IT has occurred to me, watching half a dozen of Port Moresby’s barren hills being quarried by contractors, just what the laws are pertaining to such activities.
Should these noisy, dust-laden activities be allowed to be carried on in the city where they pose a danger to the residents?
If there is a policy to level the city’s hills for certain projects, why are these activities carried out on different hills in different parts of the city so as to appear to be haphazard and unplanned?
These part-quarry, part soil-for-land-fill activities appear to be a fairly recent phenomenon as I remember all quarrying activities used to be conducted outside of city precincts in the past.
Today you have quarry type activities at five different locations within Port Moresby city limits.
All of them are denuding and taking the heart out of some lovely landmarks so that those hills will never be the same again. Indeed, some of them look as if they will be levelled completely if the quarrying continues.
Port Moresby is a city of hills. Because of the hills, the city might never have been here but for the excellent harbour. Today, the hills pose tremendous challenges to architects and engineers and utility service providers. Yet the hills give the city a unique character and they provide a wonderful view from anywhere night or day.
So the progressive demolitions of these hills are unsightly to residents and visitors alike.
More importantly the quarries are a health hazard to city residents.
They contribute to a permanent dust cover over the entire city so that together with the city road works, they constitute a substantial health hazard through dust pollution. Because of the location of these quarrying works, the dust covers downtown Port Moresby, Boroko and Waigani, Six & Seven Mile, Gordon and Hohola, Tokarara, Morata and Gerehu areas. Dust gets in the lungs and eyes and falls on food. Dust also falls on glass and buildings and gets in engines and dust-sensitive equipment.
In addition to the dust, there is a very real danger of falling rocks. All the works are near major roads or in the vicinity of business and residential areas. Because these works are carried out on hillsides, the danger of a rockslide either from the hill-side or off trucks or the dozer is always there.
The quarry work near the NBC Headquarter complex on the hill at Six Mile sits just above the busy highway to the airport. Any falling equipment or rocks from the site can easily roll on to the road or across the road onto the residential area posing danger to motorists, pedestrians and residents.
The works on the hill near the Bishop Brothers workshop sits smack in the middle of the business district overlooking much of Waigani. There are two major hotels just meters from this quarry. At least two government departments have their headquarters nearby. Two high schools are also within walking distance of the quarry.
On the other side of the quarried hill are residential complexes of Hohola and it sits at the intersection of a highway and a street. The NCDC headquarters is a mere minute from the quarry and the landlord and governor must pass it every day.
Whatever is City Hall’s policy of such activities must be made known. Even if the hills are private property, certain scopes of earthwork ought to be restricted because of the dangers they pose to individuals and businesses. It would seem that a lot of money is being saved on fuel at the expense of Port Moresby residents so that contractors do not have to drive all the way out to longer established quarries at Rouna and other spots outside of city limits.
The earthwork on the side of the Poreporena Freeway above the police headquarters can be seen clear across Port Moresby because of its prominent position. It seems earth and rocks are removed from there and used to reclaim the sea near the Papua Yacht Club.
Indeed, the whole idea to quarrying the Port Moresby hills seems to stem from the days when a major portion of the Poreporena hillside was removed to provide for the freeway. The soil and rock content of the hill was discovered from that point on and what uses they could be put to.
Again the danger of falling rocks or soil slip upon pedestrians and motorists is very real as is the dust pollution.
Now to the business side of things. Just how much is being paid for the removal of soil and rocks from those hills? Who own those hills? If the land is being removed to somewhere else, how much do you pay per tonnage of soil removed and does the original owner have any claim to the new land being formed, in the case of reclaimed land?
I have always thought that using schools in the capital to work together with National Forests Authority to plant trees on the barren hillsides would go a long way towards providing scenic areas all within the city area.
You take the hill above City Hall between Hohola, Waigani and Tokarara. If that hill were to be developed properly, it could be planted with trees and palms and assorted vegetation and you could have restaurants, paths and walkways. It would become a major attraction in Port Moresby with build up areas and services all around it.
The green cover would be a welcome sight and respite. That is the type of healthy business we could turn Port Moresby hills to.