I would never suggest that I believe that Australia sends its cast-off junk piled up in a freighter and calls it aid. I seriously doubt that Peter suggested that either, though he’d have to say that himself. Nevertheless, I don’t see any problem with sending to PNG perfectly serviceable equipment that is being replaced for reasons other than poor condition. There can be many reasons for such replacements. Perhaps the problem arises after the equipment arrives. Proper maintenance is not our strong suit.

As for tourism, it is a crying shame that PNG has so many problems that prevent it from reaching its potential. Aside from the law and order problem we need to look at the cost of transportation. Air Niugini’s stranglehold on international travel costs the country a fortune in lost tourism revenue. I heard rumours of an international airport in Madang when I first arrived in 1981. The rumours still persist, despite the fact that no plan has succeeded. Madang is the logical centre for tourism in PNG, not POM. Yet tourists have to suffer the expense, danger and inconvenience of passing through POM, though it makes no sense.

I sincerely hope that I have never cast Australia as the bad guy for the problems associated with assistance. In fact, I think that a little tough love might be in order. As long as PNG politics sees Australian aid as a birthright and disallows mechanisms that would foster trust in the partnership, I can’t see that much will change.

As for water being cut off, anybody who lives in urban PNG knows this as a fact. Here in Madang we are often without town water for days. Aside from the inconvenience and health hazards, it means that there is no water for fire fighting when the pumping station has no power. It’s a situation that has an easy fix, but the fix is never done. The “WHY” of that is a long and interesting story.

I’ve been here since 1981 and, to my knowledge, the fire fighting service has not saved a single building. If I am incorrect, somebody please set me straight.

You don’t need to remind us that Australia pounds plenty of money down the rat hole. I scanned the document to which you link. On first reading it struck a familiar cord. I wanted to go back to it for a closer look, but I could not get it to load again. My personal opinion is that, as long as PNG refuses to accept help to spend the money wisely, then Australia would be of more assistance to PNG by giving grants to Australians to come to PNG and spend the money as tourists. I grant that that is a facetious suggestion, but it illustrates our perplexity at seeing so much effort accomplish less than it could.

Thanks for reading, Mal, and thanks for taking to the time to comment.

http://eview.anu.edu.au/cross-sections/vol5/pdf/06.pdf

The above site may help you find out.

Regards

Good blog mate.

Of course most overseas fire fighters have the basic element of water to fight fire but in PNG this is often cut off at the mains. Like most government departments it is an uphill battle for every aspect of the job.