Bye-bye Belden & Jeffrey, welcome to brave new PNG

PHIL FITZPATRICK

SOMETIMES IN LIFE you get a distinct impression that the tide has changed and things will never be the same again.  The more perceptive baby boomers who lived through the 1960s will know what I am talking about.

I was in the East Sepik Province last week working with some Provincial Lands Officers setting up a couple of Incorporated Land Groups under a new piece of legislation designed to deter and wrinkle out the potential for corruption.

The idea is to give traditional landowners a legal entity through which they can negotiate the terms of mineral exploration in their areas.

The officers with whom I worked are fine, honest men pursuing the betterment of the people in their province in a very professional manner.

There were a few hiccups with the usual fly-in carpetbaggers but by and large I flew back to Port Moresby feeling good about the whole experience.

Looking around outside Jacksons for my missing pickup, I was accosted by a man in smart slacks and a neat mustard-coloured shirt.  He said, ‘Excuse me sir, I noticed you waiting, would you like a lift into the city?’

Thereupon a very smart black air-conditioned minibus emblazoned with the new Grand Papua Hotel gold logo pulled up and I was whisked to the gate of the house in which I was staying gratis and with a friendly smile. 

On the way I learned about the special K499 weekend tariff at the hotel.  Where else but Papua New Guinea would that happen I thought?

And while I’m talking about hotels, I’d better give the In-Wewak Boutique Hotel a plug.  A delightful place in a very pretty and safe town with exquisite old-modern décor, attentive staff and gigantic meals of exceptional quality; all delivered at a very reasonable cost.

In Port Moresby we ducked into the supermarket in Harbour City for supplies.  This new development on the waterfront has the air and layout of an upmarket Myer or David Jones food court. 

Wide aisles, immaculately clean and a sumptuous range of reasonably priced fresh and packaged food.  They even had that day’s copy of The Australian and the second issue of Stella magazine on sale. 

In the adjacent mall elite and not-so-elite denizens of Moresby town were window shopping or sipping lattes in the coffee shop.  I haven’t been there yet but they tell me that Vision City in the burbs is even bigger and better – there is even a Brumby’s Bakery.

There remains that self-induced migrant poverty in Port Moresby and the settlements are still pretty rough.  However some of them are morphing into more permanent fixtures.  I got a brief look at a couple as we wended through the back streets on the way from the airport.

Powes Parkop is madly tidying up the city for the impending visit of Prince Charles and his missus from the UK and is laying long strips of good bitumen on the main drag.  The Grand Papua driver suggested an annual visit by a royal might do wonders for Port Moresby’s amenity.

Unnecessary or not, Powes’ efforts reinforce a feeling of change.  The diminishing obviousness of razor wire on buildings is also helping (as are the more discreet electrified fences).  In short, there is a distinct feeling of optimism in the air.

What the cause is I’m not entirely sure.  Maybe it’s got something to do with the burgeoning resource wealth, although the rents in the rapidly multiplying apartment blocks are enough to make your heart stop. 

Maybe it’s got something to do with Peter O’Neill and the apparent demise of those fat, greedy, gun-toting, sexually indiscriminate and downright ugly politicians and public servants represented by the likes of Belden Namah and Jeffery Nape. Whatever it is it’s a good feeling.

In Brisbane on the way home I sat next to a young mother by herself with two young daughters, one in a stroller and the other held by the hand, and a load of suitcases in the T-bus between the international and domestic terminals. 

She was running late for a connection and I planned to help her lug her suitcases to the check-in counter. 

But before I could,  two young Papua New Guinean ladies on the same bus jumped in and helped.  The rest of the passengers ignored her and rushed off to catch their planes.

For all those old expats, if you’ve ever thought about one day going back to Papua New Guinea to see how it’s holding up, now might be a good time to do it.  The light at the end of the tunnel is at last shining brightly.

Comments

[Phil Fitzpatrick]

It's interesting how even the most dastardly villain who adopts a cause that is just will follow it resolutely to the end.

This is why I think people like O'Neill, despite an alleged shady background, can shine as reformists. History is littered with these types of people. Perhaps they eventually see adulation and respect as more valuable than money.

I think even people like Belden Namah are capable of this sort of reversal. In that sense he shouldn't really be written off as I've done in the article.

