.

But even if everything goes well, a vaccine will not be available for another year or so. By that time, the virus will have wrought huge harm across the globe.

In the meantime, international air travel has ground to a halt, tourism as an industry collapsed more or less overnight, the supply chains for many goods and services have been serious disrupted and the world’s finance markets have once again frozen as lenders try to figure out which individuals or companies seeking their funds actually have the capacity to survive the current downturn and pay them back.

Financial experts are trembling at the prospect that the world’s gigantic debt mountain (K1,090 trillion and counting) will finally collapse as many debtors are either unable or unwilling to repay creditors.

Once again, it will be the taxpayers who foot the bill of trying to save the worthy as well as the profligate from disaster and, in so doing, spare us all the catastrophe of a full blown economic depression.

Currently, there is no expert or analyst who believes that the world will escape a serious recession and many believe that the impact will linger for years, not months.

We are witnessing the much feared but long expected ‘black swan’ event, which by its nature is unforeseen and unforeseeable. Black swan events are characterised by their extreme rarity, their severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight.

History says that when the dust finally settles after the virus is tamed and some semblance of economic order is restored, we will very probably draw the wrong conclusions about what caused this debacle and either take no remedial action or the wrong action.

This is certainly what happened after the global financial crisis and there is no reason to have confidence that it will not be repeated by the world’s current political leadership, who are committed to the dangerously unsustainable neo-liberal economic model which I believe lies at the very heart of this debacle.

For me, the lesson is that we have to put a stop to the rapacious exploitation of the natural environment that is a necessary corollary of the neo-liberal mania for economic growth at any cost.

The virus is an example of what happens when our apparently in-built human desire to exploit anything and everything around us leads us to indulge in behaviours that are far riskier and potentially more damaging than we seem able to realise.

It is extraordinary that someone’s desire to profit from someone else’s desire to chow down on a bat or pangolin can lead to a pandemic that will very probably kill millions of people and disrupt the entire world economic system.

We need to urgently rethink the whole idea that never ending growth and consumption of resources is a sustainable economic philosophy. It plainly is not.

Surely it is long overdue to contemplate the idea that economic activity is meant to be a means to an end, being a sustainable and reasonably comfortable life for humanity generally, not an end in itself.

Also, surely it is wrong at every level, moral, ethical and even from an economic standpoint, to have a system whereby the winners accumulate wealth beyond even that of entire nations, while the majority remain in sometimes abject poverty?

The virus should be a wake up call for those of us living in the so-called developed world that we are not going to be immune from the consequences of ill advised exploitative behaviour in even the most remote corners of the globe.

We will not be able to sit here, fat, dumb and happy, while bad things happen to other people.

While I am quite sure that the world will be a different place when the virus has run its course, I am pessimistic that it will be a better place unless our children and grand children can show that they are much smarter than us and develop a much more sustainable, environmentally sensible way of running an economic system that is manifestly fairer and more equitable in the way it distributes the benefits of human work and ingenuity.

I believe that the path to such a system will be found in a major revision and restructuring of the current system, not the invention of an entirely new approach.

The total upending of the system has been tried in the past, notably the communist experiment, with disastrous results. Progressive reform seems to offer a more sensible way forward.

If we or our successors fail to do the hard work of reforming the current socio-economic system to achieve a better balance with the environment and in the distribution of resources, then further events like COVID 19 will be inevitable.

As I said previously, there are many very much scarier things out there than this virus. For example, the class of organisms called hantaviruses include things like ebola fever, which kills 70% of its victims.

If something like this gets loose, then discussions about economic theory will very rapidly be rendered utterly irrelevant.

For this reason, I believe that we would be wise to see COVID 19 as not just the terrible disease that it undoubtedly is, but also a warning from history that we must change our ways permanently or suffer from further ‘black swan’ events that are likely to be even more hideous and life changing for us all.

Wutung entry point at the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (RNZ - Johnny Blades)

NEWS DESK
| Radio New Zealand | Edited extract

AUCKLAND –Members of parliament in Papua New Guinea's Sepik region say they'll fund bolstered surveillance of the international border with Indonesia.

West Sepik province hosts the main land access point between PNG and Indonesia where coronavirus cases are surging.

Due to coronavirus fears, the border officially closed two months ago, but at around 700 kilometres in length it is difficult to stop illegal border crossing.

Provincial governor Tony Wouwou said since people continue to move across the border, better surveillance and a proper quarantine service is needed.

"We are putting some funds down, with the help of our brothers from East Sepik, to put out some money and we might be able to start as of next week. But awareness is going on,” he said.

“Our health team and the quarantine and police are doing awareness, so that people are not allowed to cross over as yet."

Governor Wouwou said West Sepik MPs can allocate around K3 million from their districts to fund surveillance while awaiting government funding.

He said once proper quarantine services were in place, the authorities may have to consider opening the border post again in order to deal with potential coronavirus cases entering PNG.

He suggested that since it was difficult to stop people coming across from Indonesia's Papua region by boat or through the bush, it may be best to allow controlled movement at the border post at Wutung.

"People are still crossing at night, through bush tracks, from the other side. This is the problem that we have right now," he explained.

"So we have to supply the equipment, and we could open the border so that people can go straight through the border and we can monitor them rather than them crossing over the border at night."

A Sepik MP, opposition leader Belden Namah, has called on the national government to declare a state of emergency to prevent and contain coronavirus and send more security forces to control the border.

Mr Namah said the state of emergency would require a recall of parliament immediately to pass a supplementary budget to fund the national response to the pandemic.

Simon Jackson; Will coronavirus forge a new realisation of the world as it is, or reinforce the bastions of privilege?

SIMON JACKSON

AUCKLAND - Like many people who have lived deeply in developing countries and been exposed to crises people in 'developed' nations see only on TV or at the movies, an observation by Chris Overland in PNG Attitude yesterday hit home for me.

Amongst much else worth thinking about, Chris wrote in 'Coronavirus: A warning from history', that whatever else awaits us in the aftermath of this coronavirus epidemic, “we will not be able to sit here, fat, dumb and happy, while bad things happen to other people."

As the coronavirus spreads in Australia, cases currently doubling every 3-4 days, and people are urged to isolate themselves, Bondi beach is packed.

The privilege of ignorance, or perhaps the ignorance of privilege.

When I moved to Australia in the late 1970s, after spending most of my childhood overseas, I felt like I had landed on a different planet.

There were hospitals, TV, toilets, cars and petrol stations, shops, and I could drink safely from almost every tap.

The rest of the world was the 'news', usually mentioned only when something really bad happened, and then only as an 'oh dear' moment, and then back to sport and weather.

It was a bubble I could not, and still cannot, fully comprehend.

The coronavirus is putting a pin in that bubble, proving that the real world is still there, was always there, and can be a scary and dangerous place.

Climate change is another pin, but it has not yet pierced the thick defences of ignorance, privilege, and nationalism and racism.

In some ways I feel sorry for my age-mates who've only known the insular bubble. It hasn't prepared them for the realities of life on this planet.

Even Malcolm Fraser got it: "Life wasn't meant to be easy," he said. But then there's hard, and there's real hard.

Coronavirus, climate change, our ageing public infrastructure and loss of public discourse (for example, politicians who run on lies) all attack the ruling paradigm of invulnerability, security, and certainty.

The world can be a difficult place, especially if we don't cooperate and lack leaders who inspire and instill shared purpose and care.

As Chris Overland writes, hopefully coronavirus is a wake-up call to the fact that we are all deeply connected, and that we must respond appropriately with joint action and care to this and other immediate dangers, such as climate change.

We must respond collectively also to the wicked problems of poverty, disease, famine, and war. Imagine.

But the early signs evoked by the virus, like the sacking of supermarkets or the packing of Bondi beach, suggest the bubble of privilege is still strong.

Perhaps until it isn't.

Like the quote attributed to Hemingway: 'Gradually and then suddenly.'

DANIEL KUMBON

WABAG - Alois Alapyala Yolape often thanks Fr George Schubbe publicly, even though the priest is dead, for playing an important role in getting him elected for the Monokam council ward in the Ambum Valley 57 years ago.

Recently, he again acknowledged Fr Schubbe at a new church opening at Leptenges near Sirunki, where his late mother was born.

