Coastwatchers Memorial celebrates 50 years

Patrick Matbob
Madang

15 7 2009

Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse celebrates 50 years

One of PNG’s most famous war monuments will be 50 years old this Saturday.
Madang’s Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse was opened on August 15, 1959 to commemorate 28 Coastwatchers who lost their lives and to the Papua New Guineans who assisted them during WWII.
The idea to build the memorial somewhere in PNG began in 1953 and a committee was formed in Melbourne to raise funds for its erection. Madang residents at the time who had fought in the war embraced the cause which was dear to their hearts. By 1954 the site of the monument had been selected at the southern entrance to the Madang harbor.
The bomb shaped reinforced concrete column 80 feet high was designed also to be a practical navigational aid for vessels out at sea. The lighthouse which cost 21, 500 pounds was opened by Minister for the Navy Senator John Gorton in 1959. The public which included US President Richard Nixon and Chinese residents of Madang, subscribed half the cost of the memorial while the Australian government provided the rest. The opening was such a grand event that a former Madang resident Roma Bates, wrote in Una Voce (the journal of the Reitired Officers Association of PNG): “Madang will never again have a weekend as wonderful as the one just past…”
At the opening, both the Royal Australian Navy and Air Force had co-operated to bring in surviving Coastwatchers, their widows and relatives from every part of Australia and PNG. Among those attending were “Snowy” Rhodes and his wife, Edna; Eric Feldt; Walter Brooksbank (who had conceived the original idea of the Memorial); “Kassa” Townsend; Alan Roberts; Paramount Luluai Golpak; Sergeant Yauwiga, NGPF; the Director of Lighouses, Gordon Laycock; representatives from the United States Navy and the Australian armed forces, and Minister for the Navy, Senator John Gorton, who performed the opening ceremony.
Post-Courier’s predecessor South Pacific Post covered the event and reported on August 18, 1959:
“Australia’s cloak-and-dagger men who operated behind Japanese lines during the war, were honoured here on Saturday – the 14th anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific.
At sunset – 6.27pm – the 90 feet beacon sent its one million candle power beam into the Bismarck Sea for the first time honoring the Coastwatchers, living and dead, European and native, who took part in the war’s most hazardous spy operation.”
ends

Manam Bogia Conflict

Patrick Matbob
Madang
26-06-09

Manam/Bogia conflict – how many more need to die?

