Sogeri, like every place you’ve never left

By MALUM NALU

Many rivers to cross…Tanja Meijer and Alan Cullen at the washed-out Laloki Bridge at Sogeri on Good Friday.-Picture by MALUM NALU

Tanja Meijer travelled halfway around the world from Ireland to revisit her beloved childhood home at Itikinumu rubber plantation at Sogeri, Central province, only to find her dream shattered.
It’s heartbreaking and paradoxical, to say the least, to be so near to Itikinumu at Sogeri, and yet so far away, as a heavy downpour on Good Friday turns the Sogeri-Itikinumu stretch into an impassable quagmire.
“It’s emotional and disappointing, as I came so close to Itiki (Itikinumu) and didn’t get there,” she laments.
“It’s very disappointing to be 15, 20 minutes away, but these things happen.”
Meijer, you see, spent the dream years of her childhood from 1962-1968 at Itikinumu, and has always wanted to follow the yellow brick road back to a place she calls home.
Itikinumu, in those far-off days, was part of the Burns Philps’ plantation empire, which spread all over the then Territory of Papua and New Guinea, including Sogeri.
Rubber, for those who came in late, was king in those days, especially in the Papuan provinces, particularly places like Sogeri, which had plantations like Koitaki, Javere and Itikinumu.
With Meijer on the 4WD Toyota Landcruiser belonging to Theodist owner, Kevin Pini, was Australian Alan Cullen, another child of the colonial era, who grew up in Port Moresby from 1950-1970 and has always wanted to come back to a place he calls home.
Pini and Cullen grew up together in Port Moresby, and while Cullen went finish to Australia, Pini stayed back and built a successful business which has become a household name in PNG, just like the late Sir Brian Bell.
Meijer and Cullen had been planning this trip for some time and to be turned away so close to Itikinumu, blame it on the rain, was most-disheartening not only for themselves but also those of us who accompanied them, Pini’s driver Hubert Begada, my son Malum Jr and me.

Tanja Meijer with (from left) driver Hubert Begada, Malum Nalu Jr and me overlooking the Laloki river from Kokoda Trail Motel.

They had been in touch with me about their trip, through social networking site Facebook, so when we met each other for the first time over dinner at Ela Beach Hotel last Thursday evening, it was like we’d known each other for ages.
There was a heavy downpour in the city that morning; however, as we drove out of town, the sun appeared in a rainbow of hope, only to disappear again as we neared Sogeri.
All the way from Port Moresby to Sogeri, Cullen, 60, and Meijer, 51, point out their old stomping grounds like excited children.
One of the most-touching moments is when Meijer sees her former primary “A” school classroom at Sogeri – which catered for children of expatriate planters - still pretty in pink after more than 40 years, and she cannot help but tell the driver to stop as she rushes out for a picture.
“All the classes were done in one room, because of four or five students in each class,” she remembers.
“That was the school.”
As we reluctantly turn back from the stretch to Itikinumu, the swollen Laloki River pours over the bridge leading to Sogeri, as we stand and wonder what might have been.
Over coffee and a sumptuous Good Friday lunch at Kokoda Trail Motel, Meijer pours her heart out to me, of a perennially-happy and romantic childhood beneath the rubber trees of Itikinumu and the Koiari mountains.
Cullen also chips in with his anecdotes of daring from then-sleepy, colonial Moresby, to a boys’ own adventure in the mountains of Sogeri.
Meijer’s father Bill Meijer was a section manager at Itikinumu from 1962-1928, starting from when she was a tiny tot at age two to a lively young girl of eight.
Her two sisters after her were born here.
“I lived up at the rubber plantation,” she tells me.
“That’s what I grew up with at Itiki.
“There was a complete factory at Itiki that did all the processing.
“We only came to Port Moresby to do our shopping, as well as go to the drive-in (theatre).
“Going to the drive-in was very much part of our lives then, as well as the Koitaki Country Club (at Sogeri), which is no longer there, and at which there was a swimming pool.
“I remember the rubber trees, getting up early in the morning and tapping rubber, how cool it was under the trees.
“There was polo cross and things like that, colonialist stuff.
“At that time, it seemed very normal.
“It’s only when you get back to Europe that you realise how different your life was!
“It’s (Itikinumu) a brilliant place to grow up.”
The young Meiyjr family left Sogeri, a place they had come to love and call home, in 1968 for Rabaul, where they spent a year, before returning to Europe.
“I always said I would be back,” Meijer says.
“After New Guinea, we went to Holland.
“In 1970, we went to Ireland.
“I went to school there, got married, and had three boys.”
The years rolled past, she found herself growing older, but the yearning for Itikinumu never quite left her.
“I can’t let go,” Meijer admits.
“It’s too good.
“That was the reason for coming here.
“Those were really good memories.
“It was a very different way of life.
“It was a very easy, laid-back lifestyle.”
For Moresby boy, Cullen, Sogeri was a frontier of adventure.
“We often came up here,” he recalls.
“It was always a good drive to get out of Port Moresby, and just muck around for the day.
“A lot of times, you’d come up to Crystal Rapids, Sirinumu Dam, along the dirt road from Moresby.
“This is very surreal.
“It’s like you’ve never left.”
All is not lost, however, and the Itikinumu dream may still come true for Meijer.
She flew with Cullen to idyllic Alotau, Milne Bay province, yesterday where they celebrate Anzac Day tomorrow as well as visit the historic Samarai Island.
They will return to Port Moresby on Thursday, and either that day or Friday, they are hoping for second time lucky at Itikinumu.
They have invited me to accompany them again, and so, I hope to be a bearer of good news from Itikinumu.