Alois Yolape thanked the priest for getting him elected and showing him how to live a straight Christian life.

He said he was unhappy when the first church building was destroyed during prolonged tribal warfare at Leptenges, located right on the Highlands Highway, a near Wabag, the provincial capital.

Alois Yolape was elected when just a young man, married and father of one small child. He hadn’t yet learned to speak Tok Pisin.

He has served the Tit people of Monokam since then, relinquishing the post to a younger man only at last year’s council elections.

Back in 1963, at his first election, he had supported Cr Kurai Tapus to be elected first president of the newly established Wabag Local Government Council.

Alois Yolape was very much a village man, living in the same conditions he was born into when kiaps and missionaries began to penetrate the remote Ambum Valley.

In 1938, regular contact had been established when kiap Ian (IFC) Downs made patrols from a base in Wabag where an airstrip was being built. In 1941 a permanent patrol post was established by John Clarke but it closed during World War II only to reopen in 1946.

In May 1949, a patrol conducted by Assistant District Officer Peter K Moloney found that the people in the Ambum Valley displayed more interest in his expedition than the people of the Tarua and Sau watersheds.

“No signs of recent fighting were seen and our camps were visited by men from all parts of the valley which would indicate that a friendly feeling prevails among the different groups and hamlets,” Moloney wrote in his report.

As the patrol moved on to the Sau valley, they found that this area had been given little attention since the Wabag sub district was in operation, although during the war an aircraft warning wireless station was operated from near Puman.

When an ANGAU patrol was attached there in 1945, the patrol officer was wounded by an arrow. Moloney didn’t explain why but mentioned that this isolated area was where escaped prisoners sought refuge.

“The natives of the upper reaches occasionally visit Wabag and the valley (Sau) is a favorite refuge for escaped prisoners and wrong-doers,” Moloney said in his report.

At the time of Moloney’s visit, a certain E Rowlands was prospecting for gold at the head of the Timun River, which is the main northern tributary of the Sau River. Moloney noticed there was no fighting in the area because of the prospector’s presence.

As the patrol pushed on into the Tarua valley, Moloney saw that the area had previously never been patrolled but was visited during the war when troops were moving to and from the Sepik River.

Alois Yolape grew up in the Ambum valley during the war. “When I was a young boy, I saw many aeroplanes flying in formation past us all the time. They were like parrots. We often saw them flying over us from there (north) and down that way (south). Later, I found out these were not birds but war planes,” he said.

In an animated voice, sometimes punctuated by laughs and giggles, he related what it was like when he grew up at the point of first contact with the outside world:

“We still lived in primitive conditions when the kiaps and missionaries came to my area like expatriate couples do – together. Everything they introduced to us was new.

“We were using stone axes to break firewood, sharpened sticks as spades to make kaukau (sweet potato) mounds. We used these same sticks to dig drains and clear land to build our houses.

“The womenfolk were stung by nettles and suffered injuries sustained from thorns from the type of vine called ikilumbi kenda which easily penetrated their bare skin. They had scratch marks on their bodies, their hair was scuffled and untidy when they returned.

“They had to go into the thick forest to gather the vines to make nuu (string bags) and yambale (aprons) for us men to wear. For the women to cover themselves, we planted a certain type of reed called ‘kura’ which grew well in swampy places so they could make grass skirts for themselves.

“The kiaps and missionaries came to us and asked us how we chopped firewood. We demonstrated with our stone axes and they showed us steel axes.

“We demonstrated how to make fire using friction called ‘irakepa’ and they showed us a box of matches. They showed us mirrors when we told them we used to stare into pools of clear still water to see our faces. Everything they brought was appealing.

“They told us to give up our old ways and learn to accept new things. They gave us salt to taste and it was sweet. We very much wanted these new things they brought.

“There were no roads. And imagine, these strange people had been walking long hours or even days and months to reach us.

“It surprises me why these people were not killed and eaten in Simbu and Hagen as they walked up from where they came from.”

Alois Yolape saw his valley gradually open up. A road was built into the area. Mission stations, schools and health centres were established. The colonial Administration appointed ‘bosbois’ to supervise work gangs who gathered firewood, poles, kunai grass, vines and other materials to build houses in Wabag:

“Kurai Tapus was our bosboi, his influence extending far down into the Sau and Tarua valleys. He used to praise me for organising my people for bringing all these things to Wabag. We helped build the airstrip, school, hospital and houses for the policeman and others to sleep in.

“Aeroplanes came and dropped food supplies and other goods from the air. I used to marvel and imagine how all these new things were happening so suddenly. Nobody told me anything like this would happen when I grew up in the village. Everything was completely new.

“The fish and rice they gave us was sweet tasting, soft and tender in the mouth and easy to swallow. They told us that all these things will be brought to our villages if there were good roads. And so, we began building roads with our bare hands.”

Bosboi Kurai Tapus liked Alois and his people. He would cook rice, boil tea and invite Alois to join in the meals at Kaiap village. They became good friends. Kurai was given a ration by the administration and was able to share it with special friends like Alois:

“I used to go and harvest cabbages and English potatoes for Kurai. He would hold a mirror from the ridge and when I saw it, I would flash mine back in his direction to show I was on my way with the food.

“When I arrived at Kaiap, he would praise me and say ‘You are a good man, a man who gets things done on time. And you bring lots of produce too. You are my friend.’

“We worked together to build the Meraimanda road, the Londol road and organised the men to pull and drag huge logs to build bridges. We also built the Wabag to Sirunki road. We were always close and remained very good friends.”

When the new Wabag Local Government Council was established in 1963, Kurai Tapus was easily elected councillor by the Kamainwan people of Kaiap and Sakarwan people of Kasi village.

Alois Yolape hadn’t even thought that he might contest to represent his Tit clan of the major Sakalin tribe. Three other men – Tit Karato’s father, a man named Pakigin and Tapukae showed interest. People were ready to accept any one of them as their new councillor.

The evening before voting, Alois was in the hausman (man’s house). It was hot and he went outside to cool himself. But then it started to rain heavily. He grumbled that it fell just as he began to enjoy the fresh air.

The men inside the hausman jokingly said to him that the rain was a blessing, a sign that he might be voted as their councillor:

“Some of my men – Kapo, Poali, Pyala and others - good-humouredly said: ‘The rain is bringing our council ward seat to you.’

“Then all of a sudden I saw a person with a hurricane lamp approaching the hausman. I saw that it was Saima from the Timtim clan. He was the catechist at the Tsikiro catholic church further down the Ambum Valley.

“Fr Schubbe sent me, he said. He asked to know who is contesting our council ward. We mentioned the three names. But he said: ‘Fr Schubbe wants you to contest also. That’s why I’ve come in the rain. Go tomorrow and announce that you are the fourth candidate’.

“I didn’t believe him. I hadn’t made up my mind to contest. I was very much a bush kanaka still wearing traditional dress – woven bush string apron and tanget leaves held together with mena kenda marapu (a string rope belt). I didn’t know how to speak Pidgin either, just a pure kanaka with a thick head.

“How can I become a councillor?” I thought. But yet, next morning, I did exactly as Katakist Saima instructed me to do. After casting of votes and counting completed, Lakayari the government interpreter made the announcement that the first three contestants did not win but the one who decided only last night is the new councillor-elect here.

“I was happy but still full of doubt. How was I going to speak to people in Tok Pisin? Where was I going to get European clothes to wear them in public. These were the type of kanaka thoughts that filled my mind.

“But I realised, Fr Schubbe had planned everything for me. He sent word for me to go down to Tskiro catholic mission where he gave me soap to wash myself, a mirror to see my face, a towel to dry myself, scissors to trim my hair and new clothes to wear. I was a different man altogether. I felt light and happy.”

One of Cr Alois Yolape’s first duties was to take his people to the first Mt Hagen Show the same year he was elected in 1963. His people praised him for having looked after them well on the trip:

“I made sure we were fed well and ensured we stayed together. At Pausa in Wapenamanda, where we rested for the night, a young couple was caught fornicating. They did not deny it when they were brought to me.

