How Sepiks ended up in Bulolo

By MALUM NALU

Exactly two years ago, in October 2008, I travelled around Bulolo with local MP Sam Basil, checking out various projects in his electorate.

Upper Watut warriors of Bulolo

At Manianda in the Upper Watut local level government, along the road to Menyamya, Wau-Bulolo mayor and long-time Sepik settler, Jack Nawie, sent a blunt warning to criminal elements that there must be “zero tolerance” of crime in these two towns.

Happier days…Wau-Bulolo mayor Jack Nawie (left) with Bulolo MP Sam Basil in Upper Watut… ‘zero tolerance’ of crime in Wau and Bulolo

In retrospect, looking back at what Nawie said that day, I can only say that he has must have had a crystal ball in hand.

I say this in light of the recent ethnic clashes in Bulolo between the local people and Sepik settlers and, to a lesser extent, that between the Watut and Biangai people last year.

Nawie said that fateful day that the two historical gold mining towns were once again experiencing a boom and mining and exploration activities and their “cowboy town” tags must be disposed of to attract more investment.

Aerial shot of a gold dredge in Bulolo. The rivers and creeks around Bulolo and Wau abound with alluvial gold

“As the manager of these towns, I will not tolerate these criminal activities anymore,” he said.

“There will be ‘zero tolerance’ of criminal activities.

“As manager of these towns, I want companies to come and invest here.

“We don’t want the ‘cowboy town’ image of Wau and Bulolo to come back and haunt us.

“We will work closely with all companies already here and those who want to come in as they are bringing services and we want to support them.

“I also want to raise the level of the two towns from urban level 2 to Urban Level 1 because of the current boom in mining and exploration.

“I will work closely with Bulolo MP Sam Basil and other LLG presidents to push for development in these two towns.”

Nawie is originally from East Sepik but, like many others, was born and raised in Bulolo and calls it “home”.

“This is my town and this is my place,” he said.

“My heart lies where I was born.”

 Unfortunately, starting in April this year, fighting in Bulolo started to escalate with more than 5,000 villagers taking part in the raid on Sepik settlers.

Local villagers have been walking the length and breadth of Bulolo armed with guns, knives and bows and arrows in open defiance of police.

Surrounding Sepik settlements including Cement Bridge, Maramba, White House, Biwat, Tambanum, Kapriman, Aitape and Sangriwa have been razed.

The situation has affected the operations of all major companies in Bulolo such as PNG Forest Products (PNGFP), Bank South Pacific, post office, schools, health centre and University of Technology Bulolo campus and retail outlets – forcing all to close.

More than 2,000 settlers have been using the PNGFP camp site as a care centre, having lost everything except the clothes on their backs, and have sought police protection as locals try to penetrate the area.

Amidst all this gloom and doom, it must not be forgotten that the Sepiks of Bulolo are no ordinary settlers.

Their great grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers were pioneers of Bulolo, coming in with the first white men to Bulolo Valley.

They were brought in by Bulolo Gold Dredging, forerunner to the current PNGFP, according to Michael Waterhouse’s brand new book on the Wau-Bulolo goldfields titled Not A Poor Man’s Field.

“Nor did BGD neglect its indentured labourers,” Waterhouse writes.

“Most came from villages in the Sepik district and were recruited for two or three years, usually as general labourers for which they were paid six shillings per month.

“They were used to unload planes, to clear jungle ahead of the dredges and as assistants to the many different tradesmen at Bulolo, telephone switchboard operators, messengers, waiters, labourers, personal servants, cooks and houseboys.

“BGD realised at the outset that, allowing for normal turnover, it would need many labourers, and that it would be more successful in attracting them if they returned to their villages happy that BGD had treated them well.

“The huts were located within compounds, which had electricity, running water and showers and a septic tank sewerage system.

“Close by were gardens containing kaukau, taro, corn, paw paws and bananas.

“There was also a trade store, where goods could be purchased and which distributed food rations and clothing.

“BGD paid particular attention to the health of its labourers.

“They invariably arrived from their villages in a fairly-debilitated condition.

“Within a short time, however, good food and exercise filled out their physique.

“They had access to a high standard of medical services, Bulolo having the best-equipped hospital in the Territory.

“As a result, their mortality rate was considerably less than elsewhere on the goldfields.

“It is hardly surprising that there was never a shortage of villagers from the Sepik and elsewhere lining up to work at Bulolo.”

Indigenous labour was pivotal to the success of the goldfield, and this was provided by a highly-organised indentured labour system.

“An indentured labour system had been developed by the Germans, and this was maintained by Australian military and then civil administration,” Waterhouse writes.

“Labourers were recruited from villages in areas previously opened up to European influence and transported, often over long distances, to where they were needed.

“They signed contracts, at first for one or two years, but in the 1930s more commonly for three, during which they were indentured to specific employers.