Squabble over funds tangles up sick people from Papua New Guinea

By Mark Metherell of Sydney Morning Herald
April 23, 2011

SERIOUSLY ill patients from Papua New Guinea, often with family links to Australians, have become the latest category of boat people facing official rejection from Australia.
The rising number of PNG nationals sailing to nearby Australian islands in the Torres Strait to receive medical treatment has generated a dispute between the federal and Queensland governments over who is ultimately responsible for the cost of their care.
Medical experts have warned that a failure to ensure proper treatment for the PNG patients risks leading to the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis to Australia.
The number of medical evacuations of PNG nationals from Australian islands in the Torres Strait to Queensland hospitals more than doubled to 172 last financial year compared with the previous year, and the pressure on services has spurred a backlash from Australian citizens in the Torres Strait.
Following an ABC report about the planned shutdown of TB clinics in the islands, the federal and Queensland governments are denying responsibility for services. Each side has said in statements to the Herald that the other administration is responsible.
A spokeswoman for the federal Health Department said the Commonwealth ''does not direct Queensland in providing these services''. The extent of services ''has been a decision by Queensland Health''.
But Queensland Health says the federal Department of Health and Ageing had advised it ''to reduce services because it [the federal department] is unlikely to provide additional funds to cover the cost of full services''.
In a statement, Queensland Health said ''the provision and scope of health services for PNG nationals are Commonwealth government responsibilities''.
It provided the services to PNG nationals ''under the direction of the Commonwealth'', which contributed $4 million a year of the total $18 million cost of the services. These include a clinic on nearby islands such as Saibai, about 20 minutes' ride in a boat from the impoverished Western Province of PNG.
Dr Justin Waring, of the national tuberculosis advisory committee, has warned: ''In the short term, not treating these people who come across the water to Australia runs the risk of transition and escalation of the drug resistance and ultimately potentially putting Australian residents at risk.''
A Queensland Liberal senator, Russell Trood, who chaired an extensive inquiry into the Torres Strait Islands, said Australia faced a challenging dilemma in humanely treating the large numbers of sick PNG citizens who had few or no health services in their own country but were so near the medical services of Australia. Often these people have customary right-of-entry because of family links.
Senator Trood's committee was told that none of PNG's health sector indicators had improved since 2002.
The federal government had failed to take up the committee's recommendation that it ensure its funding to meet the costs incurred by Queensland Health.
''The Commonwealth seems to be turning its face away from a clear responsibility,'' Senator Trood said. ''We are talking about a relatively small amount of money to deal with a potential threat to Torres Strait Islanders.''
A federal Health Department spokeswoman said Australian state and federal governments, in consultation with PNG, were considering services being provided to PNG nationals ''due to mounting costs and concerns about the increasing impact on access to health services being voiced by Torres Strait communities''.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/squabble-over-funds-tangles-up-sick-people-from-png-20110422-1drgl.html#ixzz1KM2ZwpR4

Unity festival to run alongside 2011 Goroka Show

Goroka Show committee has indicated that it will host a national unity festival to coincide with the 55th annual Goroka Show in September this year.