“I said we were too far from home to discuss the issue. I did not think punishing them was the right thing to do given the circumstances. It wasn’t a rape case. I told them to come on the trip as man and wife and later, when they returned from the show, the man can pay bride price. Many people thought my decision was fair and wise.”

When he went for his first council meeting in Wabag, Alois met many of the influential men who helped the kiaps – Naa Tau of Londol, Apakas of Birip, Yaru of Par, Timun of Irelya, Tambai of Sakalis, Kurai Tapus of Kaiap, Malye Pekol, Yol Kem, Tit Pirai, Lakwei Wape, Apupin Karapen and many others – all forceful public speakers, well-built and powerful men in their tribes.

But why did Fr Schubbe involve himself in local politics to get Alois Alapyala Yolape elected a councillor?

When Fr Schubbe came to the Ambum Valley for the first time, he had made friends with him. When he searched for land to establish an outstation and a church, he found some in the hills.

Fr Schubbe went there regularly to hold services and hear confessions. But he must have been feeling tired walking up and down the steep hills.

Alois explains how he gave Fr Schubbe new land:

“One day he asked me to look at him. He was carrying his shirt in his hands. ‘Just look at me’, he said. ‘I am exhausted climbing the rugged hills’.

“Sweat was dripping like water on his slim body. He asked me if I had any land closer to the new road being built passing through Monokam.

“I replied that we had given all our land at Monokam to the government but there was just a small portion left. I could give it to him if it was OK with him. Fr Schubbe was happy.

“He had come to hear confessions of the people but put it off for another day. We took off down the hill almost immediately. Timtim Saum, the catechist accompanied us.

“I showed him the land when we finally got there. Fr Schubbe immediately took out his wallet and searched in it and found some coins and gave them to me.

“’Why are you giving me this money?’ I asked.

“’For being generous and giving me this land,’ the priest said.

“‘But I can’t accept it, I gave you for free so you and I can stay here forever,” I said.

“’Hey plis, yu kisim (Hey, please, take it),’ he said. I did not want to upset him so I took the money. When I counted the coins, it added to four dollars."

They built a big church on this new piece of land beside the road. Bishop George Bernading travelled from Mt Hagen to open it. Alois Yolape asked him for a permanent priest to be stationed at Monokam catholic mission. He told the bishop that Londor in the headwaters of the Ambum River and Tskiro further down were very far apart.

But the bishop said a priest could not be posted at Monokam. Fr Schubbe from Tskiro would keep coming up to celebrate mass:

“But for me personally, he said he would send me a ‘kanda kunja’ (cane) and a ring so I could look after the church.

“I waited and almost forgot until the council elections came. And who else could appear but Catechist Saima who came with Fr Schubbe’s instructions for me to nominate at the last minute.

“I won and it seems as if this was the promise Bishop Bernading had made. The kanda kunja and ring signified government positions of power, not the church. It was clear to me, God was behind the scene.

“I knew God had used Fr Schubbe to convince me to nominate. From then on, I have always encouraged people to go to church and send their children to school. Many a times I have been challenged but I always won. I volunteered to retire during the 2019 council elections."

Cr Paul Kurai overlooking Monokam just visible in the valley. Fr George Schubbe's territory

Alois Alapyala Yolape said the person who took over from him, Cr Daniel is related to him. They are from the same family unit. He was glad he had stepped aside because Cr Daniel is now the president of Ambum Local Level Government.

“He has lots of respect for me. He told me I would still get my allowances. I am happy a good man took my place.

“I am convinced Monokam will continue to expand. We have a primary school, elementary school, health centre and several Christian church denominations operate side by side.

“And Jacob Luke, owner of Mapai Transport is from Monokam, Tit Karato, Captain Mark Neah, Kenneth Korokali, Paul Kiap Kurai, Clement Tare and many others are all from the Ambum Valley.

“Most of the councillors whom I met in Wabag in 1963 have died. We did a lot of work for no personal gain. Young leaders must follow in our footsteps.

“The people must not take marijuana, alcohol, homebrew and not waste long hours around card games. They must be active, work hard and follow in our footsteps to bring change to our villages, districts and province.

“If young people want to live long, they must respect others, work hard at what they are good at with humbleness and humility. Pride must not come first in your lives. Even if you don’t belong in a church, just fear God and acknowledge that He is real.”

The veteran former councillor said people must see the examples of Jacob Luke and Cr Paul Kiap Kurai. They work day and night to set up multi-million kina entities but they both know that they won’t take any of the wealth with them. The two men fear God.

“With the money they make, Jacob Luke helps the Lutheran church in a big way and Paul Kiap Kurai helps the Catholic church. May God continue to bless them,” Alois said.

Alois Alapyala Yolape strongly believes his Christian faith has enabled him to live long and stay healthy for a long time.

Val Murphy

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – The sad new has arrived from fellow ex-chalkie Leo Carroll that the indomitable Val Murphy died in Perth on Friday.

Val was a bear of a man whose appearance told you all you needed to know about his approach to rugby league.

But beneath the rugged exterior was the gentle spirit of a mentor and an acute mind that took an exacting attitude to organisation and management.

Older Papua New Guineans will remember him as the coach of the Kumuls national rugby league team in 1979.

In Western Australia, where he and wife Mary settled, he is recognised for his longstanding service to that state’s rugby league, of which he was a life member.

He was also awarded life membership of the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League for his major input to the game’s development.

Over many decades Val ensured that players were given every opportunity to develop their game and play at the highest level.

Val [Class of 1961-62] was the year ahead of me at the Australian School of Pacific Administration, where we were both trainee teachers.

He was famous for his rugby league playing prowess which continued while he taught in Papua New Guinea, where his initiatives in organisation and management led to tours by NSW Combined High Schools to PNG 1967-76 and a PNG tour of NSW in 1973.

Val was the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League delegate for Western Australia and the State’s team manager from 1994-2002, the Affiliated States’ team manager in 1999, 2002 and 2003, and in 2007 the inaugural team manager of the Combined Affiliated States.

This long and top level service contributed hugely to raising the profile of rugby league in Western Australia and in other non-traditional rugby league states.

In his day job as principal of Aranmore Catholic College, Val established the Rugby League Academy in 2001.

This supported new pathways to elite rugby league players from Western Australia. The number of players who travelled to the eastern states to pursue rugby league is a testament to his work. The College also toured a team to Great Britain in 2000 and South Africa in 2001.

The citation for Val’s life membership of the sport described him as “a man of great integrity who has always been a strong advocate for rugby league.”

But to those who knew him as both a sporting stalwart and an eminent teacher, he will be remembered for his robust approach to life, his mentoring of young Papua New Guineans and Australians and his optimistic, enthusiastic and inclusive charm.

James Marape and health minister Jelta Wong

KEITH JACKSON

PORT MORESBY – Following the detection of the first coronavirus case in Papua New Guinea late last week, in an emergency meeting yesterday the national executive council decided on the implementation of a series of tough measures to stop or slow the spread of the disease through the country.

“This is not just a health issue but a national security issue,” prime minister James Marape said in a public statement, adding that it will have profound effects on the economy, law and order and education.

Mr Marape said the positive detection was of a 45 year old man from Europe who has been placed in isolation. He will be returned to Australia, through which he transited, when he has recovered.

Authorities are now tracing the man’s movements through PNG to contain any impact of the bio-security breach.

They are also taking stock of all people who entered PNG after Saturday 7 March to ensure they are identifed, tested and the status of their health affirmed.

All people who have entered and those who have come into contact with them have been asked to report to a telephone hotline.

Mr Marape also declared a 30-day state of emergency which the police commissioner will control assisted by a military call-out placed to ensure law and order and efficient responses to emergency measures.

He also said that, further to the shutting down of incoming international flights, PNG will cease all domestic flights for 14 days starting tomorrow.

“We direct that as of Tuesday 24 March, there will be no public transportation of people and no movement from one province to another for a 14 day period,” he said.

Only approved cargo and medical, police and military personnel will be moving.

Provincial control will be under the command of provincial governors, provincial administrators, provincial police commanders and provincial health authorities.

Mr Marape directed all heads of departments and private companies to embrace safe workplace practices and to ask non-essential staff to stay at home for the next 14 days.

The first term school and university holidays have been advanced to today and the next 14 days have been designated as school holidays.

