2024

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The number of plants used for medicinal purposes in Bougainville is unknown, but a World Health Organisation (WHO) publication entitled “Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guinea” provides information on, and colour photographs of, 126 commonly used medicinal plants in PNG. This publication was prepared in collaboration with the University of Papua New Guinea. 

By employing refugee doctors from Europe, and by training expatriate and indigenous medical assistants, Dr John Gunther built up the staff.  Permitting briefly trained staff to treat patients, and by-passing other safeguards observed in advanced countries involved risks, but Gunther argued that overall the policies had saved thousands. 

Failure of government-funded infrastructure projects in Bougainville, such as the Buka Airport Terminal upgrade, and the subsequent waste of public money, will continue to occur while ABG oversight of contract awarding and implementation is lacking. A transparent and independent tender process is urgently needed to address this issue. 

The 14-day lockdown that commenced on 7/11/2021 provides a unique window of opportunity for Bougainvilleans to be vaccinated against COVID-19 while those people infected with the virus are less able to move within and between communities, spreading the infection. Unless Bougainville health authorities are able to counter the misinformation being spread by Facebook users, this invaluable opportunity will be lost, and COVID-19 case numbers and resulting deaths will spiral out of control. 

 Fundamental to Bougainville's future, whatever its eventual degree of autonomy, is its ability to sustain its rapidly growing population. With almost 50 per cent of its population under 20 years of age, this will continue to increase the burden on social services such as health and education, placing further strain on an already fragile economy. 

Forests of Asia-Pacific islands have been degraded by some of the worst selective logging practices in the tropics. Illegal and unsustainable logging resulting in deforestation in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands has been occurring for several decades, despite the assurances of successive governments in both countries to effectively regulate these destructive practices. 

Represented at an exhibition entitled "The 9th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art" (ATP9) held at the Queensland Art Gallery|Gallery of Modern Art  (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Australia from 24/11/2018 to 28/4/2019, were four artworks by Herman Somuk, considered by ethnographer Dr Nicolas Garnier to be "The First Modern Artist of the Pacific". Herman Somuk's artworks displayed at ATP9 were entitled: "Guérian,the founder of Gagan, went to Sine after his death" (c.1930); "Man with Upe" (c.1930); "Imposed Labour" (c. 1942-43); and "Shooting Allies" (c.1942-1943). 

  The PNG NID Card Project, launched in November 2014 under a contract with the Chinese telecommunications company, Huawei Technologies, was promoted by the PNG Government as the vehicle to produce a universal ID card for all PNG citizens. At its inception it was a joint project between the PNG Electoral Commission, Civil Registry and National Statistical Office (NSO), designed to gather information on births, marriages and deaths. With PGK55 million allocated in the 2015 National Budget for the project's roll-out, it was projected that the PNG NID cards would enable holders to open bank accounts, and access small business loans, subsidised health care and school fees. 

 Bank South Pacific (BSP) customers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) all have their personal stories attesting to the poor service delivery of PNG's largest retail bank. My personal experiences as a long-time BSP customer include regularly waiting in line for over two hours to make a simple deposit, paying an exorbitant two per cent service fee for cheque, cash or EFTPOS withdrawals whose value is greater than PGK5,000 and paying an annual fee of PGK100 for the privilege of using a BSP Visa debit card account, when the physical card was never delivered to me from the central BSP branch in Port Moresby.   

Try to imagine that, as a Papua New Guinea (PNG) citizen, you or a family member are suddenly arrested, with or without an arrest warrant, by the Royal PNG Constabulary (police) and held without charge in the local police station cells for up to three months while the police gather evidence to support their actions. Though this example of unlawful arrest and detention may sound fanciful, it happens often enough for the PNG Constitution to contain a special reference, Section 42(5), to address this issue.   

While environmentally disastrous power generation options such as coal-fired power stations are currently being promoted  for power generation in PNG cities and large towns, smaller towns such as Buka town remain reliant on ageing, inefficient diesel generators, running on costly, imported diesel fuel.  Given the large areas of land on Buka Island and north Bougainville planted with coconut trees,  a case could be made for using bio-diesel made from virgin coconut oil as a cost-effective alternative to imported diesel fuel for power generation. 

Much has been written about the deleterious effects on the people of Bougainville caused by the nine-year (1988-1997) conflict ("The Crisis") between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), on one side, and the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government and Bougainville Resistance Forces (BRF) on the other. In addition to the tragic death toll on both sides, of a population of 160,000, an estimated 60,000 Bougainvilleans were displaced, many of them fleeing to nearby Solomon Islands. By 1994 there were an estimated 2,000 Bougainvillean refugees in Solomon Islands.

Following the success of the November, 2019 referendum on its political future, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB), Papua New Guinea (PNG) faces a multitude of political, financial, organisational and sociological challenges. However, disrupting the influence of ex-combatant groups on the Bougainville Police Service (BPS) and protecting the integrity of its Criminal Investigation Division (CID) must stand as two of its most pressing tasks if the rule of law is to be upheld and justice is to prevail for all Bougainvilleans.

