THE greatest fear imagined by the colonial administration 33 years ago was that the concept of one nation may not hold for Papua New Guinea.
To unite a country that was made up of hundreds of tribes was a daunting task.
Nonetheless, soon after independence, progress was made towards nation-building with contributions from dedicated civil servants, both locals and Australians.
These people work tirelessly to give effect to the preamble of the Constitution, the national pledge and the national anthem that called for unity among a diversity of ethnicities and cultures.
Despite the effort put into consolidating the tribes to think and act as one nation, there were setbacks.
There still existed strong regional and political movements toward secession from the newly established sovereignty.
The secession movement in Bougainville began prior to PNG’s independence.
However, any attempt at secession was quickly contained by the legislation on the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Governments (OLP&LLG) giving Bougainville the first province to come under this tier of government.
Likewise, the former British New Guinea (Papua) wanted to break away form German New Guinea to either become a sovereign state, or be part of Australia.
The attempt at that failed.
However, political movements such as the Papua Besena, kept secession hopes alive for some time.
There were also regional proclivities found in the Highlands region prior to nationhood.
The late Sir Iambakey Okuk was a charismatic figure, an ardent advocate for the Highlands region, telling voters not to vote for any party originating from the coastal region.
He was very confrontational and advocated for the Highlands region throughout his political career.
Despite being candid and popular, the secession idea was never on his agenda.
Nonetheless, Sir Okuk did manage to secure a better share of development for the Highlands region.
However, the real test of the PNG sovereignty came with the civil war in Bougainville more than a decade after independence.
PNG had lost that war and had not protected its sovereignty. Since then, work towards autonomy is gaining leeway and with the referendum in the near future, we will possibly see the birth of a new nation.
Still, the autonomy arrangement is premature and quite precarious in Bougainville. There have been warlords, still in control of areas where the autonomous government penetration is non-negotiable.
In other places, permission is needed to enter the so-called no-go zone area. If caution is not heeded, the autonomy will be further divided into sub-autonomy spheres trickling right down to the level of tribal control.
Also recently, the resurgence of the Papuan secession gained some attention.
Some Papuan activists claimed that they were Australian citizens by birth and sought legal advice to clarify their status. Whatever the outcome of such legal pursuits will be, the fact is that the Papuan secessionist propaganda is an issue not to be easily jettisoned.
The lingering sentiment will resurface in the near future, possibly with unconceivable ferocity.
Still many provinces are opting for autonomy, especially in the New Guinea Island region.
Only time will disclose the negative repercussions of the autonomy arrangements in a nation of 1,000 tribes.
PNG is a difficult country and any classification of outcome usually defies the ethnic and cultural diversities it holds.
The autonomy may work for some provinces, while in others, a total fiasco will result.
The danger persists that tribalism may work as a cartel to override the proper democratic functions of autonomous states.
At the political level, the concept of sharing the responsibility of authority has been tested with frequent changes to OLP&LLG.
As usual the pendulum of power swing from centralisation (where power and resources are controlled at the national level) to decentralisation (where power and resources are shared with lower tiers of government).
The frequent legislative alterations demonstrate that there is still work and study required, in which the 1,000 tribes of PNG are seen to have an equal share in political power and responsibility.
The call for parochial self-rule results from the fact that power and resources are not evenly distributed – one of the major reasons that led to the civil crisis in Bougainville.
Even the recent calls for separate Hela and Jiwaka provinces imply a lack of participation in political responsibilities and the disparity in resource and service allocations.
With the ‘divide and rule syndrome’ confronting us, one serious question that needs to be addressed is, will an inclusive sharing of governance responsibilities and equitable resource allocations resolve the secessionist proclivity?
Many good thinking people will respond in the affirmative, however, one serious obstacle remains – the issue of political corruption.
Thus corruption has deteriorated the proper and effective functioning of State authority within the three arms of Government.
The executive arm has created a cartel of parochialism. It is really a worry, when the Prime Minister allows his son to be a Minister of State enterprise. In other countries this could be seen as a conflict of interest and grossly unethical.
With the current Government, we have seen an interest group continually trying to create a hegemony within the State politics.
The current Government shows that more than half of the Members in cabinet are from the Momase region.
The Momase region alone has almost 15 Members in cabinet, which is already 60% of its composition, while 40% is distributed to the other three regions.