Police and military presence in border areas have been stepped up to prevent crossings by foot or canoe.

Banks and financial institutions and superannuation funds have been mobilised to work with government agencies on the development of an economic package.

Mr Marape also said the only official point of release for public statements will be himself as prime minister through the controller of state-owned enterprises.

The controller will issue details on how citizens need to respond during this time and of how breaches will be punished.

“We have now mapped the country into zones to isolate this virus from spreading,” Mr Marape said.

The four zones are: Mid-PNG (Morobe, Madang and all the highlands provinces); Central Papua (National Capital District, Central and Gulf); Niugini Islands, Sepik and Western Border; and Bougainville.

The SOE commander will delicate the PPCs to police the zones to ensure lawful abiding to this control measures.

We will get through this phase, we ask from corporation from all citizens, residents and businesses houses.

God bless PNG.

A G SATORI

PORT MORESBY - Belief in the supernatural is real for a Papua New Guinean - a belief that runs in parallel with other introduced beliefs, be they Christianity or another religion, even atheism.

Most Papua New Guineans talk about all their beliefs in the same breath.

They say, yes they have a firm belief in Christianity and, yes, there are still village powers that exist they are afraid of.

It is the traditional belief in the powers of the other - the dark side - that is little written about, perhaps because in Papua New Guinea there are many different practices and different shades of dark belief.

So what is sorcery? What is sanguma? These questions can be difficult to answer. The belief in sorcery and witchcraft in whatever form is branded as a belief in sanguma. But there are differences between them.

The Motu Koitabuans and Central Province coastal central people frequently camp out at the Port Moresby General Hospital to protect their sick family member from enemies who practises sorcery or witchcraft. 

They keep watch and prevent enemies from nearing the sick person and carrying out dark practices.  The enemy would be from their own village but unrelated to their family or clan. This is a particular Papuan practice of making sorcery on neighbours. 

They forget that the hospital is where every sick person goes. But if they have a suspicion about who might have done the sorcery and they see that person at or near the hospital grounds, then bingo, there is your sorcerer.

In the Southern Highlands - and the Ialibu and Pangia area in particular - people believe in a mystic being called the stonmahn – a belief also shared by the Lufa people in the Eastern Highlands.  When these mystics come before you, they throw a stone or stick so the subject person becomes disorientated.

While they are in that state, the stonmahn commits his dastardly deeds, including pulling the intestines out from the rear end and cutting them into pieces.

The powerful kukurai from the Madang north coast area are believed to be physical manifestations of sorcerers.  It is said by people from that area that if the kukurai feels a person is troublesome it will tells that person to walk on their head – and, the victim will literally walk on their head.

If the kukurai says he wants your daughter as his next wife, there is virtually nothing you can do but to submit and let your daughter go into marriage with him, irrespective of how old he may be.  Another notable feature of the kukurai is that, like shamans, they combine sorcery with leadership in their area. 

People in the Simbu Province and the western part of the Eastern Highlands believe in kumo/ghumo who are said to have the ability to eat out or to do harm to the innards of a person so they die.

And the well-known time travellers from Milne Bay are mystics who cannot be rationally explained – and since they cannot be asked to explain themselves, they remain a ‘det wan hau?’

This is also the case with the myriad of mystics and sorcerers and magical practices that the people of Papua New Guinea’s hundreds of localities and language groups believe in – Kerema poison, Nambis poison, the walking carvings from the Sepik River and the Ghewos from the Bundi and Ramu valleys.

These sorcerers and mystics are also blamed for causing illness and death to people outside the immediate clan or group.

Another question is which practice of sorcery or sanguma is being peddled here.  Each place and province has its own version.

The importation of a practice from another part of the country and applied to people of a different ethnicity is wrong. No one version of the dark arts is the same as another.

It defies all reasoning that an Engan would believe in sorcery that applies to Simbu or the Eastern Highlands or find cause with Southern Highlands sanguma.

The people of Simbu and the Eastern Highlands believe that the Kumo-Ghumo sanguma (KGS) people have a craving for protein and possess the ability to can get into the innards of any living thing and eat them. The favourite is the heart. But any organs will do.

When they are ripped out, of course, the result is instantaneous death.

The KGS can also leave holes in the organs which can result in a quick death or death by the clock – that is, slowly.  They can also simply suck out blood, leaving the victim white and very weak.

If the KGS cannot rip an organ out, they can tie it up in knots so that one dies slowly. This can include the urethra or pispis rop so that a person cannot pass urine or, for a man, have sexual intercourse. 

They can also block the anus so a victim cannot excrete.  The end result of in both cases is slow death from a bloated bladder or stomach.  For a man, these are the most feared.  Most men would not mind dying instantly. But to suffer the indignity of a swollen stomach or bladder is humbling and embarrassing and not what one wants to experience.

It is believed that these KGS have extraordinary powers.  These powers are said to be carried out by small animals living under the armpits or amongst pubic hair.

For a person from where KGS is practised, life revolves around the grace of the sanguma.  These people wish ill to everyone.  And all people - educated and uneducated, rich and poor and all in between - believe that the sanguma are real and can cause irreparable harm.

The author of a recent book stated that he cannot explain these sangumas and how they work. All that is known is that the sorcerer has power to do great harm. 

All people can do is to exercise goodwill to secure their safety and to avoid falling out of favour.

What I write here is the highlands version of sorcery which may be different to other sanguma practises. Talking about sangumas is never coherent

The KGS phenomena in the Goroka valley – east of the Asaro River - are quite recent.

The valley people were warriors and archers. They fought wars with bows and arrows and believed those on the eastern side of our language group were ‘poison people’.

They made poison on people by taking food droppings like sugar cane refuse or kaukau peel and making a strong shaman on it so that it would affect and kill the victim. 

Or they might use special words which would act like a strong poison and cause ill effects on a victim.  Explaining this remains a challenge.

The reason why Goroka and Kainantu towns were so clean in the early days can be attributed to no-one leaving rubbish on the ground in case an enemy shaman collected it and made ‘poison’ on it. Such practices were a good way to annihilate your enemies in the early days of Goroka. Nowadays people have different beliefs and are very careless with their rubbish.

That said, belief in sanguma has now permeated all aspects and all levels of society, regardless of whether one is an uneducated villager, a savvy businessman or a highly educated lawyer.  People with tertiary education and high qualifications now fear to come to the village because so much conversation is always about who the KGS sangumas are and what are they doing. 

‘Don’t came to the village,’ they are told. ‘It is not good anymore. The village is full of KGS.’

You would think that educated people would want to be able to influence those in the village. But no, they are the ones who now seem to be strong believers in the various ills caused by the KGS.

So who is the sanguma in the Kumo-Ghumo belief, the feared KGS? In short, anybody that can be blamed.

Old widows, spinsters, bachelors, the one who does not wash, the one who lives at the fringe of the village, the one who doesn’t come to the village mumu, the one with that funny attitude - like striking a match head and inhaling its wisp of smoke, the one who sniffs kerosene, the one who prattles a lot in the village, the one who begs too much for smokes and betel nut, the one who raises pigs that break into other people’s gardens, the poor, the eccentric, and just about anyone from the other bank of the Asaro river and further west or has a blood relation with the west.

It is a very long list of what might be termed the left hand of the spectrum of life - the lowly in the village who can be easily blamed, who will not challenge a decision, the weak who cannot speak for themselves and not forgetting that person who had an argument yesterday about his pig coming into a garden. When the story of the argument gets around it’s spiced with words that the garden owner is a KGS.

But this can never apply to anybody on the right side of the spectrum - the successful person, the businessman, the healthy chubby person, the economically well off, the educated working class, the person with plenty of land. Those on the right of the spectrum can never be a KGS - unless their circumstances change.

Yeah, if you were the last person to see A before the calamity befell him - be it a stomach upset, pig dying, a vehicle running off the road - whatever part of the spectrum you come from the rumours will start that, because you were the last person seen with A, you must have had a hand in the calamity.  You are a KGS – and this may also include your children and other relatives.

And once your name is publicly mentioned as a KGS, the label sticks for life. Traditionally, known KGS were isolated in a village or area away from the main village and ostracised for most of their lives.

