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Volcano, PNG. Credit: Damian Baker

By the NewsHooker:

Sitting in the comfortable surrounds of the Bismark Ramu offices in northeastern Madang, with broadband, air-conditioning and the relative comforts I’m used to in Australia, PNG and its accompanying drama seem a little like a surreal dream.

The highs of making new Papuan friends and diving in the islands are balanced by the frustration of my arrest by police and the excitement of highland robbery.

Moving at speed through the environmental damage of the highland mining areas, to cholera and disease in the cities of Madang and Lae then last week witnessing the volcanic destruction at Rabaul, well to be honest it has all been a bit of a blur.

In the last few days my colleagues and I have borne witness to the early stages of a Chinese incursion into what is and could remain the pristine environment of PNG. The Ramu Nickel mine, located in the Madang province of the country, has shown once again how the big companies seem to have no social conscience, no matter from where they originate.

Beheadings and Riots

Massive erosion, water pollution, human rights abuse and locals working for under $A0.50 an hour for seven days a week all add up to another bloody aggressive nightmare in the making. Riots broke out in May and the burning and looting hit headlines after a local worker was injured.

Rumours of beheadings were said to have been suppressed by authorities for fear of the panic it would have raised. Despite this, I have had many people willing to corroborate the story off the record.

Regrettably there is a strong anti-Chinese feeling here as a result of the mine that I do not believe will easily go away.

Politicians, big business, land owners, police and Government employees of all levels are responsible through their own greed for the mess that is about to explode on this beautiful country.

If the insight I have gained in my short time in PNG is right then real trouble is on the horizon for the people imposing this hell on the Papuan people and there is a definite increase in the talk of fighting back against the mines.

Weapons are easily available in PNG. In several of the areas where I have gathered stories, I have witnessed or been told first hand of the availability of military style weaponry that is being stockpiled in readiness for insurrection. The tragedy of Bougainville may yet be revisited many times over if PNG’s elite don’t sit up and take notice of the villagers and small people who are being walked over in the pursuit of profits.

There is a story to be written on this at a later date but the anti -Chinese riots in Madang seem to me to be a sign of things to come should the mood change.

At the risk of readers thinking the News Hooker has lost my sense of humour in all this seriousness don’t be alarmed. I have had a fantastic time here, I’ve laughed more than I’ve cried and with one more story to chase I will be back in Australia soon looking for someone to laugh at while I readjust to the west and wonder why I didn’t stay in the village by the sea near Madang when I had the chance.

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