She was born at Asuramba three years ago and the care centre was the only home she ever knew. She may have been too young to know that she was a Manam Islander and that somehow it was dangerous to be one.
On the fateful day, Sunday June 14 she was hungry. She would have known hunger in her brief life just like hundreds of her fellow islanders at the care centres along the Bogia coast. Why she never had enough to eat is something she will never know. Like all three-year-olds, she wanted to tag along with mum to look for food in the garden. She had no idea that the trip would be dangerous. And why should it be? Being with her mum was the most secure place in the world for her.
She would have been terrified when they were surrounded by a menacing looking group of armed men. And when her mum, her source of security and life fled and left her behind – she would have been devastated.
Her terrified screams of memo, memo (“mother, mother” in the Manam language) were the last words she would ever utter. Terrified and confused, her mum ran for her life with the baby leaving her behind at the mercy of her captors.
The captors later told the police that she had died of fright. We can only imagine the terror the little one experienced. Four days later what was left of her tiny skull and jaw bone were recovered and buried. The circumstance surrounding her death remains the subject of a police investigation.
As human beings no death or suffering can be taken lightly – especially that of children. Jesus reminds us how special children are. “Do not stop the children from coming to me, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to people such as these,” (Matt 19:14). It is the only consolation that the parents of the little girl have, and a stark reminder of our responsibilities to children, especially in a conflict situation.
The conflict between the Manam settlers and the Bogia landowners has now directly claimed four lives and caused suffering to thousands of others. It has resulted in the destruction of the entire Suaru village and the early repatriation of Baliau villages back to Manam Island. Those repatriated are currently facing renewed hardships with food, water and shelter because of the poor condition of the island.
The conflict at Asuramba has been going on since the settlement was established. In 2006, the people of Rarin, Simbine, Busip, Beidup and Tamakot called on the government to evacuate the islanders because of increasing law and order problems in the area. Villagers complained of theft of their coconut, cocoa and food in the gardens, of harassment of women, sale of homebrew and marijuana, overcrowding at the Malala health centre and harassment and abuse of motorists on the Madang/Bogia highway.
The alienation of the Manam people caused by the volcano disaster has been devastating. The islanders are known for their highly structured and orderly society under the kukurai system. However, their displacement from the island has destabilized and weakened the social structures especially the authority of the kukurais. This has led to numerous problems now being experienced along the Bogia coast.
Today both the Manam settlers and the Bogia landowners are asking the same question. Why has the National Government been unable to address the resettlement issue adequately in the last three years?
It is not as if the government had neglected to address the Manam disaster situation. Since the pyroclastic eruptions in December 1996 which killed 13 Budua villagers, the government and donor agencies had reacted instantly. First lot of islanders were evacuated and settled at Potsdam.
Later in the 2004-5 series of eruptions, the rest of the islanders were evacuated and resettled temporarily on state acquired plantations on mainland which are Potsdam, Asuramba, Mangem and other state land. The local people of Suaru offered their traditional land at Bom to the Baliau people to settle.
A provincial government Manam disaster committee headed then by the current Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet had overseen and dealt with the issues of the settlers and landowners up until 2007. The National Government took over the issue when it enacted the Manam Resettlement Authority (MRA) and immediately promised to lease about 60,000 hectares of land in the Andarum area of Bogia to resettle the Manam settlers living at Mangem, Asuramba and Potsdam.
Then Secretary for the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Valentine Kambori told the people that the government had already put in place a complete fiscal plan for infrastructure development on the proposed site. He said MRA was legislated by Parliament to carry out the Manam resettlement program. According to the business plan of the MRA each of the 2024 family units living the three major care centres would receive 10 hectares of land at the new promised site. The host community would also benefit with infrastructure development.
However, since then very little has happened. No one seems to know what is happening with MRA which is chaired by member for Bogia John Hickey. In a recent interview with ABC, Chairman of PNG’s National Disaster Committee Manasupe Zurenuoc said the government has asked for outside help because MRA has failed to do its job.
The National Government has to come out and tell the people of Manam and Bogia what is happening with MRA. It has to assure the 15,000 people of Manam in the care centres what their future is going to be like. It has to tell the Bogia landowners what is happening so that they do not despair that they are stuck with a humanitarian problem. This has to happen now before there are more deaths over the resettlement issue.

