I am entirely too lazy and ill informed to venture answers to a plethora of thorny questions. I put these things in the “too hard” basket, seemingly along with most of the rest of the population. Nevertheless, the questions remain. A big question that has been bothering me ever since RD Tuna came to town has come up again on several occasions. Specifically, it has come up again when Ramu Nico appeared as if by magic and more recently concerning the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone.
The question is: who decided? To put it another way, do the people of Madang Province have any say concerning “development” or are others pulling all the strings?
Of course, we all understand that provincial boundaries (and national borders) are legacies of the colonial past. The boundaries of Madang Province, and indeed Papua New Guinea itself are purely arbitrary in terms of ethnicity, common interest and cultural heritage. Nevertheless, Madang Province does exist and its people have rights concerning the use of their resources and legitimate claims to benefits from those uses.
So, the question is: when did the people of Madang vote for this:
Or RD Tuna, or Ramu Nico, for that matter. I have asked many people what they think of the PMIZ. Most do not even know what it is. Some suppose there might be a job there, but they also assume that any jobs will involve long hours with unreasonably low wages. This is probably because they associate the new PMIZ with other “developments” that have been extremely disappointing to them in terms of job opportunities.
If I were a citizen,* I would be asking a lot of questions about these so-called developments. I am not saying that development, even the PMIZ, is bad. I’m just asking such questions as I believe are reasonable for the general population to ask. Who benefits in what way? Where do the profits go? Who accepts responsibility for the social costs? What are the environmental costs and who is responsible for compensation for those costs? What jobs will be available and to whom will they be offered? How much will those jobs pay? These are questions that every citizen has a right to ask.
Okay, I need to back off here and turn it over to a few of my sources. Here is a selection of material that I found enlightening. Just Google “pacific marine industrial zone” (with the quotes) if you want more.
The Little Green Palai – (protesters illegally dispersed, 40,ooo jobs?)
Sun-Star – (view from the Philippines – it’s all about the fish)
Independent Media Centre Australia – (who decides?)
Mining Monitor – (The Hon. Ken Fairweather calls it “a fishy deal”)
What’s a Marine “Park” Doing in Madang? – (Nancy Sullivan sheds a little light)
Little Mindanao – (Nancy again with a scary story)
Proposed PMIZ - Pete Celso’s Power Point presentation
An item of interest in Mr. Celso’s presentation under the heading of “Threats” is, “[a] High potential of sabotage from those that will be detrimentally affected by the MIP.” Hey, wait a minute! Who are these people who will be “detrimentally affected” by the PMIZ? How many of them are there? How angry are they going to be?
So many questions . . . Will we someday hear, “So long, and thanks for all the fish.”
No, I didn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed today. I don’t feel any more or less grumpy than usual. Later today, I’m going to take a ride up the North Coast Road on my Harley, dodging potholes all the way. In fact, I feel downright cheery. Maybe it’s because of this:
That’s our lounge with the golden light of the morning sun pouring in. God made this country a very special place. Every day I feel blessed by the privilege of living here. The lampshade is a little crooked, but otherwise, it’s Paradise.
* I am a Permanent Resident, not a citizen, so I obviously need to be careful what I say. The Government wants me for fork over K10,000 to become a citizen. I would, if I could afford it. Strange, eh? A country where you have to purchase citizenship. Merit and qualifications are apparently secondary considerations.