“Whereas villagers in New Britain and New Ireland who otherwise lacked access to the cash economy tended to work on plantations, those from the Markham Valley and elsewhere in the Morobe district naturally  gravitated towards the goldfields.

“But as the growth of mining outstripped the district’s capacity to provide the labour needed, many labourers were recruited elsewhere, particularly in the Madang and Sepik districts

“In 1926, there were no Sepik labourers on the Morobe goldfields, but by the late 1930s they accounted for 30% of the total.”

The reason was summed up by researcher Richard Curtain: “The Sepik River and its numerous tributaries provided a unique opportunity for labour recruiters by making possible deep penetration into an unproductive but densely-populated interior.

“The main river is navigable for at least 1,000km for vessels up to 200 tonnes,

“The lack of alternatives cash-earning opportunities meant a readily-available workforce once initial resistance had been overcome and the relative attractiveness of work conditions on the Bulolo goldfields known in the mid-1930s.”

Gotokwa Bengo was about 18 when he went to work for BGD, leaving his village in the Keram River area in the Sepik when he heard that young men were wanted to work on the goldfields, and was taught to operate a pump, near Wau.

“In the morning, the bell would be rung at about 6am and we would get up and set off for work, in that very cold climate,” he says in Not A Poor Man’s Field.

“When I touched the water, it was just like ice.

“At about 12 noon, the bell would go again and we would come back to our quarters for lunch and then go back to work at 1pm.

“The work finished at 6pm and we returned to our quarters to meet our friends.

“Every working day was the same.

“The weekends were the most-exciting times, when we went down to see inter-tribal soccer games, or went down to Salamaua to do our shopping.”

And that ladies and gentlemen, in a nutshell, is how Sepiks settlers came about to Bulolo.

Reviving Tekadu’s transport and communication services

By SAM BASIL
Bulolo MP

Tekadu villagers welcoming MPs Basil and  Nolam to a fire-making demonstration.

Tekadu’s 600-plus people are part of the 12 tribes of Watut-speaking people also known as Kukukus.

They do not really know where their hearts lies when deciding on which electorate they belong to.

Being caught in between Bulolo electorate of Morobe province and Kerema electorate of Gulf province, the Tekadu people have not seen any air services for the past nine years.

Other essential services are non-existent.

Children growing up to be nine years old do not have any formal education and have not see any planes landing at their rundown strip.

Let us not forget the unfortunate children who have lost their lives through birth and other diseases.

Like many other airstrips in Papua New Guinea, it is sad to see the Transport Minister Don Polye, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, trying to spend K1.4 billion on Jacksons Airport while neglecting such small rural airstrips.

We are also seeing the same in health with Health Minister Sasa Zibe trying to spend K500 million on the Bautama City Super-Hospital while the rural health facilities are neglected.

In my visit to Tekadu last week, I asked the government to properly allocate the 2011 budget including the 2010 budget surpluses (K800m-plus) estimated to be totaling over K10b, to rebuild aging infrastructures such as rural airstrips, national highways, rural health services, and district road systems to make the lives of rural dwellers easy because they make up over 85% of PNG’s population.

Almost 90% of Members of Parliament represents rural electorates one way or another and must have rural people included in all their planning.

The Bulolo district joint district planning and budget priorities committee (JDP&BPC) in December 2009 installed a VSAT communication apparatus in Tekadu which has opened up communications in and out of Tekadu for almost a year now.

The reestablishment of air services through North Coast Aviation (NCA) is just a follow-up service to complement the communication installation.

Revival of essential services will automatically ride on those two very-important services: communication and transportation.

A charter was negotiated and paid for a trip every month at the cost of K110, 000.

The inbound flights will bring in government workers, building materials and medicine while return flights will carry sick and pregnant mothers, as well as buai (betelnut) bags.

It is estimated that 600 to 700kg of buai can fetch close to K6, 000-7, 000 for those rural farmers.

 Buai is the only cash crop in the Tekadu while alluvial gold panning is in its infancy stages.

Accessing Bulolo and Wau from Tekadu is very hard compared to using the Bulldog Trail for Port Moresby.

Its takes almost a whole day’s walk into Nukewa followed by dinghy or dugout canoe  trip from Nukewa into Malalaua the next day, then a PMV into Port Moresby if they are lucky, or wait another day so its takes about three days in total.

The costs are as follow K100 boat fare K60 PMV far, totalling K160 one way or K320 both ways per person.

So the buai they sell must recoup the fares and pay for porters.

The launching was well attended by all on Monday, Oct 18, while the team took the Bulldog Trail the next day.

The team was accompanied by Queensland State Minister for Transport Rachael Nolam and Max Willies of Australian High Commission.

 Nolam took the honors to deliver ducklings to Tekadu villagers under the agriculture programme

Bulolo district administration was represented by the Wau rural LLG manager Judy Pokana, Mumeng LLG manager Amon and Waria LLG manager.