There are others, of course, who continue to be unrepentant pigs.

[Bernard Yegiora]

Niece piece Phil.

I am also optimistic about the leadership of PM Peter O'Neil.

He may be a snake as depicted by many in the political circles but according to some insiders from the bureaucracy he is a tough manager.

Hope he will use his good management skills shown in his company's(Remington) gradual rise to lead this country forward.

Only time will tell.

[harry topham]

Phil
I guess there was no time to drop down to Aunty Lydia's for a cuppa and one of her reknown hamburgers?
Maybe next time

[Phil Fitzpatrick]

I dunno John - all this negativity about PNG is starting to get really wearisome. I'm sure there is an element of the self fulfilling prophecy in it all. I reckon you can only whinge for so long and then it becomes water off a duck's back.

In my swanning about as a consultant I not only stay in nice hotels but I get to sleep rough in some very remote villages. Often what I see of the deterioration of services and infrastructure is disheartening.

On my last job we were working on a really good deal for the local landowners for mineral exploration on their land when a greedy bikhet grisman from down river rocked up and spoiled the whole thing. You can only shrug I guess.

Despite all the problems I think that PNG really needs a great big dose of optimism. I've decided that carping criticism is nothing but wholly destructive.

And that scent of optimism is definitely in the air.

Make love, not war, hah!

[John Fowke]

Sam Ramsden - It all depends on what you are doing in PNG as to what sort of views you develop.

Some of us old fogies who hang out in downmarket bars with the hoipolloi of both races perhaps, in our cups, develop a false and correspondingly dim or downmarket appreciation of how its all turning out.

There are others.

Consultants retained as middlemen to ease the successful entry into resource projects for the multinational resource exploiters, men who surf with style and largesse abounding upon the incoming wave of the new way, helping the simple landowners to sign off on projects which will leave these owners little better off in ten years.

Some going on plenty of well-available history over recent decades (sorry, Phil, but you did ask for it) or those who return to scenes of past glory, to well-deserved and pleasant welcomes (sorry Bob).

We remember the plans for the Asaro bridge and plans we entered into which would allow the electrification of the Upper Asaro coffee factories of Fred Leahy and Downsie's ex-stamping-grounds. not to mention the Salvo-run bad-boys training centre.

We remember the kilometres of wires pulled down and sold to Asian scrap-merchants and all three massive installations, the factories, houses, workshops. They are all no more, pulled down and carried away years ago.

So there.

John Fowke ( the large, ungainly grumpy one, not the footballer).

[Sam Ramsden]

I.m glad you enjoyed your stay there, but 'self induced migrant poverty'? I don't understand that.

I hope you are not suggesting everyone should stay in their village? No country has ever reversed urbanisation.

And I'm not sure you would stay in your village if you and your children had to walk 12 hours to the nearest school or health facility, lost your land to a landslip, or were threatened with election violence.

Plus I remember seeing a holdup in SVS at Harbour City last year.

I love PNG and there are many beautiful things about it, but let's be a bit more realistic about the situation. Not everyone gets a lift to the Grand Papua - go and see some other bits!

[Bob Cleland]

There's certainly something happening Phil. When I visited with my two daughters in September, our pickup didn't happen either. The Grand Papua driver offered us a lift into town.

'But we're staying at the Crown Plaza,' we said.

'That's OK, I'll drop you there.' He even dropped me at the Australian High commission on the way.

And there's certainly something in the air. People seem to be standing taller, smiling more. Moresby's looking good, cleaner, tidier, some spectacular street sculpture.

Goroka too is cleaner, a lot of the security fencing and razor wire is gone, crime is down. There's confidence and optimism in the many I spoke with. The Premier Julie Soso is widely accepted.

The reason for these significant changes? I think the current educated generation has finally shrugged off the remnants of the colonial era and are doing for themselves what used to be done for them.

I applaud this. I found communication much more open, direct and free. My hope is that this will translate into Australia - PNG communication. PNG is ready but I don't think Australia is there yet.

[Mrs Barbara Short]

Great news, Phil.
I'm glad you enjoyed your time in beautiful Wewak, and that you found the town a peaceful, safe place.
Being an "adopted Sepik" I'm glad to hear this reassuring news.