After the success of the 54th show last year, and with overwhelming record number of bona fide tourists numbering up to 830, which came without much advertising and publicity, committee has indicated its intention to host the national unity show to showcase the strength and resilience of the people of Papua New Guinea as a nation and country which has been “United in Diversity” since Independence.
The theme also reflects the united nation that PNG is as we progress into the 2012 national elections.
Gideon Samuel, chairman of Goroka Show, said this concept had been discussed with the Minister for Arts, Culture & Tourism, Guma Wau, and a submission had been made to seek the endorsement and support of the ministry and the national government.
“The concept has been circulated to concerned agencies such as Office of Prime Minister, Chief Secretary, Treasurer and the concerned departments,” he said.
Committee thanked the government for committing K200, 000 to assist in the 2010 Goroka Show.
“The money will be used to offset bills and make strategic plans to ensure that the show is a permanent feature in the country, as the only and biggest agricultural and cultural show in the country,” Samuel said.
“At present it has been operating on ad hoc basis with generous support from various private sector partners.
“In line with the national unity festival concept, invitations have been sent to all provincial governments and all MPs of Eastern Highlands to organise and nominate a cultural contingent of no more than 30 persons to the national unity festival in 2011.
“This will feature the concept of national unity in PNG and will feature participation of all disciplined services, PNG Fire Service and the agricultural sector.
“It is proposed that the Prime Minister of PNG will be the guest of honor.
“ Past Guests and overseas dignitaries have included include Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, various Governors General from Australia and PNG, and prime ministers Sir Julius Chan, Sir Rabbie Namaliu, Sir William Skate and Paias Wingti”.

Fight continues to contain potato diseases

By JAMES LARAKI of NARI

Efforts by the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) to address the potato late blight (PLB) disease which completely wiped out the industry in Papua New Guinea in 2003 is continuing with the evaluation of PLB-resistant varieties sourced from the International Potato Centre (CIP) in Peru.

 Okapa harvest… Farmers harvesting potato in a NARI evaluation trial in Okapa, Eastern Highlands. – Pictures by DAVID MINEMBA

The disease, caused by the fungus, Phtopthora infastans, remains a concern to the potato farmers, especially in the highlands where the crop is usually grown.
The fungus is a specialised pathogen of potato and, to a lesser extent, tomato which comes from the same plant family.
Late blight is an extremely destructive fungal disease of potatoes.
The fungus attacks both tubers and foliage at any stage of development and is capable of rapid development and spread.
It was responsible for the devastating Irish potato famine of the 1840s and has continued to be important to the present.
Since the Irish famine, late blight became the most-studied potato disease in the world.
Intense studies on the disease led to successful development of control methods such as the chemical fungicides and late blight-resistant varieties.
Late blight is still a terrible crop killer, striking fear into the hearts of potato growers worldwide. Late blight destroys an estimated 15% of the annual potato crop worldwide; in developing countries alone the disease costs about US$3.25 billion per year in lost production.
The late blight fungus has the power to appear out-of-the-blue and wipe out countries'’ entire potato industries in a few weeks.
In 2003, it destroyed the potato industry in PNG, then worth around K25 million.
Previously free of the disease, the country was one of the world's few remaining safe havens for growing potato.
It is believed to have come across from the neighboring Irian Jaya, Indonesia.
Within a short period of time, the fungus spread fast throughout the country after it was first discovered in Surunki, Enga province in March, leaving a trail of destruction.
Yield losses caused many smallholders, who relied on potato as a valuable cash crop, to withdraw from production, leading to an increase in potato prices in the country.
Some breakthrough has been made to control PLB using fungicides, however, the extra input is a burden to smallholder growers and identifying suitable varieties looks to be the long-lasting solution to revive the potato industry.
Subsistence farmers, making up the majority of farmers in PNG, rely on potato as an important cash and food source.
For some smallholders it was their main crop until the 2003 outbreak.
NARI PLB project leader, David Minemba, told visitors to the NARI Highlands Regional Centre field day recently in Tambul, Western Highlands that his team is working around the clock to identify suitable varieties to deal with the PLB problem.

E2 field…Potato field at NARI Tambul of the E2 clone, one of the CIP clones that is expected to be released by NARI to the farming communities next month.

Minemba noted that the famous Sequoia variety is still susceptible to PLB and only well-to-do farmers were growing this variety as they had the capacity to meet the additional input required. The devastating late blight disease has prevented smallholder farmers in PNG from growing the popular potato variety Sequoia.
Seed potatoes, fertiliser and fungicides are expensive and weekly fungicide sprays are now needed to make this variety productive.
Fresh Produce Development Agency, with input from NARI, has been successful in laying the foundation for rebuilding PNG potato industry through the delivery of supplies of quality seed and through village extension worker training activities, which have involved some 2, 500 smallholders.
However, at present, potato production in PNG is generally limited to a relatively small number of commercial growers who have access to land, backpack sprayers, chemicals, and seed potatoes and are growing the highly-susceptible cultivar Sequoia.
Minemba says the average farming households cannot affordable to grow the traditional variety as it is expensive and the PLB project is trying to identify resistant varieties with these farmers in mind.
Potato is not only a commercial crop but is also a source of food next to kaukau (sweet potato), particularly in the high altitude highlands region of PNG where the choice of staple food is limited.
NARI sourced 36 CIP clones in 2003 and evaluation work has been undertaken at various locations where the crop is grown.
Out of these, 12 clones were identified and further evaluation has been undertaken under the PLB project supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Centre (ACIAR).
The objectives of the project are to introduce, multiply, evaluate and deploy late blight-resistant clonal material into PNG and to develop safe, cost-effective integrated late blight management strategies for existing and new potato cultivars and ultimately to rehabilitate potato production for smallholders.
This evaluation process has further identified four varieties to be promising and further evaluation work has been undertaken throughout potato-growing areas in PNG.
Minemba says with the farmers’ desire for the crop and food security in mind, his team will soon recommend two of the four promising varieties to the farming communities while work on PLB continues.
The institute is expected to officially release the two promising varieties to the farming community next month during its Agricultural Innovations Show with the aim of assisting smallholder farmers to grow the famous crop once again.

