via Mine pollution at Basamuk Bay… We warned about it 10 years ago

Please visit my wantok and colleague Scott Waide’s WordPress blog to read the story and watch his documentary “Uprooted”.

The documentary touches a particular personal situation in my own village, Wagang, in Lae, Papua New Guinea.

The PNG National Government is currently preparing for two major projects to go through our tiny village, Wagang ( also known as Siapia) in Lae Morobe Province. One of these projects is the proposed tailings (pipeline) from Wafi Golpu which will affect the six Ahe villages. My mother will lose part of her front yard at our family home to the main village road; expanded to cater for the development. If you read previous posts you will find stories about my village and our land.

Waide’s documentary gives a visual context of what is allowed into PNG and continues to happen at the cost of development by our own government. I hope “Uprooted” will be watched by those landowners that are affected, so they can speak up for what is theirs before it’s too late.  I also hope those greedy ones in government, provincial government or landowners themselves that believe that they have the ultimate authority to sell out cultural and tribal land for a few bucks can see the devastation it can cause in the future. Land in Melanesia is an intangible heritage and belongs to all in the family and tribe. Noken lus tingting long ol tumbuna bilong yupla. Graun ino samting nating.

*Remember your future generation. Land is not nothing.