Sometimes some people do admit that they are KGS. But these admissions are usually made under extreme duress. They are never voluntary.

It is not clear where the KGS spirit goes when the host dies. So, even if the host is killed, it is not known if the KGS is also killed or where it might have fled to.

Each person has their own version of what the KGS actually do to bring harm to another person. The autopsy might show the heart is still in the body of the deceased. But if those watching the doctor perform the autopsy see something irregular they will say it supports their claim that the KGS worked on the victim.

The KGS that eat excreta, human or animal, are said to be the harmless ones.

There are KGS that leave bad karma - like putting a stop to your education. They get into your brain and muddle up your thinking or ride in your bus and cause the engine to stop and render the bus useless so that you cannot succeed in your business.

Or they sent the pigs into your garden - never mind that the pitpit fencing is rotting and the pigs have found a bonanza by pushing against it.  The various misdeeds theses KGS can do is seemingly endless.

A person just has to say that a KGS attacked him or his property.

If any mishap befalls a person or his property, it is the work of the KGS.  It never matters if a businessman loses his money playing poker all night or spends it on entertaining a woman who is not his wife. 

If the business has a downward turn it’s time to find who is the KGS doing these crazy things.

If a child shows fickleness at school, it is because of these dastardly people. There is no inquiry to see if the child is into smoking marijuana or skipping classes.  These days, with movies on phones, children are barely sleeping. But the blame is shifted to the KGS who have got into the child’s head and made her erratic.

If the educated person cannot get a job, nobody queries if the transcript had good grades or was so shoddily written that the recruiting officer filed it in the round file basket on the floor. Yet people still believe the KGS is responsible and they go looking for which person is the host.

The most powerful ward is a person who has a KGS ‘stick’. He is the one that the KGS fear because he has the power to stop the KGS from doing their dastardly deeds.

The man with the ‘sanguma stick’ prepares and issues ginger that can stop the work of KGS. The KGS that meddles with this person does so at their own risk as it is believed that if this person spears or stones the KGS with a mumu stone, they will die.

You will sometimes see babies with a necklace of ginger to protect them from the powers of the KGS.

The rules for good KGS-proof living include:

1. Live generously in the village.
2. Share protein.
3. Live an open friendly life.
4. Do not come from the town with plastic boxes of store foods.
5. Do not buy excessive frozen goods to cook and make the eating of protein sporadic.
6. Do not cook food with a good aromatic smell and tell the village you are having good food.
7. Be generous but do not associate with a person or group of persons too much.

KGS are versatile.  They can fly through the air and can go very long distances.  They can travel from the village to Port Moresby to kill a person and return in one night.  Sometimes they use other animals like dogs and bats as their vehicles.

Nowadays the notion that KGS cannot be passed outside blood lines has been dismissed.  Anyone can be recruited. They can also pass it on through various other means so long as there is some form of affinity or relationship.  It is said that women who knit bilums can pass the KGS sanguma to another. The affinity is created in the desire to learn the intricate designs that the other woman possesses.

The KGS is a spirit that possesses people and works in them. If the spirit is travelling in the night, the remaining physical body should not be disturbed. If the body is disturbed, it will die. The spirit returns in the wee hours of the morning.

If you want someone to be a KGS, just mention that the person has KGS and for evidence find something extraordinary.  Like when Joe was at the hospital, Lsioso (a fictitious name) was at the hospital too.  So when Joe dies, it must have been Lsioso who sanguma-ed him.

Another way to identify a KGS is to pay a specialist who will reveal who the KGS are in the village.

So how do you get rid of a sanguma?

According to Facebook you can ‘kill them’ or ‘just get rid of them’.

The traditional practise was to isolate them away from people until exorcism was undertaken to get rid of the KGS spirits.

The developed world lists more than 3,300 ailments that people can die from, a number that is increasing as new diseases are discovered.

However, here in PNG we know only a few of the illness and, if we cannot name an illness that causes death, then the sickness leading to death is the work of sorcery or sanguma.

If the doctors in the hospital say there is no medical cure or no known medicine then we look elsewhere.  If doctors say they don’t know what the illness is, it must be sorcery or sanguma related.

Western medicine is the best but the rural villager believes that an injection is the cure-all.  A person will get an injection but will not take the chloroquine tablet, or will take the first dose under the watchful eye of the medico but conveniently forget to take the full course having the utmost belief in the injection.

Thus the following fatal attack of malaria will be ‘sik winim marasin’ (his illness defeated the medicine).  In the blame game to follow, somebody must have sanguma-ed the sick person.

When the main KGS, is identified, no one can come to that person’s defence. If a female, the males in her family would be walking a tight rope - especially if the person who died is a well-to-do person.

When applying torture to the suspected KGS, the interrogators will not accept no for an answer.  The suspect must admit and reveal all the other KGS in the village.

In a rational world, when someone falls ill, they might go to the hospital or see a doctor. Wrong! When a person falls ill, home remedies will be sought: ginger here, a local herb there, a chilli concoction perhaps.

If the illness persists, the local aid post is visited for the general cure-all: the penicillin shot.  If that does not work, it’s off to the hospital because the illness jas taken hold of the person.

The relatives meantime will seek the glassmahn, the kavavarmahn, the shaman, and the good sanguma who picks out all the other bad ones to tell out which particular KGS is involved in the person falling ill.

It is now a practice for some these practitioners (glassmahn, kavavarmahn, shaman and the good sanguma) to have a letter from the Provincial Police authority or the Provincial and District authority authenticating their practice. 

This usually emboldens them to do things that are sometimes questionable.

If the doctors say they cannot diagnose the sickness or if there is no medicine currently in the hospital, the villager is not fooled. It is the work of the KGS.

The old PNG Sorcery Act has now been abolished, one of its main problems being that it was unclear on how evidence could be progressed.

In the current scheme of things, in court all the evidence is all hearsay or secondary.  Just because a KGS admits to being one does not mean that is your evidence.

The direct evidence that the court will need is the actual innards that were ripped from a person. In any case, an admission obtained under duress is inadmissible in the courts.

The onset of coronavirus poses a challenge to our countrymen. After all, there is no known medical preventative or cure. We must all hope that innocent people are not harmed in any fallout from this dreadful, invisible virus.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - One thing is becoming abundantly clear as the coronavirus epidemic rapidly escalates.

And this is that any government based on an ideology of neo-liberalism is the worst possible model to deal with a crisis of this magnitude.

This is most apparent in the USA, the home of laissez faire capitalism, where confusion reigns supreme and the virus is uncontrollably rampant.

But it is also becoming evident in Australia.

At the moment there are huge queues of people outside Centrelink offices who have lost their jobs because of the lockdown of businesses.

The people in these long, often unhealthily compressed, queues are trying to get unemployment benefits.

The employees in these offices, who have survived the staff cutting purges by the current government, had little chance of dealing with all these people.

It beggars belief that no one in the government realised this would happen.

In the 40 years or so that neo-liberalism has informed economics and politics, the world has seen government agencies and services privatised in the mistaken belief that private business can do a better job (and make a fast buck in the process).

In Australia the current Coalition government has indulged in an orgy of outsourcing, casualisation, cost cutting and ‘trickle down’ favours to big business.

This has left Australians with inadequate levels of healthcare, education, welfare, public housing, aged care, child care, law enforcement and a plethora of other services.

The purging of public service numbers has ensured that what remains has to struggle to fulfil its obligations.

A similar situation pertains in Papua New Guinea but its causes are more to do with corruption and incompetence.

It is therefore no surprise that, in both places, the governments’ response, as they realise they don’t have resources to deal with the crisis, has been chaotic.

Confusion, indecision and delay have been the overriding characterisations.

The Australian government still seems preoccupied with its economic stimulus measures while the health aspects take second place.

Pumping money into the business sector is hardly going to help support ordinary citizens get through the crisis.

As Van Badham, a Guardian Australia columnist notes, “To believe that private businesses will suddenly redirect their entire rationale from money-making into selfless acts of collective public service to cope with catastrophe is at best a determined misreading of capitalism”.

She goes on to add that “if there’s hope to cling to, it’s based in the universal realisation of Australian households that a transformation of our economic system is imperative to our reconstruction, and survival.

