Displaced people should be relocated: Fr Giorgio

By LULU MAGINDE
DISPLACED people need to be given alternative land to relocate and settle but this is not so easily done in Papua New Guinea (PNG), says Father Giorgio Licini.
General secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference (CBC) Fr Giorgio told The National: “What is truly sad, I don’t know if it’s true or not, is to hear of funds allotted with certain people and misused. That is really awful to hear because this money could have gone to helping people.”
He visited Manam Island, Madang, in December and observed that with the land covered in ash, the only other option for settlers would be to relocate to available land, through open dialogue with the landowners where they could stay peacefully.
“People get disenchanted, some try to go back to the island because the youths on the mainland were misbehaving and causing problems,” he said.
“Misplaced communities also need extra support in terms of guidance, advising and mediation with the locals. I understand that the government is allotting funds to do things but money is never enough, you need the human resources to get things moving.”
Fr Giorgio observed that people who know how to use, support and distribute these funds are essential and remain convinced that many of these problems that arise in settlements, can only be solved through education.
Referring to the example of West Papuan refugees who live in settlements in Port Moresby, he believes through an education, children may be able to better themselves, get jobs and eventually lift their own families out of the poverty they were born into.
“If the children don’t get educated and thus no education opportunities arise then the future just remains uncertain,” he said.
CBC is limited in what they are capable of doing, they do what they can through creating awareness.