PAUL WAUGLA WII
THE city of Port Moresby is undergoing an expansion unrivalled in the history of Papua New Guinea.
The last time I was in Moresby, back in 2010, the O’Neill government was embarking on some huge infrastructure projects.
Millions of kina was subsequently spent on upgrading sporting facilities for the Pacific Games and the huge Erima flyover bridge, a monumental structure that can take your breath away, is now complete.
Well, that’s a bonus for the residents of Port Moresby. These urban projects will propel it into a modern metropolis.
But I know that, in the mountains of Menyama, someone is toiling and panting uphill, a coffee bag slung across his bare back taking his produce to the market.
He has no choice but to walk many kilometres to reach the LandCruiser track. The life of this village coffee grower is not getting better.
In another part of rural PNG, a group of villagers carry a pregnant mother on a makeshift stretcher across endless gullies to reach the nearest ill-equipped aid post.
The lives of most these people and hundreds of thousands like them are unaffected by the Port Moresby’s hype and mega-buck activities.
My family and I cultivate a food garden on the slopes of the Guiye Waiye Range near Wandi in Simbu where we live.
The highlands region is caught in the grip of a long dry spell which is seriously affecting our food gardens. We are praying and waiting for the rain and hoping that, when it comes, our garden will flourish.
My fellow rural dwellers are also praying and hoping that now the hype and excitement of the Pacific Games has subsided, much-needed services will trickle down to the grassroots of this nation.
We are hoping against all hope that when the dust settles in Port Moresby, the government will turn its attention to the rural areas.
Those people who are corrupt pose a sinister threat to the development of Papua New Guinea. Most rural areas are denied basic services simply because corrupt politicians and their cronies get in the way of service delivery.
They meddle with the laws of PNG. They abuse the system to feed their selfishness and greed. Those of us who are custodians of the truth must not relent in our fight to expose their venality.
Some people in this cash-driven society sweat their guts to earn a decent living. They maintain their decency in a country that is one of the worst for corruption. They cling to a hope that, one of these days, PNG will drag itself out of the present social and political quagmire.
Corruption occurs everywhere in this country. I was appalled by the corruption I witnessed in Port Moresby. Sometimes the decent people in PNG seem to be in the minority.
Good people persist in their belief that what is gained through honest toil will not taint their conscience. They go to work on time, clock out on time.
They are never seen delivering a fat, unmarked envelope to an easy-going boss or recruitment officer when turning up for a job interview. They look for job with their brain and diploma, not a plastic of buai or a fat unmarked envelope.
When they are faced with a compromising situation, they allow good judgement to rule their conscience.
Good people will always remain that way no matter what price they must pay to hold to their decency.
In 1996, I was in Year 10 at Kerowagi High School. It was the latter part of the year and we had gathered in front of the school hall to sit for our final external exams. We milled around near the entrance, waiting to go inside.
I was observing the invigilators at the entrance, checking in students one by one. Someone walked up to me and squeezed my hand. I turned around and he pressed a neat bundle of bank notes into my hand.
While I held the notes trying to understand what it meant, he moved closer and whispered into my ears. “You keep this money, it’s yours. In the exam room, write the answers on a piece of paper and send it to my desk.”
He was a classmate and he was trying to bribe me. I smiled and politely gave back the money. He was still adamant that I should take it so I told him, matter-of-factly that, as a Christian, it was against my conscience to accept the money.
If your life is embroiled in a vicious circle of corruption, you can change for the better. All you have to do is turn to God and ask for His forgiveness. You must be born again and receive God’s gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38 Mk16:17).
We cherish the hope that, one day, good will triumph over evil in this beloved country of ours.
PNG is poised to become a leading economy in the Pacific and, over the coming years, many good things will happen here. The virtuous people of PNG, irrespective of their numbers, will become the catalyst for change in this country.
Let me remind all you hardworking, honest people that our collective goodness can make a positive impact in this country. We earn an honest living knowing full well that the Creator sees our every thought and deed.
We may be a minority but the conviction within that gives meaning to our existence is our greatest strength.
When everything else seems to give way beneath our feet, we must continue to fight the good fight. We must hold firmly to this belief- and this hope –which we cherish because eventually our collective good can triumph over evil in our society.
There is hope for a better tomorrow in this country. Don’t forget that.