“It was the same realisation that built the better, fairer, more resilient Keynesian systems of regulated, socialised welfare-state economies in the wake of the Depression and the Second World War”.

If we get through this crisis in reasonable shape there is still the crisis of climate change to deal with. That crisis is ever gaining momentum even as we are preoccupied with coronavirus.

We will more than ever need a form of government that supports people rather than just wealthy corporations if we are to get through that crisis and whatever new crisis comes later.

Rabaul Queen survivors await rescue - 246 were picked up; as many as 500 died

BERNARD CORDEN

Extract from ‘You’ll Never Work Again – The Great Safety Charade’ by Bernard Paul Corden, self published, 2019, 1058 pp. A thorough examination from global sources of how corporate barons – large and small – so often place their employees and the public at unconscionable risk. Download 'The Great Safety Charade'

BRISBANE - On 2nd February 2012 the MV Rabaul Queen ferry capsized and sank with the loss of approximately 150 passengers in treacherous waters off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.

Despite holding a current but somewhat superficial seaworthiness certificate, the congested, overloaded, listing and dilapidated rust bucket departed from Kimbe in West New Britain the previous day.

In a foolhardy and reckless overnight voyage with an indifference to anticipated inclement weather, the vessel and its unqualified crew broached and surfed through wild seas as it crossed the Vitiaz Strait near Finschhafen en route to Lae in Morobe Province.

Just before dawn the ferry was hit by three large consecutive waves and it capsized and sank.

Most of the passengers, which included many women, teenagers and schoolchildren were thrown into the ocean as the boat rolled and pitched amidst the squally conditions.

Response vessels arrived at the scene some three hours later and rescued 246 survivors, from drifting emergency life rafts. Several casualties were also found clinging perilously to lifejackets in the treacherous channel.

The precise number of fatalities will never be known because the shipping company was unable to provide a genuine manifest of its passengers. Anecdotal evidence suggests the vessel exceeded its specified carrying capacity and overcrowding contributed to the disaster with some survivors estimating almost 700 people were aboard the vessel.

The victims included many students and schoolchildren returning to Lae for the impending semesters at colleges and schools within Morobe Province.

A subsequent commission of inquiry headed by a retired Australian judge involved numerous public hearings, submissions and testimonies, which disclosed a litany of corporate negligence, recklessness and bungling governance.

This included disreputable and potentially unethical relationships and clandestine transactions between the National Maritime Safety Authority, independent certification agencies, insurance companies and even the head of government.

The final report directed an extensive amount of excoriating criticism towards Rabaul Shipping and its repugnant managing director, Captain Peter Sharp.

Despite an extensive maritime career, the mercenary and intimidating racist tyrant never displayed a skerrick of concern covering safety of passengers or crew aboard his fleet of disintegrating rust buckets.

It was evident from numerous testimonies that passenger ferries were regularly overcrowded and maintenance was sadly neglected. Indeed, most expatriate white people in Papua New Guinea were discouraged or even prohibited from using the vessels, particularly during peak operating periods.

The despicable malapert displayed absolute contempt for authority, especially regulatory agencies such as the National Maritime Safety Authority.

Indeed, Captain Sharp’s various shipping companies and fleet of dilapidated passenger vessels using unskilled and subjugated crews plied the coastal waters of Papua New Guinea unabated over many years.

Mariners and other subordinates were f requently intimidated and treated like bilge water and many believed it was most unfortunate the cantankerous creature was not aboard the vessel when it capsized and sank during its fateful voyage.

Following the commission of inquiry several people including the Rabaul Shipping managing director were arraigned for criminal negligence and manslaughter. However, the state failed to prove there was any risk associated with normal use of the ship and Captain Peter Sharp was acquitted of manslaughter.

In October 2018 additional charges of sending an unseaworthy vessel out to sea were enigmatically dropped by the public prosecutor.

In early May 2019, Captain Peter Sharp died after a prolonged and painful battle with cancer and many bereaved families following Papua New Guinea’s worst civilian maritime disaster were left chasing smoke…… ‘While you never shed a tear, I cried a river over you’.

Further revelations from previous maritime incidents in Papua New Guinea waters suggest the devious and irascible traits may even be hereditary. Hamish Sharp, the deceased captain’s brother, was appointed by the incumbent prime minister Sir Michael Somare to head the National Maritime Safety Authority.

It was a rather controversial selection, especially considering the ruthless socially autistic martinet also owned Bismark Maritime Limited, which operated extensive coastal shipping services in the region over many years.

In early April 2006 two Filipino marine engineers aboard the MV Sealark suffered severe burns following a fire in its engine room whilst the ship was berthed in Lae harbour.

The vessel was eventually sunk and created a 300 metre oil slick within the Huon Gulf. Bismark Maritime Limited was issued with a pollution prevention notice and ordered to raise and remove the wreck from its precarious location by the statutory maritime authority.

The response from Hamish Sharp was quite extraordinary and involved selling the wreckage to an anonymous buyer for a surreptitious token sum of PGK 1.00.

The fate of the injured engineers was shrouded in conjecture although media reports and several patrons in the nearby Lae Yacht Club claimed it was rather brutal and somewhat inhumane.

Both of the victims were left to die and were eventually transferred to Australia for extensive medical treatment at Brisbane and Gold Coast private hospitals. Several close friends provided noble assistance, which was complemented by pastoral care from an aboriginal community support group.

Many adversaries suggested it was extremely unfortunate the loathsome owner was not aboard the vessel when it was sent to Davy Jones’ Locker, where the wreck remains. Moreover, the location presents a significant risk to commercial shipping entering or leaving the country’s busiest port.

The significance of the event gradually attenuated although it rekindled several years later after an incident involving another Bismark Maritime vessel in waters off Mailu Island.

A gaping hole suddenly appeared in the port side engine room of the MV San Pedro, which sank to the bottom of the Coral Sea and allegedly contained an extremely valuable cargo.

It beggars belief that the head of a statutory authority managed a private shipping company that lost two vessels in just over two years in coastal waters off Papua New Guinea.

Moreover, the prime minister was a shareholder with the Pacific Register of Ships, a private independent organisation that issued vessel seaworthiness certificates. Its clients included Bismark Maritime Limited and Rabaul Shipping, which were owned by Hamish Sharp and Peter Sharp respectively.

It was well established that certification was a superficial nostrum and the major beneficiary from the scam was Bismark Maritime and its treacherous managing director who controlled the National Maritime Safety Authority.

In Papua New Guinea the malaise is certainly not restricted to maritime transport and prevails throughout the logistics supply chain sector. Convoys of dilapidated trucks with decrepit trailers regularly negotiate the treacherous Okuk Highway from the port of Lae in Morobe Province.

The vehicles often carry dangerous goods such as ammonium nitrate and sodium cyanide with bulk diesel and aviation fuel supplies for major energy and resources projects in the Southern Highlands and Enga provinces.

Despite a myriad of guidelines, codes of practice and other bureaucratic nostrums, which include independent third party certification audits, it is only a matter of time before the next disaster. The subsequent whitewash or witch hunt often blames the soporific, intoxicated and inarticulate driver to protect reputations, secure assets and socialise the loss, especially if the victim dies.

The malfeasance and turpitude equals and often exceeds the egregious performance of many politicians, public serpents and other panjandrums within federal, state and local governments across Australia.

Indeed, most established white expatriates in Papua New Guinea invariably have some form and the buccaneering entrepreneurial spirit typically encourages the deification and accumulation of profit.

This is usually acknowledged as the ultimate test of human achievement and is often rewarded or bestowed with an order of chivalry, which further encourages devious, dishonest or amoral behaviour to fulfil sinister objectives and attain recognition.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - While a number of conspiracy theorists, alarmists, doomsayers and social media terrorists have tried to insinuate that there is a link between the coronavirus epidemic and climate change, more level-headed minds have been trying to alert us to the connection between the health of the planet and the health of humanity for some time.

In 1993 the Norwegian physician, Per Fugelli, wrote: "The patient Earth is sick. Global environmental disruptions can have serious consequences for human health. It's time for doctors to give a world diagnosis and advise on treatment."

It is thought that Covid-19 originated in an exotic animal market in Wuhan, China. This supports the view that wildlife harbour many viruses and pathogens that can lead to new diseases in humans such as Ebola, SARS and HIV.

