1. Bogotá, Colombia

While security in Colombia has improved significantly in recent years, violence by narco-terrorist groups continues to affect some rural areas and the capital, Bogota. In August 2010, a car bomb exploded outside the radio station Caracol in Bogota and in October, Colombian officials said they had foiled another car bomb attack directed at the national administrative center in Bogota. Some criminal organizations continue to kidnap and hold civilians for ransom or as a currency of political change. The fact that Colombia has one of the highest violent crime rate in the world is well enough to understand how dangerous boots.

2. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Ciudad Juarez is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, although it has been called “the most violent area of ​​the world outside of declared war zones.” Unfortunately, it seems that crime is increasing with the city. There were about 1,400 murders in the city in 2008 and more than 2,500 drug-related deaths during the same period in 2010. Public life is almost paralyzed by the fear of being beaten by a stray bullet or eliminated. In the last 10 years in Ciudad Juarez has seen more than 400 women are victims of sexual homicide.

3. St. Louis, Missouri

A recent study analyzing the cities according to FBI statistics for murder, rape, robbery and assault, St. Louis top the list of the most dangerous city in the United States, beating Camden, Detroit and New Orleans, the most dangerous cities last year. After the first pronaunced be “the most dangerous city in America” ​​in 2006 and ranked second in 2009, St. Louis has reached the top again. Saint Louis was 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to a national average of 429.4. In general, East St. Louis City is the area of ​​almost 65% of crimes.

4. Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Despite changes of government took place in 2004, Port-au-Prince, the capital and largest city of Haiti, continues to see regular outbreaks of violence and demonstrations. There is no real police violence under control in the city and across the country and many cities in Haiti are literally controlled by criminals. On the other hand, if a UN force has provided assistance to police in the country since 2004, its presence does not guarantee absolute safety for visitors and residents. Haiti is the transit country between the four most important for the elimination of drugs in the United States, murders, death threats, drug-related murders, car jacking, armed robbery and theft are common in Port – au-Prince.

5. Mogadishu, Somalia

In August and September 2010, terrorists launched an offensive attack against the TFG and the African Union. In August, a bomb exploded and damaged three minibuses, killing nine civilians and wounding 25, and September, two suicide bombers were killed in an attack on the Mogadishu airport. Murder, kidnapping, illegal roadblocks, banditry and violent incidents and other threats to U.S. citizens and other foreigners can occur in Mogadishu, and in any other region of Somalia. Unforeseen conflicts between rival militias are prevalent around the city. The terrorist attacks on the border belligerent and brutal, violent street crime ruin the country on a daily basis.

6. Caracas, Venezuela

In our previous work, Caracas among the 10 most dangerous cities in the world in 2010. Well, he keeps his place on the list in 2011. The homicide rate in the capital of Venezuela, is said to be among the highest in the world, with much of this violence is linked to drug trafficking and that is the fact that the country is between the U.S. . and Colombia. Armed robberies are common in the city, even in areas considered safe and visited by tourists. Express kidnappings in which victims were taken in an attempt to get quick cash in exchange for their release, are a problem. Worse, police investigations revealed that the abduction to the police are often involved. Crime is rampant, even in the airport, which is itself said to be affected by corruption. And, of course, pickpockets, hotel burglars, thieves and con artists abound.

7. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Crime is a serious problem in all of Port Moresby, the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. If you decide to get there, you are at higher risk of violent crimes such as rape and robbery. In addition, vehicle theft, the stoning of vehicles, pickpockets, robberies are problems around the city. Unattended in public places such as golf courses, beaches, parks or cemeteries can be dangerous for visitors. Even public transportation is dangerous, so that the rental car the safest way across the country. In addition to the criminal, Papua New Guinea is in an active seismic zone: tsunamis, earthquakes and landslides may occur.

