Sepik carver sees drop in sales

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
A CARVER from East Sepik says sales have dropped – because of the lack of tourists.
Philip Wai, 32, is from Tambunum Village in East Sepik where the people are traditionally known for their natural skills in carving.
“In the past, we see a lot of tourists coming into the country and we sell our products at very good prices,” he told The National.
Wai said they earned a good income back then.
“Today, maybe our government is not doing enough to assist the tourism sector to attract more tourists into the country, or maybe it is because of our law and order issues that tourists are scared to visit our country regularly,” he said.
Wai said tourists used to come in numbers in the 80s and 90s and travelled to all parts of PNG just to buy traditional artefacts. And East Sepik was top of their list.
“They will walk freely on the streets and people like us do not have to leave our homes to look for markets,” he said.
“These days I had to leave my house, pay for PMV fares to get to town and walk on the streets looking for customers to buy my products.”
Wai came to Port Moresby when he was very young. He is now married with three children and resides with his family at the Sepik Block along the Hiritano Highway.
He and his wife are not employed so the family relies on the money he makes from carving and from the sale of garden produce.
“I sometimes earn K500 to K600 monthly depending on the type and quality of products I make,” he said.
“My wife usually makes around K100 or less from the food she sells at the Gordon market in a day.”