SARS, for instance, originally emerged in bats, then hopped into nocturnal mammals called civets before finally infecting humans.

After triggering an outbreak in China, SARS spread to 26 countries, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing more than 770 over the course of two years. 

However, an increasing number of researchers today think that it is humanity’s destruction of biodiversity that creates the conditions for new viruses.

They say that the invasion of wild landscapes creates conditions for new diseases such as Covid-19.

In March 2014 the medical journal, TheLancet, called for the creation of a movement for planetary health that took into consideration the importance of surrounding natural ecosystems on human health.

“Global health does not fully take into account the natural foundation on which humans live – the planet itself. Nor does it factor in the force and fragility of human civilisations," the journal said.

In 2015, the Rockefeller Foundation and The Lancet launched the concept as the Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health.

The new commission explained that planetary health refers to the "achievement of the highest attainable standard of health, wellbeing, and equity worldwide through judicious attention to the human systems – political, economic, and social – that shape the future of humanity and the Earth's natural systems that define the safe environmental limits within which humanity can flourish."

The underlying principle of this approach is that human health depends on "flourishing natural systems and the wise stewardship of those natural systems".

In establishing this principle it was deemed axiomatic that the recognition that human activities, such as energy generation and food production, have led to substantial adverse effects on the Earth's systems.

One group of scientists has identified nine environmental limits that must be maintained to ensure that humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come.

However, according to an update in 2015 they noted that at least four of these limits have already been breached and exceeded. They are climate change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows, and land-system change.

They concluded that urgent and transformative actions are needed to address these four aspects to protect present and future generations.

To that end they say immediate attention has to be paid to changing our systems of governance and human organization.

In particular they said that there needs to be a redefinition of prosperity to focus on the enhancement of quality of life and delivery of improved health for all, together with respect for the integrity of natural systems.

In other words they suggested that neo-liberal systems and laissez faire economics need to be abandoned for everyone’s good.

Perhaps the Covid-19 outbreak and the way it is being tackled is an indication that their warnings have been falling on deaf ears.

PNG Defence Force personnel have been assigned to assist in the fight against coronavirus (Alexander Nara)

SCOTT WAIDE
| My Land, My Country

LAE - So it’s a global pandemic with well over 16,000 dead already, 380,000 infected and less than 103,000 recovered.

It was a national health worry. But within days, it became a national emergency.

The prime minister taking advice from the National Security Council, a state of emergency declared and police commissioner David Manning appointed emergency controller.

For the first time in Papua New Guinea’s history, all the politicians and all the top bureaucrats are in the country. None of them want to be overseas.

Even the crooks who stole from Papua New Guinea’s health system and made millions from bribes want to be here in a country which is largely COVID-19 free (at least for now).

The irony of it all just gives you warm fuzzy feelings. What a beautiful example of poetic justice.

Australia, Singapore, China and the rest of the world are the least attractive places for anyone right now.

Every public official who thumbed their noses at PNG’s health system and went overseas for medical treatment now expects our underpaid doctors and nurses to build facilities that will be COVID-19 ready in weeks.

Big ask.

Oops! Why didn’t we invest in the health system and build it up for our people? Maybe, just maybe, one day we would need to use it. That day has come. A bit early, I must say.

Here is another piece of irony for you. The safest places in PNG right now are the villages where up to 70% of health facilities are closed because of lack of funding and lack of medicines.

Hundreds of villagers have been in ‘self-isolation’ for decades. They don’t have to maintain ‘social distancing.’

A lead team member in Morobe’s COVID-19 response team, said on Saturday, “the safest place right now is in the villages; they can easily self-isolate.” I didn’t say that, he did.

While there are reports of urban dwellers panic buying, food security in the villages remains constant.

The Western Highlanders will be complaining about having too much kaukau, potato, broccoli and cabbages because interprovincial travel has been drastically reduced and the Lae Market is closed.

I’d rather complain about having too much healthy food than about too many deaths from COVID-19.

The Papua New Guinea Defence force has been called on to provide security with the police. They have a funding shortage, planes that are grounded, facilities that have been screaming for government attention for decades.

They’ve been put on alert to be battle ready against COVID-19. Big ask. But I don’t doubt their abilities.

But let’s buy them the equipment, uniforms, vehicles and training. With our money. Let’s make them a force to be reckoned with. Give them the planes and the choppers so they can support us with pride.

Let’s not wait for a global crisis to do that.

We face an economic crisis brought on by COVID-19. If there was any time in history to invest in agriculture (and I don’t mean oil palm), this is the time. This is the time to plant for the next 6-12 months to increase food security.

But at the same time, we should be building systems for the future when the rest of the world collapses around us.

Consultant Wendy Lee and participants at the climate resilience development planning workshop (Peter Kinjap)

PETER SOLO KINJAP

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea's Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) is implementing a K93 million Climate Investment Fund grant to secure greater climate resilience in small islands and atolls.

The project started in 2016 and will end in 2021 in Bougainville, Manus, Morobe, East New Britain and Milne Bay.

Some 24 islands and atolls were selected from these provinces to mainstream climate resilience in development plans focusing on vulnerable communities.

A planning workshop was conducted from 11-13 March in Port Moresby at the CCDA office to review key activities so far and to establish planning milestones for the implementation of the next phase over the remaining 22 months.

There will be three main components, firstly, climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning for the targeted communities.

With the five provincial governments as stakeholders, the project plans will be integrated into district development plans.

A climate change vulnerability assessments uses scientific information to describe the degree to which resources, ecosystem and other sectors are affected adversely or beneficially by climate variability in the selected islands and atolls. The assessment also includes an assessment of the sectors’ ability to adapt.

The project will establish a small grant facility to finance community-based projects including the installation of 200 water supplies and 100 sanitation facilities. There will also be training of locals from the targeted islands.

A farmer in his garden on Kiriwina Island in Milne Bay (BRCC)

The second component covers sustainable fishery ecosystems and food security. A sustainable fishery is one harvested at a rate where the fish population does not decline over time. Sustainability can be threatened by changes in climate patterns.

Food security is about people maintaining access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs.

The three main threats to food security are the disappearance of the variety of plant species, increase in water scarcity and limited availability of land, and food loss and waste.

The third component of the project is to build climate-resilient coastal infrastructure and early warning communications systems to collect information on diseases and so trigger prompt public health interventions.

In each of the five pilot provinces, the National Maritime Safety Authority will install radio communication devices to report warnings to the nearby disaster centre.

Peter S Kinjap is a media officer for the ADB-funded Building Resilience to Climate Change project under the Climate Change and Development Authority. Email pekinjap@gmail.com

Map of the Sepik region by Bill Brown

ROB PARER

BRISBANE - In 1970 we sold our Vanimo stores and bulk fuel depot to Steamships Trading Company.

Mr Lee, the manager of Steamships Madang, had approached us to negotiate the transaction. He was such a fine person to deal with.

Then, 36 years later, Steamships, by now owned by the British multinational Swire Group of Hong Kong, also purchased our stores at Aitape.

This was a slow and laborious process as any decisions had to be made through head office and they also found it difficult to find a manager who could run our business which was diversified into many small parts.

To make it a simpler operation they got rid of the hardware department, which now had to be shipped from their branches in Madang or Lae.

This was tough for Aitape people as they had nowhere close and convenient to buy building materials and other hardware.

Our Parer organisation had kept a full range of materials for anyone wanting to build a house and we were the agent for all the factories in Lae.

Next, to the amazement of hundreds of customers, the new owners closed the bulk fuel depot and service station.

So Aitape people had nowhere to purchase diesel, petrol, kerosene and oils as there was no other distributor of petroleum products in this important part of the Sepik region.

Admittedly there was no profit in the fuel business as it was price controlled and freight rates had doubled which the price controllers had failed to take into account.

In the major towns where Mobil and Shell had depots there was an agreement whereby one or the other would work out the pricing and present to the price controller.

Then whenever the import price went up or down the new price for every town would appear in the Government Gazette.

Even though Shell had no agent at Aitape, they had been allocated the job of presenting the costs of landing fuel at the town.