8. Grozny, Chechnya, Russia

In 2003, the United Nations called Grozny “the most destroyed city on Earth.” The city has suffered a very destructive war since the 1990’s, when the Russian army destroyed much of the city. Gangsters, mafia and corruption create problems for the authority are few. Organized crime is endemic. political and criminal murder and rape rates are very high and kidnappings are a serious problem. Some of the buildings destroyed were rebuilt, but many still live without electricity or water. Many Chechens have fled to places like Dagestan and Azerbaijan in their country of origin is uncertain.

9. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

If you decide to travel to the Dominican Republic this year, you should seriously consider leaving the property value at home. Crime remains a major problem throughout the Dominican Republic. While assaults and thefts are the most common crime against tourists, reports of violence against residents and foreigners are increasing and reports of car theft have increased. In addition, demonstrations, protests and general strikes occur periodically. Despite the political events generally occur in areas frequented by tourists and are generally aimed at foreigners, you should exercise caution when traveling around the country.

10. Muzaffarabad, Kashmir, Pakistan

Although considered a “paradise on earth”, best known for its captivating beauty serene lakes, rivers and beautiful gardens beautiful, Kashmir is considered by many scholars that the nuclear holocaust will happen next. The region is divided between three countries (India, Pakistan and China) in a territorial dispute. These three countries are nuclear armed states, and the tension in Kashmir has led to the nuclear tightrope between Pakistan and India on several occasions. rallies, demonstrations and processions occur regularly in Pakistan in a very short time. Pakistan organized crime include drug trafficking, forged Indian currency printing, extortion, murder for hire and fraud. Also, other criminal operations dedicated to human trafficking, black market, corruption, political violence, kidnappings, terrorism, etc.

Ousted acting Prime Minister Sam Abal will have to lodge a new submission again to the Supreme Court. However it is common knowledge that the Speaker is known for breaching parliamentary procedure in every parliament sitting since the National Alliance led government took office. He has just   switched sides, this time to the opposition to do exactly what he does; highjack parliamentary process.

 It will be interesting to watch what the courts have to say in the coming days ( ousted acting PM will have to make a press submission to the courts) as it has been a practice by the government to maintain dictatorship in the floor of Parliament.

A seventeen year boy was gang raped by 10 women in Papua New Guinea, Confused? But that is true, A police officer from Southern Highland Province, has just confirmed that a knife wielding gang of women attacked the schoolboy just outside the provincial centre of Mendi. The four women out of the ten who attacked the boy with kitchen knives, in fact had sexual intercourse with him, and the boy may have been infected with HIV/AIDS. This area according to a UNICEF report is known for worlds highest rates of sexual violence.

The police are more concerned as they think that these ten women might be infected with HIV/AIDS, besides they are more confused this time because they always keep-on warning the women folks to be careful at night, but these are the men whom they want to warn this time around. The police are seriously looking for the gang to identify the gang of these animals.     

As a result, scientists believe that birds are the only species gardener creatures, except man, who creates art scene whose role is to produce visual illusions, and express delight in the female.

Every male builds a platform nest made of grass woven wire and linked together form a scene that occurs in male same directly with great artistic effect, info and colorful plumage to appear more attractive female.

But males do not stop there efforts, admirable bird sits plants, stones and other objects so that the entire assembly eventually create a fascinating optical illusion that females who pass through its territory.

No cooking is not the forgotten, the male brings food while they sit on stage as an added attraction for females.

A disturbing story included a woman feasting on the liver of a badly burnt, but still alive boy. At first, the woman had no intention of doing this. But, the kumo in her head, tried to coax her into doing this appalling action. Kumo, as we all might think at this point, as the evil personality of a human. But in this case, it is not. At night, the kumo tried to cajole her again into doing this awful deed, to which the woman refused again. The kumo replied, by visiting the area where the boy was struggling, and returned with the liver of the boy; while the woman was trying to sleep.

The liver, as deemed by the natives, is the essential life source of a human being. The woman cooked the liver and ate it with the kumo. The next day, the boy was found dead. She was discovered and after many threats, she confessed. Normally, this woman would have been instantly executed, but she was granted life if she killed her kumo. So, the next night, the woman invited the kumo to join her in the feast of a cooked fowl. The kumo fell out from the back of her head, in the shape of a bat. Instantly, she killed it with a knife. The men hiding in the bushes near her house, made sure that the woman kept her word. All stories in the article discussed how the kumo would trick women into attaining and eating the liver of corpses.

