Fanima land crying out

LIFESTYLE

By PAUL MINGA
IN my adventurous trip to a part of the Central hinterland in June this year I discovered something heartbreaking.
The natives there in the Goilala mountains are facing real hardships as no roads link their villages to Port Moresby. l wonder why the place was so close to the nation’s capital and yet still without a road link for years now.
l visited places like Homalle, Kurama, Enande, Kambise and Ononge. At Ononge there is a rural station that hosts a Catholic Church establishment which has an aid post, primary school and airstrip. The scenery of those places and the human inhabitants’ hardships made my heart sink and I questioned myself.
Why do developed nations around the world acting as donors give out millions to poor nations to focus only on already developed towns and cities instead of helping disadvantaged places like this?
Why do countries like Australia, United States, China, Philippines and New Zealand and other donor agencies give to the same old smiling faces in towns and cities rather than to those in the wilderness such as the Fanima people l visited recently?
Life there is pretty difficult with no road link making access to goods and services impossible.
A felt really sad when a Fanima man whom l know gave an account of the situation there. He told me that their land was rich and fertile for growing sweet potatoes and other cash crops but without a road linking their villages to Port Moresby, the people felt discouraged from venturing into farming.
My friend further gave a sad personal tale of a past experience. He pointed out to a piece of land he and his family planted sweet potatoes on a large scale which they intended to sell to markets in Port Moresby. Since there was no road connecting this part of Goilala to Port Moresby, the family hired a helicopter to transport the produce to the city.
He said the proceeds from sweet potato sales were promising but when they subtracted the cost of the charter they ended up making a huge loss. The sad tale crushed my heart and l didn’t know what to say.
l only hope and wish that a road is built soon so the local people can enjoy the services they have been denied since the days of their forefathers.
For developed and more advanced nations like Japan, China, Australia and US to build a road through such difficult landscape of many mountains, galleys, ravines and rivers it may not be too much of a trouble.
Those countries, of course, have the capacity in knowledge, machinery and materials at their disposal to carry out construction work in places like Goilala. They are known for building roads over water and tunnels through mountains with their knowledge and machinery.
l only wish one or more of them could help a road to connect this part of the country to Port Moresby. That is my wish every time l reflect on the difficult landscape of the Fanima tribe which l had seen with my own eyes.
Fanima land is rich with fertile soil. There are also virgin forests of giant trees which can be sawn into timbers.
If connected by road these abundant resources and other potential can be unlocked.
Coffee is another cash cop that caught my attention. As a highlander l thought coffee would not be growing in Goilala but l was wrong. Coffee is growing there because it is a high altitude area and the climate suitable. But I saw that the coffee gardens were overgrown with bushes and not given attention to – maybe due to the unavailability of markets or roads.
l was bewildered when I noticed that two coffee pulpers were left sitting idle outdoors in a Fanima family home at Homalle. That made me reflect on the situation up in the highlands where coffee farmers value pulping machines and keep them indoors.
Due to unavailability of roads the Fanima people felt discouraged to grow and look after coffee or venture into other agricultural activities. I know there is a big potential in the areas of agriculture, forestry and minerals but that potential will be unlocked only if a road network connects this part of Goilala to Port Moresby.
Otherwise it would be forever a sad and pitiful story for the Fanima tribe.
I wish that light is shed upon the land of Fanima people before l go to the grave. This is a cry for the wilderness of the Fanima land.

• Paul Minga is a freelance writer.