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By JAMES KILA
MOTHER Nature last Wednesday served a
major blow to the ‘economic life-line’ of the Highlands
region, the Highlands Highway, when a landslip occurred at
the Daulo Pass.
Workmen using big machines took several days to clear the
debris to allow goods and services to flow again.
However, on Monday afternoon at around 5:00 pm another major
landslip occurred at Kanaveroka village.
That particular one was on a much bigger scale forcing
traffic and the supply of goods and services to the
resource-rich areas such as Southern Highlands, Enga,
Western Highlands and Simbu to a complete halt.
The regions population and a big chunk of economic
activities felt the pinch when the Highlands Highway was
closed for a number of days.
Ironically, while the majority of the people were feeling
the pinch of the cut to the flow of goods and services,
local villagers near Kanaveroka and Daulo saw it as a
‘blessing in disguise’
They used the disaster as an opportunity to set up
make-shift shelters and wasted no time conducting informal
business activities such as selling food items, drinks,
betel nut and cigarettes to the stranded travelers.
Most of the vendors who operated on a 24 hour basis earned
good money from stranded truck drivers and PMV bus
passengers.
One such vendors is Cecilia Ohea, in her mid 40s, from
Ganaveroka village.
Cecilia lost her home, personal belongings and a pig in the
landslip.
Her house was completely covered by the massive landslip.
She said her husband Ohea has a list of things that were
lost and would present to relevant authorities later to
claim compensation.
Fortunately no casualties were reported and there were no
vehicles traveling along that section of the Daulo Pass when
the landslip occurred.
Cecilia thanks God she was not in her house at the time. She
was on the other side of the mountain doing her gardening.
“Dispela graun-buruk i kamap long samting olsem 5-kilok long
apinun taim planti ol lain long ples i harim bikpela nois
tru na ronawe igo arere long rot bilong dispela graun,” she
said.
(The landslip happened around 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
When people heard the noise they ran away.)
Mrs Ohea lost everything in her house, including her most
treasured possession, her pig.
All she had was K60 in her bilum (string bag) which she had
taken to the garden.
She used K39 to buy several kilograms of Saveloys sausages,
K15 to buy bananas and the rest to buy cooking oil. She set
up a little market and started selling to stranded truck
drivers and travelers.
Mrs Ohea said so far business has been good. She has made
well over the amount she spent.
“I’m very sorry that I lost my home but at least I am able
to raise enough money from what I had saved,” Mrs Ohea said.
Her food sells well in the mornings and mid afternoon when
there are a lot of people moving across the landslip area.
Her husband’s second wife was also helping out in their mini
market selling cigarettes and betel nuts.
People traveling by PMV’s from Southern Highlands, Western
Highlands, Enga and Simbu had to walk for about two-hundred
meters to the other side of the slip with their cargo to
board buses and continue their journey.
According to police who were manning the flow of people
across the debris, three bodies in coffins were carried from
one side to the other by relatives on Tuesday afternoon.
Youths from the area are also making money out of the
situation. They are helping stranded travelers carry their
cargo across charging fees ranging from K3 for a small bag
to K5 per bag of kaukau or cabbages.
A large number of bags of vegetables from Mt Hagen destined
for coastal ports of Lae and Madang have been going through
the route so the youth are earning quite a bit of money.
Vendors from other parts of Daulo district had also
converged on the area to be part of the trade, selling fried
sausages, lamb flaps, bananas, sweet potatoes, betel nut and
cigarettes.
The National visited the site this week and was told by an
official from road contractor, COVEC that the tons of earth
covering the road was massive compared to the previous slip
last Wednesday. It will take a long while to clear the area
for traffic and business to flow again.
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