In the name of sorcery, innocent women were killed. Other stories in the report include the natives’ claims of witnessing the kumo resembling a rat coming out of a woman’s ear, or in the form of a girl. As a result, elderly women were ostracized from community gatherings. They could participate from a distance.

Also, if the shadow of a witch or a sorcerer fell on a man or a woman, they would turn into witches and sorcerers too. Such was the power of the kumo.

Children were psychologically affected by these practices. Some children, who whole-heartedly believed that their mothers were innocent, promised revenge on the people responsible for their deaths. And so the cycle continued. 

Ever wonder what sort of games the natives of Papua New Guinea play when they are not busy working or taking care of family matters? Cultures dating back thousands of years have contributed a wide variety of entertainment for the tribes who live on the island. Games are played by both men and women, adult and children. Since Papuans have a natural inclination to compete, games are not only played for fun but also to improve their natural skills and coordination.

Papuan children play games like hide and seek, cat’s cradle, and pitch and toss. Games like these are of course popular in the western world. Their version of pitch and toss involves using the round fruit that grows on the mimosa tree. More modern versions of the game use coins, but any small round object can be used to play the game.

Papuans also like to play a game that may be similar to the Mexican one of trying to break a pinata during a party to allow toys and candy to fall out, but in this case, a clay pot with this walls is filled with water and hung from a tree branch. Participants are blindfolded, then take a thick stick and try to break the pot as it swings from the tree.

A rope swing game is also favored by young men, who tie a loop at one end where the swinger places his foot. Then the rope is carried to the top of the bank, and the swinger holds on to the rope and leaps through the air, with his foot in the loop. The swinger remains suspended in air for a moment before landing on the ground below, then the next swinger tries to out leap the previous one. A game like this obviously requires a high level of athletic skill and speed, but Papuans have no trouble in executing a perfect but difficult move such as this.

Although mummification is associated most commonly with the culture of ancient Egypt, it has also been conducted in Vietnam, Central Asia, the Inca culture and by some of the Torres Straits islanders who live on the islands south of Papua New Guinea. The preservation of the body in this way suggests that it has some value or purpose in a putative supernatural afterlife: consequently, those religions which portray the afterlife as taking place in an incorporeal paradise (e.g. Christianity and Islam), there is no reason for mummification to take place and, indeed, the practice might be considered improper.

The word ‘mummy’ comes from the Arabic word ‘mumiyah,’ which means bitumen. Bitumen, a tarry substance, was in the past considered to have medicinal properties and, since Egyptian mummies were prepared using bitumen, it was believed that eating parts of them would be good for health. For centuries, therefore, a cottage industry developed in which mummies would be retrieved from their long resting places and then pounded up into a more palatable form. Alas, the link with bitumen was forgotten somehow and people began to believe that it was the flesh of the mummy itself that was efficacious. Consequently, when mummies were not easily to hand, unscrupulous people resorted to the corpses of criminals or those who would not be missed and pounded them up instead. These days, regulations concerning health and safety with respect to medications would surely prevent this kind of cannibalism taking place in most developed countries.

Preparing the mummy, wherever it took place, involved removing internal organs (although sometimes they were replaced after suitable treatment) and treating the remaining flesh and blood with chemicals that would enable them to retain their integrity. In essence, this meant drying out the body so that it would not decompose further – sometimes natural examples of mummification can be found in the case of creatures that have died in very dry places, such as deserts. Resin was considered a suitable medium for treating the body in Egyptian practice and it was then wrapped in several layers of linen. While this was taking place, numerous magical and sacred spells were repeated and various other items added for ritual value. Despite various depictions to the contrary, there is no evidence of any mummified person ever coming back to life or otherwise walking about of its own volition.