Despite its illegality, village-scale production of alcohol for sale and consumption is widespread in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Known almost universally in PNG as "Homebrew", there are also regional variants such as "Yawa" in East New Britain Province, named after the small, very sweet banana variety used in its production. 

While several Papua New Guinea (PNG) rugby league football players have achieved international prominence since the 1970s, only two PNG rugby league football referees, Ambassador Graham Ainui and Mr Paul Wani, have made an equivalent international impact. Graham Ainui's international rugby league refereeing career comprised seven matches from 1986 to 1991, including major test matches in the 1985/88 and 1989/92 rugby league world cups. 

The Australian National University (ANU) has recently recognised that a solid grounding in one of PNG's four official languages, Tok Pisin, is an excellent starting point in promoting Australians' understanding of PNG. ANU's School of Culture, History and Language now includes Tok Pisin as one of 14 regional languages offered in both short and degree-length courses. ANU's overview of this undergraduate course in Tok Pisin, also known as "Pidgin" and "Neo-Melanesian", states that, "....students will gain a deeper understanding of the deep cultures, histories and societies of the people of PNG and surrounding areas of the Pacific". 

Recently released correspondence between Sir John Kerr, Australia's Governor-General from 1974 to 1977 and the then private secretary of Queen Elizabeth II, Martin Charteris, includes a letter dated 4/9/1975 concerning issues relating to Bougainville. A paragraph of this letter describes a press conference held at Arawa, Bougainville on 31/8/1975 where Dr Alexis Sarei and Mr Leo Hannett, "....declared that there is a Republic of North Solomons with Dr Sarei as the leader of the Government. He is stated to be Chairman of the Republic". 

 Nukumanu (lit. "Bird's Beak") Atoll is a ring of more than twenty islets on a reef surrounding a large lagoon situated north-east of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (PNG), four degrees south of the equator. The nearest land is Ontong Java Atoll, 38km to the south in Solomon Islands, whose Polynesian inhabitants share many cultural affinities with those of Nukumanu Atoll. Takuu Atoll, another Polynesian outlier in PNG, is situated west of Nukumanu Atoll, 250km north-east of Kieta, Bougainville.  Since the late 1800s, Nukumanu Atoll has lent its name to at least three coastal vessels that have operated in PNG waters.  

Prior to Papua New Guinea's (PNG) independence in 1975, the trade stores in Buka town, Bougainville were almost exclusively owned and operated by businessmen of Chinese descent. Prominent among these businesses were Wong Yu & Company and Wong Kui & Company, operated by what academic James Chin terms the 'old' Chinese, essentially the descendants of the first mainland Chinese emigrants to PNG who lived through the process of colonization and who tend to share some common traits - they are almost all Christians and use English as their first language.

Wikipedia defines psychosis as an abnormal condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not. Symptoms may include false beliefs (delusions) and seeing or hearing things that others don't see or hear (hallucinations). Other symptoms may include incoherent speech and behaviour that is inappropriate for the situation.  In Buka town, Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) and in Buka's villages, it's common to encounter youths exhibiting such inappropriate behaviour, apparently unaware of those around them. 

 Three referenda for independence have either been recently held or proposed in the Western Pacific Region. The two most well known of these are the referendum on New Caledonia's independence from France held on 4/11/2018 and that of Bougainville's independence from Papua New Guinea (PNG) held from 23/11/2019 to 7/12/2019. 

On 15 April, 2020, Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Post Courier newspaper reported that between 22 and 25 March, 2020, people on Takuu (Mortlock) Atoll, Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB), sighted a submarine on the sea surface approximately three kilometres from shore.

On 29/11/2019 the Treasurer of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Hon. Ian Ling-Stuckey, in tabling the 2020 national budget, announced that as from 1 January, 2020 buyers of imported new and reconditioned motor vehicles for personal use currently attracting 100 per cent duty or more

With a multitude of issues facing the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) in the lead-up to the June, 2019 referendum on its future political arrangements...

Like many roads in Papua New Guinea (PNG) the main road to town from my mother's village started its existence as a walking track, that eventually catered for bicycle riders as well as pedestrians.   

Betel (Areca) nut is the seed of Areca catechu, a palm tree grown in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia and parts of East Africa. It is one of the most widely consumed addictive substances in the world after nicotine, ethanol and caffeine, being consumed by approximately 10 per cent of the world's population.  

My late grandmother was a traditionalist in many ways, including her chosen method of ringing in the New Year. Each New Year's Eve she would prepare several pots and pans, together with a suitable stick with which to beat them at mid-night. 

Kerosene lamps have been a major source of light in Papua New Guinea (PNG) village houses for decades. The gentle, yellow glow of a kerosene lamp in our house at night is a comforting reminder of my childhood.

In 2009 my friend, an ex-teacher, used his retirement payout to buy a new three-tonne truck, after his eldest son told him that it could be profitably operated as a passenger motor vehicle (PMV).