Vidar ground breaking brings tears

Patrick Matbob
Madang
26-06-09

My cousin Bosko Isin wiped his eyes and turned apologetically to me.
“I can’t help shedding a tear,” he said in language to me. We were standing among the crowd at Vidar having just witnessed the groundbreaking of the new Pacific Marine Industrial Zone. Bosko was nostalgic.
“We will never again see this beautiful harbor, this piece of land that we use to walk through. It is land that our ancestors have called home.”
Bosko, from nearby Rempi village, was among many of the locals from Haven, Midiba, Sek, Kananam, Malmal, Riwo and Siar villages who shared similar emotions. Vidar Point was where the Rempi people used to beach their canoes for generations when visiting relatives or the mission at Sek. The people are saddened at the loss of their land. They feel angry and cheated by the government; especially their leaders who they believe should have been looking after their interests.
The groundbreaking event has brought home the reality of their loss. This piece of land lined with aging coconut palms, pristine mangrove-covered water edge, and the warm turquoise sea teeming with marine life that has supported the locals for generations, would now be permanent lost to the people of Rempi, Sek, Kanaman, Midiba and Haven. For a Papua New Guinean, this is unthinkable. It is a reality that the people find hard to accept especially considering what they are getting in return.
The people had been fighting to reclaim this land for more than 20 years from the Catholic Mission. The 860 hectares of Maiwara and Vidar land was owned by the Church which established its headquarters across the bay at Alexishafen in 1905. The land was purchased by Fr Eberhard Limbrock, a pioneer German SVD missionary who set up the mission headquarters and planted 284 hectares with 28,650 coconut palms and 67 hectares with 28,550 rubber trees. Madang was then under the German colonial administration which had approved the church’s acquisition of the land. The manner in which this and other land areas in Madang had been acquired is now a major issue amongst the local landowners who want portions of the land returned to them. People need the land because of pressures of population growth and need for economic development.
In the 80s local people began asking for the return of the land from the mission. When they did not get a positive answer, they resorted to sabotaging the mission properties which had led to the mission eventually deciding to return the land. The mission however, did not have the money to develop the land for the people, so instead decided to hand over the land to the provincial government.
Br Theo Becker, former procurator of Madang Archdiocese, said that the Vidar and Maiwara land were under freehold title, which the archdiocese handed over to Madang provincial government in 1996.
“The reason the land was given to the provincial government was that the provincial government wanted to do some projects in that area, for the benefit of the people,” he said.
“The archdiocese was not able to do development on this place for the people and we already had problems with the land before. So we sold our properties which our brothers had developed, and gave the land to the provincial government, to help give the people the opportunity for further development on this property,” Br Becker explained.
He said the archdiocese believed that the only institution which could really work with the people was the provincial government.
Br Becker who did this interview in 2000 believed that there was an understanding between Catholic Archdiocese and the provincial government about the use of the land.
“The provincial government did not follow the agreement that the land should have actually gone back to the people, for their benefit,” Br Becker said.
The original landowners are still confused and do not understand why they did not get back the land. Many feel angry and cheated when the Provincial Government had instead sold the land to RD Tuna and not honored the understanding with the local people. Today it seems both the people and the provincial government have lost out altogether in this deal.
The underlying issues over what is now ‘PMIZ’ land as well as other land areas in Madang have never been resolved and remain a sore point for the local people.
So far they have been told that the marine industrial zone project would create 30,000 job opportunities and spin-off businesses. The project involves the development of 10 tuna canneries and dock and storage facilities to service foreign fishing vessels that would come in to dump their tuna catch. However, they are worried because their experience with the existing RD Tuna Cannery has not all been positive. Benefits have been limited to jobs for women on the assembly line in the cannery and the spin-off business mainly involves transportation for workers to and from the factory for the round-the-clock operation. But there are also adverse social problems. Villagers have been affected by the so called ‘sex for tuna trade’ where local women have been driven to trade sex for the by-catches and there is also environment pollution, both waste and smell, affecting the communities around the cannery. Ten canneries, they say, would multiply the problem that much.
Many questions remained unanswered for the people. It is obvious that the local population will not provide the 30,000 workers for the factories. Where are these workers coming from? Where will they live? The government says the project when is up and running will earn the nation K2 billion a year in tuna catches. What percentage of that money will benefit the people in the impact area? What about the provincial government? People do not want to be mere spectators, fighting for spin-off crumbs and becoming impoverished each day while the foreign companies and the national government enrich themselves.
A youth from Sek said: “Mam, (dad) you think they’ll only listen to us if blood is spilt?” The people’s anger is real. A marine industrial zone and 10 canneries are not necessarily what the people want, especially after the Bel people had just declared parts of the internationally renowned Madang lagoon area that extend from Madang town as far as Sek and Vidar as conservation areas. This has been done because the lagoon is the only source of livelihood for the Bel people who have lost most of their land to state and private interests. A major impact project such as the PMIZ could be disastrous for them if not planned properly.
The national government would be making a mistake if it pushes ahead with this project without properly consulting the people and the provincial government and including them in the development and operation of the project. If the people and the provincial government own equity in this project then it will go a long way in addressing the bitterness and resentment that exists amongst the local people.