Image via flickr

As The Ice Melts

The main objective of ice is to cool our planet. If the planets not at a certain temperature it will cause chaos in our weather systems. In recent years unless your five years old you will have noticed that the intensity of the storms are increasing, volume of rain fall has intensified causing world wide flooding, in some other places they are experiencing drought and bush fires. Here is a shining example on the 6th of February 2009 Australia was under the attack of mother nature.

All up the East coast of Australia a fire roared up the coast causing a never before seen event. The scale of this damage was massive and the death toll was nearly 200 people. 200,000 hectares were scorched in its path thousands of people were chased out of their towns some with little hope they would make it out alive. There was a report that four people burned up in a car collision because their vision was bad, and they couldn’t escape because of the flames that roared through the towns and streets. Another report said that a motorcyclist was swept off his motorcycle and burned alive from the winds that carried the flames at 60 mph.

Image via flickr

On the west coast of Australia on the same day people were told to be on the look out for crocodiles that infested the floods they were experiencing. Where in the coastal towns and the low lying towns there was water still raising as much as four feet in some towns. Thousands of homes were effected.

As the ice melts all over the world the climate heats up causing bush fires, high winds, flooding and hurricanes and other disasters. The reason is, there is too much carbon in the atmosphere and causing it to bounce off our atmosphere and come straight back at us melting our Ice and causing drought. The trees take in the carbon and release it as oxygen for us to breath. In parts of the world the heat is killing the trees scorching the grass and deserts globally are growing in mass. On the shore lines the sea is attacking the coasts with high waves caused by these storms and erosion of the sea levels rising.

Image via flickr

Little Islands such as The Carteret Islands in Sydney and Papua New Guinea’s Carteret Islands are disappearing off the face of the planet. These inhabitants will be climate changes first refugees and these Islands will be the first to fall at the same time. Scientists reckon that if 3 foot of ice melts from every location the sea will rise by foot. This means that if the water breeches your shore the tide wont take it back out anymore, its there to stay. And the more that melts, the more that your coast is going to be effected.

I’ve learned some where that the planet goes through a cycle as it orbits the sun. Every so many revolution’s of the sun our orbit shifts. I’ll have to take you out to space to explain, earth sits on an axis that orbits the sun as lead to believe I use to think it was a perfect circle. Its not, either is our moon, these are ever so slightly oval and expand in an oval direction at every revolution, and work off gravitational pull. As the moon orbits our planet it pulls our oceans tides it also pulls our tectonic plates. This new discovery is being used to determine when volcanoes will erupt and help determine tsunami’s at an earlier stage.

Image via flickr

With that said the earth acts as our moon does with the sun, as regards to the oval axis. The gravitational pull off the other planets keep us from getting pulled into it. Every so many revolutions of our planet towards the sun the axis stretches (every leap year is one revolution)and gets snapped back after its wound up to tight. This causes an ice age because we were use to a certain heat from the sun and suddenly get thrown back into the abyss freezing most of the planet. The reason we get thrown back is because or the next planet in the inner axis ( Venus ) is expanding in an oval fashion also and the gravitational pull pushes our planet away.

I am telling you this because we go through Ice Ages regardless of our behaviour on Earth. The amount of carbon in our atmosphere is mostly our fault because of our advances in technology over the last 100 years. Did you know that humans over the last 100 years, especially the last 50, we have realised the most carbon than any other generation since the beginning of time. Hard to believe but its true.

Climate change is the climate that we have caused by cutting down trees and burning fossil fuels by the millions of tons daily. This is the climate we’ve created and have to live through until the next Ice age comes about, and refreshes the planet. its like its wiped clean to start over again a fresh start. We continue to cut down trees by the millions every year, and in most places they are not replanted or have any intention of being replanted, bottom line is we need these trees to regulate the carbon for us but countries need to clear land because they need to grow crops to maximize profits or to sustain growth. What amazes me is the ignorance of these people to just cut their own throats to make money and in cutting theirs I mean the human races.

