Br Dr HENRY OKOLE and Dr MICHAEL UNAGE
THE
recent social unrest in Lae city has once more ignited the familiar calls for
control mechanisms to stymie the flow of rural – urban migration drift.
Lae
particularly suffers from the symptoms of this migration. It is the main
economic hub for the country’s exports, and transportation along the Highlands
Highway and Madang province. Being Papua New Guinea’s second largest city and
an industrial centre, makes it another major focal point for individuals
searching for job opportunities and the novelties of city life.
Momase
Police Chief and Assistant Commissioner, Giossi Labi, among others, has echoed
a familiar line that the erstwhile Vagrancy Act should be re-introduced. In the
past, the country had a Vagrancy Act but was abolished subsequently since it
was deemed to be unconstitutional when it was ruled to be infringing on the
people’s freedom of movement.
Debates
on vagrancy have taken place from time to time over the last three decades.
This is hardly surprising as quite often the issue has mainly been in response
to a spate of criminal activities or growing squatter settlements in urban
centres. The fact remains that vagrancy is a consequence of major changes
affecting the overall PNG society.
Therefore,
the best and plausible lasting solutions should be those that deal with the roots
of these fundamental changes. The consequences of societal changes such as
criminal activities of course should be dealt with immediately under the law as
well. The opportunity to address rural-urban drift and its consequences should
have been an ongoing endeavour and not a sideline issue as how it has been
treated since the 1970s.
Perhaps
the biggest mistake committed by successive governments over time has been to
do little or nothing at all about this festering problem.
Freedom
of movement is a constitutional right of all individuals. In the milieu of the
rural-urban drift, it is only fair then that the freedom of law abiding
citizens and urban landowners/property owners are protected too from illegal
activities – including unlawful occupation of land. Today it would be expensive
and next to impossible to evict everyone back to their provinces of origin or
localities for a plethora of reasons. The present atmosphere in Lae and more so
past experiences from Madang and Rabaul after the 1994 volcanic eruptions
should aptly portray a picture that people just do not return back to places of
origin and immediately re-settle with ease. Adjustment is a challenge of its
own and quite often there is no land for the ‘returnees.’ Besides, some of the
current squatters or settlers in many urban centres are third or fourth
generation.
Where
do they belong now?
The
best strategy forward is firstly to recognise that rural-urban drift and
vagrancy are not likely to stop overnight just because there is a so-called solution
in the form of a Vagrancy Act. Secondly, rural-urban drift is a problem that is
bound to stay unless drastic measures are adopted that can stop the flow of
people and perhaps reverse the trend. Thirdly, a Vagrancy Act can also become a
revolving door since people can easily slip back to urban centres if there was
nothing to stop them from leaving rural areas. For such reasons, the best way
to address the problem arguably is to take a holistic approach and adopt
systemic solutions that mitigate the impact of a fast-changing society.
Solutions should be designed in the form of medium-term and long-term
solutions. The following are plausible solutions:
•
the
government should introduce a multi-purpose identification system complete with
proper keeping of birth records, residential permits, village records and
operating under the Ward councillors and Local Level Governments. This ID
system can be used for other purposes such as elections, census and tracking
criminal activities. As things stand here in PNG, people suffer from what can
be termed a “curse of anonymity”. That is, where people drift around as
strangers both in and outside social groups without the formal ID system of
identifying individuals;
•
the
government and people should appreciate the importance of citizens’ groups that
are set up for specific reasons. State agencies such as the Royal Police
Constabulary can play a proactive role/s by facilitating interactive meetings
among local groups in rural areas, or among mixed groups in urban centres.
Thus, inter-ethnic conflicts in squatter camps in Lae, for example, stand a
better chance of being averted if there were proper communication channels in
the community between people and state authorities. Underlying mechanisms would
have been created to forge understanding and address problems well before they
get out of hand. Furthermore, trouble-makers would have been readily identified
and dealt with without the unnecessary involvement of everyone which often
inflames ethnic rivalries;
•
the
government should seriously consider upgrading and refreshing the Royal Police
Constabulary with an emphasis on civic education where they are taught people
skills, community policing and cultural sensitivity rather than a
unidimensional role of reacting to and apprehending law-breakers;
•
the
government should make a concerted effort to upgrade/improve basic services in
rural areas; - the three main areas being Education, Health and Infrastructure.
All political parties and all new governments regurgitate these essential
sectors in their visions and planning, but there is nothing much to show for
their efforts as evident today. There is economic value to the rehabilitation
or building of major roads since it is bound to facilitate economic activities.
It is this conventional knowledge that leads one to question why the
rehabilitation of the Highlands highway has been left in the doldrums for far
too long; and
•
the
government should seriously look at channelling more resources into the
rehabilitation and strengthening of the Agriculture sector and cash cropping.
With better infrastructure and the government’s support in securing markets for
locally produced goods – both nationally and internationally – incentives are
generated to make people toil their customary land rather than drift to urban
centres in search of other income-generating avenues. All things considered,
solutions such as the Vagrancy Act will only offer short-term and unsustainable
answers – if at all. What is required is proper planning at all levels of government
to address the rural-urban drift. That includes proper urban planning too.
Solutions will have to be sustained over time.
The
government must recognise that it is worth investing in long term solutions to
curb what can easily become a social time bomb and in the recent case of unrest
at Lae and other places in PNG are signs of dysfunctional communities.
Otherwise, solutions put forward can easily become cyclical and sporadic
instruments that offer little or nothing in the end.
Drs Okole and Unage are senior research
fellows under the Institutional Strengthening Pillar of the National Research
Institute
Dr Henry Okole is a Senior Research
Fellow under the Improving Governance Programme while Dr Michael Unage is a
Senior Research fellow and program leader under the Improving Basic Services
Programme.
The National Research Institute -
hosting the policy discussions that will shape Papua New Guinea’s future
development. For more information: Contact: Dennis Badi Ph: 326 0300/0061 Ext.
360 Email: dbadi@nri.org.pg. The National Research Institute