PMIZ project proceeds

Patrick Matbob
Madang
18 8 2009

PMIZ Project development proceeds

Work is expected to start soon on the US$300m (K990m) Pacific Marine Industrial Zone at Vidar in Madang province of PNG. The national government is expected soon to release the contract for the site clearing and fencing of the 216 hectares of port area soon.
This is despite some important surveys and studies for this project remaining outstanding which include the environmental and socio-economic impact studies. Also yet to be concluded is the study of the laws and regulations that will govern the special economic zone.
People living around the impact area are also split with some supporting the project while others are firmly against it.
The national government has allocated K29m to fund the project and this will be increased to K151m which would give it 20% equity in the project. Off shore finance of K810m will be sourced as loan through China’s Exim Bank, World Bank/IFC and Japanese government. Other funds will come from grants and through public and private partnerships.
A special meeting of all stakeholders in the project was organized by the Madang Provincial Government last month which was attended by two senior government ministers. The meeting was initiated by Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet in a hope to establish some dialogue following controversy over the project.
Commerce and Industry Minister Gabriel Kapris and Fisheries Minister Ben Semri addressed representatives of the people and listened to their concerns about the issues stemming from the project. Local people living around the project area have been concerned about the environment pollution and land issues. The people were told that the environment impact study was still in progress while the socio-economic impact study was to start soon.
People still know very little about this major impact project mainly because the government has failed to carry out adequate awareness and consultation. Even during the meeting, the level of information being disseminated was not detailed and beyond the understanding of the average villager. Development via a special economic zone is a new concept in PNG and comprehensive awareness is needed to help the people understand its impact.
Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet was applauded when he assured the people that he would help them to reclaim the title to the rest of the 860 hectares of alienated land. Part of land area (216 hectares) would be where the PMIZ would be established. This piece of land was owned by the Catholic Church since 1905 and was sold to the provincial government 10 years ago. The government in turn sold the land to the Filipino Fishery and Canning operator RD Tuna. RD Tuna has now sold this land back to the National Government. This has happened without the people’s knowledge and had upset them. The people had been fighting to reclaim this piece of land since the colonial era because of increasing population and shortage of land.
The biggest concern of the people and the provincial government is how they will benefit from the project and are seeking equity and a guarantee of spin-offs and employment opportunities in PMIZ.
According to the national government, PNG stands to benefit a lot from the project. It says the project would maximize the value of tuna through downstream processing, create economies of scale opportunities, secure collective bargaining power over markets and tuna resources and create opportunities for small Pacific Island nations.
Ministers Semri and Kapris have promised that apart from the national government and Pacific Island investors, local and provincial governments would be given equity in the project. The ministers have also promised spin-off and employment benefits as well as development of infrastructures as part of its community service obligations which would include schools and hospitals. However, the details of the equity share, spin-offs and employment have not been revealed.
Pacific Island countries and Partners to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) have also been promised equity in the PMIZ. They will also have the opportunity to establish processing facilities and benefit from employment and joint venture opportunities, favorable foreign exchange regulations, PNG government assistances and favorable tax concessions. PNA members are Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Island, Nauru, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and PNG.
The project has been set up to exploit PNG’s fisheries zone totaling 3.12 million square kilometers which is the largest in the South Pacific and produces 30 per cent of the regional and 10 per cent of world tuna catches.
The PNG government wants to benefit from its fishery sector whose total market value is estimated between US$350m –US$400m on average. Last year, canned tuna export accounted for US$48m, fresh chilled tuna US$6m and frozen tuna accounted for US$72m.
The European Union market is the major target for PNG after it signed the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in July this year allowing duty free status for all tuna processed in PNG regardless of where the fish are caught.
However, there are some concerns now over plans by Ramu Nickel Mine to dump its waste into the sea outside of Madang. Fisheries Minister Ben Semri has voiced his opposition to the plan saying it may jeopardize the country’s agreement to export into the lucrative European Union markets. The issue may need to be resolved soon as Ramu Nickel is planning to begin production next year.
ends

Captions
(011) Local people around the PMIZ project area stage a traditional ceremony seeking a part in the PMIZ project.
(007) Commerce and Industry Minister Gabriel Kapris surrounded by the PMIZ project developers at the ground breaking ceremony in July.
(028) Deputy Prime Minister Sir Puka Temu ready to perform the symbolic ground breaking ceremony with the developers at the PMIZ project site.
(009) PNG children living around the PMIZ project site looking on as the ground breaking ceremony progresses. What is their future in this project?

