Little Walter Iarakau staggered home from the shadows of the coconut plantation. His tiny naked body stooped under the weight of the large sack of coconut slung over his shoulders. His skinny arms and legs, bulging stomach and large pale eyes showed he is under-nourished and sick. But he has little choice. He must work if he is to eat.
Walter is an orphan who lives with his grandfather at the new Manam settlement on Potsdam Plantation near Bogia in Madang. His parents and only sister were killed in a rampaging flood of boiling lava from the Manam volcano eruption in December, 1996. They were among 13 Budua villages killed.
His people can do little to help him except offer an occasional plate of food. They too are struggling to survive in harsh conditions with food shortages, no proper water supply, no services and no means of earning money.
The people are bitter and angry. Almost four years after they were evacuated, they have not been able to find a permanent home promised to them by the Government.
“Many of our people are suffering, sick from hunger and poor water supply,” said Colin Bade, Budua village leader and Yabu Council member.
“The Provincial Government has abandoned us. As a leader in the community, I’m very sad.”
In September last year, after waiting for almost three years at the crowded camp at Bogia station, the refugees finally moved into Potsdam. This is one of the four plantations bought by the National Government under Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan in 1995 at the cost of more than K1.2m along the coast at Bogia to resettle the disaster victims. The plantations are Potsdam, Asuramba, Mangem and Malagere.
But the settlers have encountered more problems at Potsdam.
“The resettlement is supposed to go with infrastructure. But the Provincial Government had no plan to resettle us,” member Bade said.
The refugees now find themselves isolated from services such as education, health, safe water supply, land for gardening and resources to build houses. They are also facing constant food shortages.
“We have no food. You can see my garden around me here,” said Adolpha Bule, 29, indicating tiny plots of sweet potato, casava, taro and bananas growing around her small hut.
She and her husband have six children to feed plus extra mouths driven to their doorsteps by hunger.
“Our people continue to faint from lack of proper nourishment,” she said.
“The kaukau (sweet potato) is not ready but I am already digging them up,” she said holding up a tiny fibrous pink root.
“We used to be supplied rations,” Mr Bade said. “But the last rations were supplied on May 23 this year. The Government did not check whether we had food or had settled in well.”
The Government’s resettlement plan on the plantations was for the settlers to sub divide the plantation into blocks for each family. The blocks would have enough land for houses and gardens, and families could also harvest coconuts on their block for money. However, the purchase of the plantations have attracted other problems.
“Outsiders are moving in to take control of the copra. We need urgent help in moving out the intruders,” Bade said.
Instead of blocks for each of the 57 families, the settlement is lumped together in one large area. To the north and south of the Potsdam settlement, local people are claiming ownership of the plantation, thus preventing the settlers to use land and coconuts from the rest of the plantation for their needs.
“We have been given the okay to make copra but we cannot. We need police help to move out the intruders,” Bade said.
At the moment the settlers are sharing the few coconut palms around their settlement.
“We make about one bag of copra for each family. That’s about K25 a bag. It is not enough,” said Mathew Boamera, 34, married with seven children.
“We have to go all the way to Madang to sell our copra. Transportation cost is K7 one way and that does not leave enough even for one bag of rice,” Mr Boamera said.
Francis Bule agrees. “I came back with only K10,” he said after meeting transport and other costs from the K22 he received from his copra. “That caused problems with my wife.”
Mr Boamera has no money for school fees. Two of his children are living with wantoks and going to school at Bogia about three and half hours walk away. They are considered luckier than some 60 settlement children who have no school to attend.
“My son says they are going to be expelled for non payment of fees,” Mr Boamera said. He owes the school K105.
“There is no way to get the money to pay . . . They know our situation but they do not want to help us,” he said desperately.
Three people have died, one infant and two adults from what villagers say is malaria. They could not get medical help in time.
“We carry our children and walk to Bogia when they are sick. If we take off at 8am we arrive at about 11:30am,” said Mr Boamera.
“When more than one child is sick we struggle. Sometimes when we are too sick, we just stay and hope to get better,” said Mrs Adolpha Bule.
Water is also a problem.
“See these,” one settler bared his chest to reveal patches of ringworms. “I never had this on the island.” He blamed the wells they have dug which lie idle. People are walking a fair distance to a creek to fetch drinking water and to wash.
Meanwhile, three donated water tanks sit idle in the settlement.
“We do not have iron roofs to catch water,” Bade said.
In the last decade, PNG has experienced three major national disasters besides the nationwide drought. There were two volcano eruptions on Manam and in Rabaul and the tidal wave destruction in Aitape which killed more than 2000. The Government has responded positively to Rabaul and Aitape disasters setting up authorities to take care of resettlement, rehabilitation, infrastructure and provision of services to the victims. No such authority has been set up for Manam.
“The Madang Governor, Jim Kas, promised the people to look at disaster allocation in 2001 budget for Manam,” said Manam Island people’s representative and spokesman, Peter Muriki. “The people wanted a fund to be set up for potential disaster on Manam. They also wanted a Manam Disaster Authority to be set up.”
Manam island villages have petitioned the national government early this year through the Madang Governor’s office. In their petition they are asking for a disaster plan for Manam, for the status of resettlement on the four plantation areas, for a Manam disaster authority to be set up, for a review of school fees and educational needs, and for an audit of all funds and goods given during the Manam disaster appeal.
“We have had no response since,” said Mr Muriki.
The Acting Madang Governor, Pengau Nengo, has promised to immediately look into the settlers problems. Assuming office recently following the suspension of Madang Governor Jim Kas, Mr Nengo admitted he was not aware of the situation.
“These are citizens of Madang and we must assist them,” he said. “The Provincial Government gives full support for the resettlement of the islanders.”
“I will talk with the administration and if we need to enforce the rule of law, we will bring the police up there,” he said regarding problems of local people claiming parts of Potsdam plantation.
He said if genuine landowners are unhappy then it is a sensitive issue and we have to sit down and sort it out.
“We must make sure that people affected must be taken care of. We have to sort this problem out politically, and administratively to allow the islanders to live a life worthy of a people.
“I do not want to see citizens of Madang suffer,” Mr Nengo said.
For little Walter Iarakau, help can not come quick enough. Being an orphan in a normally caring Melanesian society alienated and struggling to survive, he is suffering from neglect, with no parents to feed, cloth and care for him. He has known no happiness, nor a childhood, and there is little chance he will ever get an education. That is if he survives the sicknesses that threaten his young life.
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