The Sepik MPs share one fifth of the cabinet’s make-up with very significant portfolios. You have the Prime Minister, whose son is the Minister for State Enterprise, then you have the Minister for Finance, and the Minister for Forestry. Other Sepik MPs hold the Ministry for Trade and Industry, and also the Ministry of Correctional Institution.
The frightening thing is that MPs of other regions are not fighting the cartel of parochialism on the floor of Parliament, and their silence confirms their consent.
The cartel of parochialism within the current Government really defeats the idea of one nation, one people, where resources and powers are meant to be shared equitably.
While the executive arm has creating a cartel of parochialism, the legislative arm of Government has lost its sense of dignity and decorum.
The Sunday Chronicle has labelled the House of Parliament ‘the house of thieves’. The mismanagement of funds as been going on for four years and the incumbent Speaker will be bathed soon in hot waters.
Even the judiciary, the third arm of Government, is of no assistance in the fight against corruption.
Recently, it has handled significant cases resulting in indecisiveness, discrepancies, and even procrastination.
Anarchy and secession happens when State authority lacks the force of cohesion, which is a direct result of greed and corruption.

PACIFIC Islanders live in one of the world’s most hazard-prone regions and therefore, the extreme natural events that occur within the region are unavoidable.
Last year, the Pacific experienced two extreme natural events that have changed the way Pacific Islanders perceive the way they live and their future forever.
In particular as a result of lives lost in the earthquake and tsunami in the Western province of the Solomon Islands last April and more recently from the torrential rains and flooding in Oro and Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea.
Cristelle Pratt, director of the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) said such events reiterate the need to better manage resources and the importance of applied science to improve the livelihood of Pacific Islanders.
“The April 2007 earthquake and tsunamis event in the Solomon Islands was a sobering reminder to us of this and there is little if any argument that applied science and technical solutions are a necessary requisite if we are to indeed build safer and more resilient communities,” she said.
Speaking at the official opening of the SOPAC 36th annual session in Nuku’alofa Tonga last Nov 26, she said that “there was no doubt that if we are to manage our resources sensibly and if we are to build resilience that applied science and technical solutions are absolutely necessary”.
“We recognise more and more, I believe, that there was a need to link science use and management to protect the resource base and the integrity of our natural system, all within a sound policy framework.
“It was also an absolutely fundamental and critical element for sustainable development, which as we know is the mission of every one of our Pacific Island countries and territories,” she said.
The Science, Technology and Resources Network Session’s (STAR) annual talks held over three days which ended last Nov 24 focused on the understanding of natural disasters and improving disaster management. 
“In this respect, the various STAR papers that responded to the theme on geohazards undoubtedly contributed to improving our understanding and highlighted the efforts required for risk reduction and disaster management and the need to consider embracing a whole-of-country approach,” Pratt said.
“Such informed solutions are equally important if we are to be considered in how we manage our people’s interactions with the natural resource base and the natural system, as we must also manage their perceptions on the value of the natural resources that they have stewardship and ownership over and the natural system that they are key element of.”
The matter of extended continental shelf was also emphasised.
For some SOPAC member states, this matter held immediate scientific and technical challenges as they prepare their submissions to potential claims to an extended continental shelf, against a very pressing timeline of May 2009.
Tonga’s minister of lands, survey, natural resources and environment Tuita told the delegates that Pacific Island nations need to agree on their maritime boundaries as the closing date was fast approaching.
“States need to agree on their maritime boundaries, which has important implication for how we manage our ocean resources both living (fisheries including highly migratory species such as Tuna) as well as non-living (minerals and hydrocarbons).
“I stress, however, the need to encourage initiatives within and between countries in the area of shared boundaries. This final step rests with our respective governments,” he said. 
Fiji, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and the Federated States of Micronesia can claim in total more than 1.5 million square kilometres of additional space beyond their EEZ under Article 76 of the International Law of the Sea.
Clearly the potential benefits to accrue if they are successful in claiming extended continental shelf would be rights over those marine resources that occur on and below the seabed.
Several papers touched on the matter of maritime boundaries delimitation and for all SOPAC member states that this was an immediate and critical opportunity to establish a sound ocean governance and security framework of their respective marine resources and space.
“It is especially pertinent for this region of large oceanic states where coastal and oceanic resources underpin many of our economies and communities’ livelihoods, our security and our resilience that we urgently determine, delimit and declare our areas of stewardship and sovereignty,” said Pratt. – PNS