They were totally uninterested in getting a fair price for us.

Steamships had had enough clout to force a fair pricing regime. Shell didn’t care.

Life could be tough in those remote PNG rowns.

Australian businessman Gerry Harvey - bragging about doing well out of coronavirus panic and exulting in other people's distress

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - There is an interesting and still underlying debate going on about what will happen once the COVID-19 crisis abates.

On the one hand there is the expected conservative view that everything should return to normal.

This is promulgated by most politicians in Australia and elsewhere and seems to be the accepted view of businesses and the public at large.

There is, however, a minority view that the COVID-19 crisis and the draconian steps being used to address it will “change the world forever”.

This view sees the crisis as an opportunity to reform political and economic systems for the better. It is a view informed by the glaring shortfalls that the crisis has exposed in the present arrangements.

Given our past history of responses to similar crises, using this one as an opportunity to improve human civilisation can be seen as an optimistic view at best.

Our natural instinct in time of crisis is to return to ‘normal’ as soon as possible.

‘Normal’ is invariably understood to be the situation that pertained immediately before the crisis. Whether that situation was good or bad is a moot point in most people’s thinking.

Certain sectors of our community have a vested interest in returning to ‘normal’. Not least the corporate sector, which wants to get back to profit making as quickly as possible.

Other sectors, however, hold out hope that matters of exploitation and inequity will be addressed as part of recovery plans.

More enlightened individuals even hope that governments will realise that preparedness for unexpected events like COVID-19 requires more investment in systems (like health) and addressing social inequality.

This kind of shift in focus would not be a prelude to some form of anti-capitalist movement but rather a modifying and moderating of its worst effects.

For want of a better expression such a shift could be carefully described as a socialisation of democracy.

Something along these lines occurred during the global financial crisis of 2008-9 when Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

That law increased US federal spending by $573 billion for health care, infrastructure, education and social benefits, with the remainder used for tax relief — including a $116 billion income tax cut that benefited 95% of working families.

Democrats overwhelmingly supported this measure, but it won little support from Republicans. Under Donald Trump the Republicans have been actively dismantling these measures ever since.

Something similar happened at the same time in Australia under prime minister Kevin Rudd. Again socially beneficial programs were dismantled by the Conservative governments of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison.

My own sense is that the opportunities for change presented by COVID-19 will be wasted as long as we have conservative governments in power and while both our major political parties are beholden to large corporations.

The attitude of these corporations is represented in its rawest form in recent comments by businessman Gerry Harvey, who owns Australia’s large retailer, Harvey Norman.

He has extolled the opportunities that the crisis presented to his company through panic buying.

“You know this is an opportunity. Our sales are up in Harvey Norman in Australia by 9% on last year. Our sales in freezers are up 300%. And what about air purifiers? Up 100%,” he boasted during an interview.

There was a community backlash to this triumphalism when so many people were in a state of shock at the difficulties they were facing.

The media reported that many people are vowing to never purchase anything from Harvey Norman again”.

“Gerry you couldn’t be more deluded and deranged if you tried,” was typical of social media comments. “So many people have died. And there will be so many more victims to come.”

This sort of crass opportunism that underpins what is ‘normal’ in our society is what will mitigate against any hopes of meaningful change following the crisis.

I suspect that just like the global financial crisis the COVID-19 crisis will be just another blip in our inevitable progress down the slippery slope of oblivion we seem so intent upon following.

WARDLEY D I BARRY

Many young women are becoming victims of revenge porn. In Papua New Guinea, one nude photo is enough to turn you into a whore or porn star. The stigma sticks and it can be a traumatising experience for the women. I hope this poem can help people understand and sympathise with victims. More importantly, I hope victims know that there are people who see their worth - WDIB

Am I a whore now for loving you?
Am I a bitch, too, for trusting you?

I took those pictures because you missed me.
I sent them for I wanted you close to me.
In love and trust, all these you see are yours:
my lips, my breasts, my legs... The clothes on the floor,

I took them off so you can clothe me.
I opened myself so you can fill me.
And when you asked me to play a little,
I became dirty so you can value me.

In the sacredness of consummation,
in the process of commuting our passions,
I made myself vulnerable, trusting
that in you I can find security.

Am I a prize to be hung out in public,
a bounty to be added to your list?

My body was meant for your eyes but you
showed it to your brother, who showed his friends too.
My arms and breasts were yours to embrace;
you took my hugs and made them a disgrace.

My bosom was for you to rest your head,
yet you told them how I used it in bed.
I invited you into my private space;
you came in and made people spit on my face.

My classmates scoffed at me. They want to touch
me. Am I a sex doll for loving you too much?
When the pastor saw me, he cursed and laughed.
My best friend could not bear my sight anymore. She left.

How do I love now when my love has become pain?
Will I ever find love again?

I went home and locked myself in my room.
It is the only place where I am not a prostitute.
I cried and my Dad cried. He understood.
My Mum held me close. She was hurt deeply too.

Tell me, am I a whore? Am I a bitch now,
that I must walk around with my head bowed?
It was in love that I came to you with nothing on.
How can you turn my trust into a weapon

and use it to destroy me? Even in pain
I find myself reaching out to you again
and again. For you are the only one
my heart and body have learned to love.

Street market - a large part of Papua New Guinea's daily trade and commerce relies on the informal economy

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

PORT MORESBY - As the spread of coronavirus claims thousands of lives throughout the world it has also brought economic hardship to many countries.

Businesses and governments face a bleak future with economic activities shutting down and the movement of people becoming more restrictive.

In Papua New Guinea the government recently introduced a state of emergency after a foreign mine worker travelling to PNG’s second biggest city Lae tested positive for the virus.

As a result roads in cities and towns are half empty and schools and most businesses have been forced to close down.

While a few businesses like shops are still open, albeit under strict rules, the 14 day partial shutdown period will no doubt test the social and economic fabric of the country.

Experience from other countries show that the implementation of this sort of measure will require the government to put in place some sort of economic or social safety net package to help citizens sustain their livelihoods and keep businesses afloat until normalcy returns.

Already in Australia thousands of newly-unemployed citizens are queuing to access welfare benefits.

If the PNG government does introduce a stimulus package for businesses, it should also cover informal micro-enterprises.

In PNG it is estimated that almost 80% of the population are engaged in the informal economy with about 20% of them comprising formal sector workers who use income from informal economic activities to supplement their wages.

The bulk of these activities are in small trades and primary production, that plays a vital role in supplying food to urban centres.  

In the USA the government has expanded its economic stimulus package to cover self-employed people.

A large part of PNG’s private sector comprises self-starters in the informal economy - table mamas, street sellers and market vendors.

These groups earn their income through daily sales and interactions with the public. Their income supports their children and puts food on the table for their families.

The state of emergency has the potential to cripple their ability to earn incomes and jeopardise their livelihood just like any other business.

While major markets in Port Moresby, Lae and Mt Hagen still open under tight scrutiny, there is a need to set up temporary markets for vendors who regularly trade outside the recognised markets.

In these markets the responsible market and urban authorities should undertake simple measures such as curtailing or modifying certain activities (e.g., street sales and cooked food) to reduce the potential for transmission of the virus.

The fresh food chain of fruit, vegetables and fish clearly needs to proceed to safeguard both essential food supplies and household incomes, especially in urban areas.

Markets need proper sanitation and hygiene – soap, washbasins, face masks and gloves - augmented by appropriate social distancing between sellers and buyers.

To ensure coordination the government should work with the various informal vendor associations.  The National Capital District, for instance, has 13 or 14 already set up in some markets.

More needs to establish them elsewhere in PNG as they play a vital role in linking the government with the informal economy, although there’s no time for this now. But if the state of emergency is to be extended and in preparation for future epidemics, the government needs to start planning.

Global experts say a vaccination for coronavirus is still 12-18 months away. This leaves almost 80% of our nation’s workforce in the informal economy in a dire situation.

Unlike workers in the public and private sectors, informal economy workers do not have the same benefits and protections such as superannuation to support them when things turn out for the worse.

This is where the government must not overlook their well-being in this perilous time.

Busa Jeremiah Wenogo is a development economist who specialises in the informal economy. He has been at the forefront of policy reforms in the informal economy in PNG for many years.