Ramu Nickel Blunders On

Patrick Matbob
Madang

18 8 2009

Ramu Nickel project blunders on

The world class Ramu Nickel project in PNG has again been ordered to stop operations temporarily last month because of failure to meet the required safety standards.
This time the PNG Mineral Resources Authority ordered all work on the project sites to cease until all safety issues were adequately rectified.
The order to stop work came after an accident at the Basamuk Refinery site in May that left a national worker with permanent injuries. The accident sparked a riot by fellow workers that resulted in injuries to a number of Chinese and PNG workers and damage to property and plant equipment on site.
An inspection carried out on site by MRA Chief Inspector of Mines Mohan Singh after the riot raised concerns about lack of safety measures being observed by the company contracted to develop the project.
A Ramu Nickel Management initial submission to MRA about the rectification measures they were taking to improve safety and health standards at the work site did not satisfy Mr Singh. He told The National newspaper last month: “Upon review, I was not fully satisfied with the amount of rectification work done, and required the company to complete rectification in all critical areas before I could consider their request for resumption of operations.”
The operations of the US$800 million project resumed last month after MRA was satisfied that MCC had fully rectified the critical defects on health and safety grounds in compliance with the Mine (Safety) Act 1977.
Mr Singh said however that strict regulatory conditions as stated in a letter to the company on August 15 will be applied.
“The Inspectorate aims to keep a constant vigil on the company to ensure compliance of its instructions and help the company discharge its statutory obligations,” he said.
MRA inspectors have been visiting Kurumbukari and Basamuk refinery sites to verify compliance of the critical items listed in the statutory order of July 21.
No details were released of the critical issues which MRA had sought rectification.
The project has been dogged by controversies since work began following a state to state agreement between PNG and China. Prime Minister Somare invited the Chinese to develop the project following an election promise in 2002 to the people of the area who had been waiting for some years for a developer.
From the start, MCC’s approach to developing the project had been unlike the other western mining companies that have been operating in PNG. MCC is employing a large expatriate Chinese workforce on the projects sites claiming that it needs special skills that are not available locally. On the other hand, experienced PNG mining operators are claiming that Chinese workers are involved in work that Papua New Guineans can do.
In 2007 the department of Labor and Industrial Relations threatened to close down the project after the project developers were found to have breached PNG’s labor and industrial laws. An inspection by the Department Secretary David Tibu following widespread complaints by workers, discovered that company was breaking the law by having no proper wage structure for national workers, issuing rations of tin fish and rice in lieu of over time pay, accommodating national workers in makeshift tents, not providing ablution facilities and medical services on site for workers, and workers were not appropriately attired.
In a list of recommendations, Secretary Tibu directed ENFI to comply with relevant labor laws and pay workers according to their qualifications, ensure that all personnel are issued and attired with correct industrial gear, develop a health safety and working environment policy, appoint a permanent health, safety and environment officer and build ablution facilities in staff quarters.
Another issue had been the employment of Chinese workers who breached the labour and immigration laws and had no proper visas and work permits. The workers were arrested in a special government operation only to be freed by a magisterial court.
Chief Magistrate John Numapo found that the workers were brought into the country to work under a government to government agreement between PNG and China. A court official said there was an understanding that the Chinese workers were allowed into the country to work on tourist and business visas while their proper work permits and visas were processed over a period of six or seven months.
Early this year, national workers at the Kurumbukari mine site went on strike for two weeks protesting poor working conditions, poor wage rates and lack of medical and other benefits. Other issues included failure by the MCC to relocate displaced people from the mine site and build accommodation for them. Intervention by Madang provincial Governor Sir Arnold Amet enabled work to resume while MCC promised to address the outstanding issues.
Landowners at the project site also have outstanding land ownership disputes that have remained unresolved for years. The national government’s attempt to address the issue this year has been stalled following the death of the commissioner appointed to hear the disputes.
Another major problem that the national government and the community in Madang is being confronted with is the mine’s plan to dispose waste into the ocean outside of Madang. The plan is being opposed by PNG Fisheries Ministry Ben Semri and developers of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone who are targeting the lucrative European Union markets for PNG’s tuna and fishery products. They believe that MCC’s marine tailings disposal plan is likely to jeopardize the PNG government plans to export to EU markets.
Despite the problems, Ramu Nickel is determined to commence production next year.