Give ‘kiaps’ high praise for services

 THIS year as we focus on celebrating 40th Anniversary of Independence, I am reminded of some unsung heroes who have contributed so much to the development of our country and who formed the basis of our country from being a ‘nation of many tribes’ to a one country Papua New Guinea. 

They were called the “kiaps” or patrol officers who undertook their services at the end of World War 2 when PNG was under Australian colonial rule. 

The kiaps were patrol officers who opened much of the unexplored regions of the country. They acted as police, land mediator, magistrate, judge, doctor, nurse, teacher and the face of the “gavman (government).

The kiaps were an extraordinary group of young Australians who performed a remarkable service. Their adventurous spirit was matched only by their commitment to the wellbeing of the people. 

The kiaps were usually representative of all arms of government in frontier areas and they often brought the first trickle of European civilization to these remote and isolated areas. 

The extraordinary efforts of these Australian men and a small number of women make up a valuable chapter in Australia and Papua New Guinea’s history but are still untold. 

The kiaps lived a dangerous existence,” a former kiap remarked. “There was an ever-present threat of attack from hostile tribes and locals, and many kiaps were murdered on patrol. The harsh conditions on the frontier also proved to be very dangerous, with accidents and illness claiming the lives of kiaps. The list of kiaps killed in boating and aircrafts accidents are extensive and many are unrecorded”.

They kept our primitive and hostile communities together in PNG’s formative years. They kept our tribes together and kept our villages and districts functioning. 

In Philip Fitzpatrick’s book he describes the kiaps as men with dogged perseverance who helped bring the emerging nation to independence. 

During their patrols kiaps could have been killed by poison tipped arrows or spears or axed to death. They could have suffered from accidents or sicknesses like malaria or being exposed to snakes, crocodiles, large bush pigs and millions of mosquitoes. 

Patrols were certainly not glamorous; rather, they were hard, dirty uncomfortable work compared to conditions some Aussies are now working under AusAID funded projects.

They went where others feared to tread and did so without unnecessary bloodsheds or disruptions of the lives of the people, frequently to the detriment of their own health and well-being. Some died in drowning accidents when crossing rivers and vast oceans. Others were murdered while on official police business, such as the East New Britain District Commissioner Jack Emmanuel, who was killed by disaffected landowners on the Gazelle Peninsula when he attempted to intervene in a land ownership dispute.

Without these exceptional Australians, PNG would not have come this far. 

Indeed all ex-kiaps deserve some kind of recognitions from both the PNG and Australian governments. 

I believe they deserve to be honoured during the 40th Independence anniversary in Seprtember instead of dishing out sixth and seventh medals to the same people who have done very little for this nation.

Thank you Australia for the kiaps.

Jacob Sekewa

Port Moresby