Sliding down 14-Mile way

Chimelen Kametan (front) and Aikeya Parkop riding the new waterslides to the amusement of NCDGovernor Powes Parkop and other guests at yesterday’s opening of the new facilities at the 14-Mile Park. The facilities are a must for children, and yesterday’s opening came at the perfect time, just before the long Easter weekend. – Nationalpic by EKAR KEAPU

LLGs miss out on quarterly funding

LOCAL level governments in Southern Highlands and the National Capital District town services did not get any funding from the national government in the first quarter of this year, The National reports.
The Department of Treasury and the National Economic and Fiscal Commission this week said first quarter allocations for most LLGs were not released because of the late or non-submission of LLG budgets to Treasury for approval.
None of Southern Highlands’ 32 LLGs received any funding even though K4,616,800 had been appropriated for the first quarter.
Only Morobe has one more LLG than the Southern Highlands, which presently included the Hela region.
Gulf was the next worst performer, with only one out of its 10 LLGs having received any money.
West Kikori LLG received its K50,000 allocation while the rest did not receive any funds from the K1,067,400 set aside for them.
Only Wabag and Wapenamanda LLGs received any funding out of Enga’s 15 LLGs.
Ambenob, Transgogol and Madang urban received their funding while 16 others missed out.
Other provinces did fairly well; with Manus leading the pack with 51% drawdown on its allocation of K485,100 for its 12 LLGs.
Its allocation is the smallest in the country.
Generally, the New Guinea Islands LLGs did very well with 50% drawdowns.
The Autonomous Region of Bougainville did not receive direct local level grants from the national government.
LLG grants are received by provincial governments and then passed on.
The grants can only be spent on goods and services and were not allowed to be spent on salaries, fees and allowances.
These are budgeted for separately by provinces and paid for from their internal revenue.

Bougainville Copper Ltd announces K2.8 million profit for 2010

By BOSORINA ROBBY

BOUGAINVILLE Copper Ltd, operator of Panguna mine, revealed at its 44th annual general meeting a net profit of K2.8 million at the close of last year – a drop of K5.9 million from 2009’s K8.7 million, The National reports.
Chairman Peter Taylor reported to shareholders yesterday that the drop was due to operating expenses related to the budget saved for foreign exchange losses.
He explained that because of the small profit and the need to preserve cash for future developments, no dividends would be paid to shareholders.
BCL has remained debt-free, with sufficient funds available to meet expenses in the immediate future, while engagment with the landowners and the government has been frequent and positive.
Taylor said the profit, instead of an expected loss, was due to better than expected income from interest and dividends, and the realised capital gains on disposal of investments.
“However, the tax dispute legal fees continued to be a drain on revenue,” he said.
BCL’s liquid assets continued to be in cash and Australian equities, which, as a result of the good performance from the Australian equity market, had improved returns on investments.
Taylor said it was intended that this current investment strategy continued until such time when equities needed to be sold to fund mine planning and development.
He explained that this year’s income was expected to improve in terms of percentage returns but the size of the investment portfolio had been reduced as a result of the continued tax dispute in court.
Taylor pointed out that the election of John Momis as Bougainville president for the next five years was seen as an important development for BCL.
He said in this period, Panguna mine should be reopened to take advantage of the resurgence in mineral commodity prices and demand, with considerable support from Momis, the cabinet and the landowners.
He said although there was much to do, the common agreement that operations at the mine could continue would deliver significant benefits locally and regionally.
“There is increasing acknowledgment among stakeholders that Bougainville’s economic future needed mining if it were to be able to fund basic services from its own resources,” he said.
Taylor said among other issues, BCL’s non-profit arm Bougainville Copper Foundation had continued giving out scholarships to students for training in safety, risk management, corporate governance and litigation.