Image via flickr

Before every Ice age the planet heats up dramatically because its closer to the sun humans will have to head under ground but reptiles and such creatures should be able to survive and sustain the heat, as they have before through the last Ice age. People say that we have speeded up this process of the ice age this isn’t true we can’t possibly speed up the rotation of the planet by burning fuel or cutting down trees. what is actually happening is that we are killing ourselves off so nothing survives to even see the ice age.

We are filling our atmosphere with this poisonous gas that will choke us all if we continue to live like this. The only way to get the carbon out of the air is for forests to flourish and even more forests to be set up. The forests we have were fine 100 years ago to deal with the carbon produced from the people back then. These days the forests are being cut down at a rapid rate and our consumption of fuel is the least I could say is crazy. If the Ice completely melts we are sitting on the edge of extinction there will be nothing to cool our planet down and the carbon will consume our atmosphere.

Think of a volcano erupting the cloud rushes down the hill side and shoots miles into the sky the cloud rushing down the hill blankets the land if there are people in this cloud the will choke to death. The other cloud that gets thrown into the sky can travel for miles and choke another town easily. Now imagine that you are trapped in these clouds the air is full of carbon and other gasses the last gas you will find is oxygen. If we continue on this path we are going to turn our atmosphere into a giant volcano cloud.

People with breathing disorders are already seeing themselves gasping for air a lot more, regular attacks, more and more babies are being born with breeding difficulties, could this be because of the carbon in the air intensifying, I wouldn’t rule it out. I was always told to look to the animal kingdom for warning signs of a major disaster. So I have and what I found was polar bears are jumping off an iceberg to fish and they find themselves swimming for miles to get back out or to get onto the main land. The ice is breaking and leaving cliffs in front of the polar bears to scale to get back up. I also saw in a disturbing video the mighty polar bear swimming out to sea to find a place where they can get back up, how are they to know there is nothing out there for miles and they are destant to drown.

Image via flickr

I looked to Africa to see the mighty lion is loosing its beautiful mane, it is rare now to see a lion over in Africa with a mane because of the blistering heat the new lions don’t develop a mane like they use to. This is the best sign of evolution due to climate change. The bees are disappearing rapidly weather it is anything to do with climate change we don’t know. But what we do know is the globe is being effected. The only solution that I can see is we are going to have to cut down dramatically on the fuel we burn and omissions we produce, and simply we are going to have to allocate land to plant new forests if we want to see the next ice age as humans.

Polye is a fine product of Enga and PNG needs the likes of him to fill the gap in providing strategic leadership. Unfortunately Polye is tangling himself with NA and Somare politics and it seems likely that he himself with end up in the dirt. Lately, Polye seems to project a coincidently similar mindset as that of Sir Michael Somare of which such attitude and posture has been the subject of international scrutiny and a major source of disgruntlement among PNGans.

As a word of advice to the deputy, he should take a neutral and informed stand on issues such as the Moti scandal and other developmental issues that have now become political gambling tools for vote buying. We had had enough of politicians playing cheap political ploys such as playing around with gifts of cash and goods without sound economic policies.

Polye should avoid talking about Sepik issues and stop cleaning Somare’s backyard. He is the second highest public servant of the people of PNG responsible for the entire nation; not just a selected few and their interests. He is therefore expected to perform in a similar manner with integrity and honor of the office he holds; and not just abiding to NA think-tanks and their decisions.

As the second most powerful leader of the nation, Polye should display independence, originality, intelligence and understanding in his conduct in office and in the public media. His stand on issues like Hela and Jiwaka provinces and other important issues of which he stands for and sometimes opposes even his own highland MP’s with the likes of Peter Ipatas are worthy and noble pursuits of a true leader.

No Sustainable Long Term Plan

It is about time the current Mining and Petroleum minister carefully consider and carry out a cost-benefit analysis of what PNG has gained so far from trading our precious non-renewable resources. For instance, Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) did sustain the economy of PNG for a good number of years but it has cost the nation a great many sacrifices. The current eventual down-turn of the economy is largely due to the era of the Bougainville crisis and corrupt governance by and during the time of Pais Wingti as Prime Minister. We have also lost the fight in maintaining a unified PNG. Bougainville now still faces the problem of creating a stable autonomous government.