LLG presidents included Wau Rural LLG’ John Yawa, Mumeng LLG’s Mathias Phillip, and Buang LLG’s Steven Sep while Waria was represented by its deputy president.

The Bulolo team, including the MP, used the walk to see for themselves the hardship and the obstacles the locals encounter while also collecting data for headquarters in Bulolo upon their return.

The people of the Gulf village, Nukewa, had a brief meeting with me and reminded me that I was the first MP to trek into their village.

They told me of their lack of services and asked me to help revived them.

I reminded them that I am the MP representing Bulolo electorate and would bring their concerns to their local Kerema MP, Pitom Bombom.

I will, in fact, invite him and will accompany him there to also address the Bulolo people’s concerns in relation to the usage of the track and share some responsibilities for the wellbeing of Bulolo travellers.

Saying goodbye before taking on the Bulldog Trail for Nukewa village,  Malalaua, Gulf province

The trip from Nukewa took nine hours along the river system and another five hours into Port Moresby, with a press conference and tour of Parliament House.

I housed half of the Bulolo team while the other half was accommodated in a guest house in Port Moresby.

The team returned into back into the electorate on Friday, Oct 22.

History being rewritten with Bulolo Airport

Many people who have been long fascinated by the story of the gold rush days of the 1930’s, feel that history is being rewritten with the re-opening of the Bulolo Airport.

The greatest airlift the world had ever known started from Lae to the Bulolo goldfields in the 1930s.

Built in June 1930, originally the Bulolo strip was 1,150 yards by 120 yards.

Later it was expanded to 1,300 yards in length, covered with grass.

This airstrip was used in conjunction with flying supplies and equipment for gold dredging at Wau and Bulolo.

On January 21, 1942, Japanese Zeros and bombers attacked Bulolo.

At Bulolo, they set fire to three of the Junkers G31 tri-motors on the ground, destroying them.
Gold dredging work ceased as most of the men employed entered military service.

Five days, later, on February 5, 1942, Bulolo was bombed at 11am by five twin-engine bombers.

The discovery of gold at Edie Creek above Wau in 1926 sparked off a gold rush which led to the exploitation of the rich deposits of the Bulolo-Watut river system by large-scale mechanised mining.

The rigours and cost of the eight-day walk into the goldfields and the difficulty of building a road from the coast led to the early introduction of an aviation service.

The driving force behind the development of the goldfields was Cecil J. Levien, a former Morobe District Officer, who has been described as a “rare and formidable combination of opportunist, practical man and visionary”.

Levien persuaded the directors of Guinea Gold N.L. that startling profits would be made by any aviation company that could provide a service to eliminate the arduous walk between Salamaua and Wau.

He secured an option on a small DH-37 plane in Melbourne and engaged a pilot, E. A. “Pard” Mustar, to bring it to New Guinea.

The aviation service was a success from the start.

After two unsuccessful flights around the mountains south of the Markham no one knew exactly how to find Wau from the air.

Mustar landed at Wau for the first time on April 16, 1937.

He began the service the next day with a shipment of six 100 lb bags of rice, charging a shilling a 16, and, making two trips a day, five days a week, carried 84 passengers and 27, 000 lbs of cargo in the first three months.

Rival aviation companies were not long in arriving to share the profits.

Ray Parer, the proprietor of Bulolo Goldfields Air Service who had been competing keenly with Mustar to be the first to land at Lae, came from Rabaul after many delays, and A. “Jerry” Pentland and P. “Skip” Moody soon joined them.

There was ample business for all, and by April 1928, a year after the service began, Guinea Airways (the aviation company that grew from Guinea Gold N.L.) had acquired two extra planes and was employing three further pilots and two more mechanics.

Then in March 1929 a new company, Morlae Airlines, began a weekly Lae-Port Moresby run, meeting ships from Australia and bringing passengers and frozen foods across to Wau, Bulolo, Salamaua and Lae.

At first Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd and its parent company, Placer Development Ltd, had thought of building a road to the goldfields, but the length of time it would take and the high cost of construction and maintenance persuaded the companies to accept Guinea Airways' proposition that “skyways are the cheapest highways”.

On the advice of Mustar, Bulolo Gold Dredging purchased three all-metal, tri-motored Junkers G-31 aircraft from Germany, which Guinea Airways was to operate under licence for the gold mining company.

Guinea Airways also purchased a Junkers G-31 of its own.

They were huge planes, each capable of carrying a payload of 7100 lbs or 14 short tons together.

The airlift began in April 1931 and continued for eight years: the first dredge began work in March 1932, the eighth in November, 1939.

Another crane at the airstrip lifted the heavy machinery into the planes and a rail crane unloaded them at Bulolo.

Eventually operations became so efficient that nine round trips a day were possible.

The airlift was a remarkable undertaking.

It pioneered the use of aviation in the transport of heavy cargo and, in the words of one writer, “in every respect it constituted a world record”.