Hagen locals makin hay while the sun dont shine: Credit Damian Baker
By the NewsHooker
Flew out of Moresby after introducing a few Porgera locals to the Port Moresby Yachting (PMY) establishment.
Known as the last bastion of post colonial white elitism, the PMY is a nice place to hang. Its huge staff all seem to be well behaved locals and the manager – although not a local – seemed to be a nice guy.
Had to do emails so I ran my office from here for a bit.
After asking to meet the manager, the security boys treated me like gold. I’m not sure if they thought I was a member of the club, or secretly enjoyed letting in my long line of impressed local visitors.
Took up the chance and invited my new Porgera contacts in for a couple of drinks.
I was down a few bucks but had some great info on Porgera and made some great contacts for up the mountain. Amazing what a bit of bluff and a CFA Media card can get.
My new destination is Mt Hagen, famous for – you guessed it – mountains, but also its tribesmen and lately its Rascals and bandits. On first approach it really does look like the Wild West, razor wire, dog patrols and security old boys everywhere. I am starting to question what all the security is for in PNG but I do know one thing it is a great employer and any body who has anything has it well behind the razor wire.
I took a local truck from the airport much to the obvious concern of the local motel drivers. Met and had a nice yarn with a southern island PNG electrician who works on the mine. Says it fired up there a few months ago but has been quiet since and he has heard of no other threats of Rum Pha Pha. Asked him about the Rascals and the hold ups and he introduced me to one.
Seemed like a nice young lad with time on his hands and, as he was bit sick of listening to the man, didn’t seem to have a lot of respect for the establishment. Spends his time camped out looking for opportunity as he calls it.
I asked him if he would rob a silly Aussie photographer, he just laughed and spat his betel nut. This was all interpreted by my electrician friend and a certain amount of clarity is lost in translation. By the end of the conversation I’m not sure if I am better off and protected for having met him or whether I was just another “opportunity”.
I think the camera and the chance to be on the WORLD WIDE WEB flattered him and I asked him if the boys might like to do interviews. Apparently a brother gang member speaks good English and I was told by the electrician they would find me if they wanted to be interviewed.
Nevertheless the friendly Rascal left with my card and not my wallet and I’m starting to sense another beat up via the white Christian work ethic propaganda party. There are always two sides to a story and a gun or a machete seems to polarize the two stories. I love the feel of this place; there is a certain tension in the air and the lawlessness, although not obvious, seems to hang with the mist of the Mountains.
On the whole the locals are an uproariously noisy happy bunch who will do anything (contortion just part of it) and fire up a bit at night time. I had heard it said in the Torres Strait that there are only the three M’s up here; the missionaries, the madmen, and the misfits. Well I guess that only leaves two options.
Contortionist PNG style: Credit Damian Baker
Ok The fun is over (oh not really) but the work is about to begin.
I’m in Papua New Guinea on assignment following up on and hoping to add to a Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) article on the Australian-based Canadian mining company, Barrick Gold. I have had support information from an NGO Mining Policy Institute (MPI) who have given me contacts along the way.
I have had more contact with locals supportive of the mine and the story, instead of being black and white is a complex and detailed one. More to come in that area.
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Some familiar pictures and accounts there Damian.
Yeah I have been to Mt Hagen twice recently… March 2008 & Feb 2009. I am a 30 year old bloke from near Sydney, and I gotta tell you Mt Hagen is a funny place. The young fellas over there generally have no work so they hang around chewing beatle nut and holding each others hands (we find it weird but totally normal up there in PNG)
If you go for a walk through the markets in Hagen you will find the locals don’t treat you as a ‘rich’ white guy like other countries (eg Vietnam). I find most Hagens have a geniune respect for each other, and whites are no exception.
Last time we were over there, we had the pleasure of meeting some of the unique characters who run business in the industrial area of Hagen. These guys are full of character and nothing seems to phase them… they do business in one the most rugged, wet, muddy and neglected areas on earth. You will find the odd ‘misfit’ Aussie running a business up there too.
Anyway we actually work about 6 hours out of Mt Hagen. The roads outside Hagen are terrible. They are dangerous, and quite often half the road is impassable because of mud slides. Sometimes you will come across a length of road which has been totally eroded which mean vehicles struggle to negotiate the road. Further out you sometimes get held up when young fellas put small boulders across the road and ask you for money in order to pass. Generally you can convince them to move the rocks without any trouble. These guys are not serious rascals. Its the ones who hold machette’s in order to get their way that make one nervous.
Anyway, like PNG generally, you will find it very exciting, unique and incredibly unpredictable. From my perspective, it is the Christians up there who are stopping the place from sliding into complete anarcy.
I would recommend anyone with an adventurous spirit to head to Hagen & beyond!!
Beautifule pics mate! Love the deepness in the locals’eyes… lots there that we dont know about! Good luck with your crazy adventures!