Fly River Habitat Destroyed

Have a look at the sad outcome of Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML). The environmental damage of the venture is an unforgivable scar, nothing compared to the benefits we have obtained so far. A natural habitat that lay undisturbed for thousands of years has been drastically, permanently destroyed and polluted. The current problem of acid rock drainage (ARD) is a real disaster for the river ecosystem and the river banks where there is sedimentation. The majority of the land mass of Western Province is basically a lake, feeding from the main Fly River and sedimentation has spread wide and far, covering a massive land mass area. The effect of acid rock drainage will be far greater than what we are seeing today.

BHP Knew It All

It is quite obvious that BHP carefully predicted this disaster and pulled out, simply handing over a multi-million dollar project to the hands of PNG government and the people of Western Province. Yes, there was a major court case between BHP and the people of Western Province but the real reasons for BHP exiting from OTML was to avoid the long-term commitments of rectifying huge environmental mistakes and the enormous compensation monies that it would have paid if it still operated OTML under its umbrella today. The findings of the ARD where never made public and these were BHP’s highly classified information. Even independent findings were unable to decipher the ARD factor. If they did, BHP must have done its homework and did a good job of silencing them. After making millions and more than enough from OTML, BHP simply exited. It is quite questionable why BHP could ever abandon a gigantic money spinning machine; such a question was never raised during the proceedings of the handover.

What Has OTML Done?

OTML now has affected the people of Western Province in a great way. The lifestyles of the people along the river have been greatly changed from a highly self-sufficient one to that very dependant on handouts from OTML. The question remains has to how the government or OTML are going to address the long-term rehabilitation of the people back to their old self-sufficient lifestyle. Or if there is a modern sustainable form of lifestyle in place, such is not evident. When OTML shuts down in 2010, and with the river system being damaged which forms the basis of their existence, the people of Western Province stand to face a major challenge for survival. OTML has put in place funds for future generations and to carry out drenching activities to improve the river system but such will not effectively rehabilitate the people after mine closure. Decades of dependency on the mine have done them enough damage than good and such has not prepared for the life after the mine.

Nothing Sustainable So Far

Have a look at the PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP) Limited.

A number of projects have been implemented under this program in the Western Province but they have been highly criticized for their lack of compatibility and usefulness. It is about time OTML and the government look very closely at the economical, social and cultural effects of the people of Western Province and carry out extensive research to come up with a viable way of supporting the people to live a self-sustainable life. A number of incentives by OTML to assisting in vegetable farming and domestication of animals in the province have proven to be a little more successful but such is not their lifestyle. The effects of handouts by the mine in terms of cash and goods such as boats, motors, petrol and other necessities have effectively done a good job in tarnishing the fact that the life after the mine is going to be totally different. There are no sustainable commercial activities being encouraged today; the few that are being carried out such as rubber, timber and fish farming are heavily funded by the mine. These projects have not yet proven to be self-sustainable and they are only at their experimental stages.

The Land And The People Are One.

Lifestyle in PNG is very much dependant on the land and any project that affects the land affect the people in very significant ways. Social and cultural norms change at the impacts of these projects. A distinguishable change of ‘life standard’ is seen from that prior to the project and after the project. Some of these changes which have been introduced are not sustainable and where such, the means for sustaining will be an interesting phenomena for PNG. These means will add to more socio-economical problems and breakdown in cultural norms. BCL would have given PNG a good grounding on testing the effects of mine close but we cannot properly draw a conclusion from that under normal circumstances due to the pre-mature ending of the mine as well has it has been largely affected by the conflict.

A Panic Reaction Both By OTML And PNG Government

OTML is coming to a close in 2010 and with Porgera projected to close around the same time, the big question looms as to the sustainability of the livelihood of the inhabitants of the local people, and the economy of the country at large. The exiting of PJV will leave behind a gapping black hole in Porgera, and so will OTML. The locals living in the proximity of the mining towns of Tabubil and Porgera are 100% depended on the mine. This is a very highly dangerous and unsustainable way of life for the locals after mine life. There is no solution proposed by both mines or by the government as to how they will address the life after the mine for these people. Even if they have, it will not be adequate and effective enough to address what is looming ahead. The simple fact is that resource developers and the government have failed to develop a sustainable and viable strategy to address these problems at the very beginning when negations were being conducted. What is being done today such as the introduction of farming along the Fly banks by OTML is an unplanned, frantic reaction to the realization of the fact that lifestyles with be immensely affected by the mine closure.

Long-term Planning/Projection – The Missing Link

What is the missing link here? What can resource developers and the government do in advance to address the looming economical, social, cultural and environmental impacts of the project even before commencement? Can they look a bit further and project the life of the affected areas (after end of project life); the micro and the macro economies of PNG? Since the inception of PJV, the major highway that connects Wabag and Porgera has never been sealed. A number of community projects have been carried out in Enga which have seen little or no success stories so far. It is notable that PJV and OTML have contributed a lot on the provincial and national level in terms of sustaining their budgets but such has not been effectively converted to any significant sustainable economic venture. It should be noted that these large scale projects have a significant impact on social and cultural behaviors of the affected people. It changes the standard of life, the way of life and combined with outside influences, the pre-project society is significantly different from the post-project lifestyle. What significant benefits have we gained from Lihir? We now have the Highlands Pacific Gold at Goroka, and Ramu Nickel on the way. What simultaneous economic benefits and long-term sustainable effects is the government coordinating to reap from these projects? And when we run out of these, where else will we look to sustain PNG?

Implementing Sustainability From The Start

The implementation of large-scale projects should therefore involve aspects of both social and economical engineering to shape up the kind of society and self-sustaining economy that we want. For instance, the introduction of agriculture in the Western Province has been a new concept to the people. The people are entirely dependent on the river system and there is little or no gardening and domestication of animals as is extensively practiced in other parts of PNG. If OTML and the government had a long-term strategy in place to address the lifestyle of the people, the introduction of farming would have been implemented since the conception of the mine. By today, the villages along the river would become already self-sufficient, having fresh vegetables and meat from their own yards. On a larger scale, the current introduction of commercial fish farming and other projects which the mine is actively investing would have been done a long time ago. These projects will never be sustained once the mine closes in 2010.

Government Needs Foresight in Planning

Can PNG carefully consider the short term benefits verses the short term costs, long term sacrifices verses long-term sustainable environmental, political, economical, social and cultural benefits of such? Building self-sustaining economies and related infrastructure to support the change in lifestyle should commence simultaneously with the initiation of the resource development. Social and cultural changes should be predicted and the necessary steps to contain and sustain those changes after the life of the project should begin from day one. After the end of mine life, what is left behind should be a self-sustaining, robust economy (micro & macro) that had been conceived and nurtured by the mine, having reach a state of self-sustainability over the life of the mine and thereafter. What is the economical and social outlook of PNG after all non-renewable resources are run dry and our forestry and fisheries resources become exhausted? Can the 5-year term governments of PNG see beyond their line of duty and gaze another 20 to 30 years down the line and even further and realise the realities that lie far and beyond? Can we close a deal on the current pipeline project with at least some tangible, sustainable economic ventures in mind? Why do we have to pipe all it all out and run PNG dry?

The Conclusion: PNG Turned Into A Craving Animal

Let it be assured that when the pipeline deal is closed and after all is drained out, Tari will not change; it will be the same as it is today but even worse off. The majority of the Wangbins and the Telefomins still live a poverty lifestyle; the little they get from the mine, being stopped will have drastic effects. The Ipili man of Porgera will sadly perish back into a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Of the overall PNG economy, what is going to be left behind of PJV and OTML is not a sustainable economy but a craving animal that wants more, finding it incapable of feeding itself. And to feed the craving animal, we are being prostituted for whatever is being offered on the table.