Hope for Middle Ramu

Weekender

EDUCATION

By HENRY YAMO
THE lazy crow of a rooster which sounded almost half asleep jolted me awake as dawn was breaking. I scrambled for my watch and realized that it past six am already. Although the plan was to be on the road well before six, it hadn’t happened yet, but thanks to the rooster for being dutiful.
I jumped out of bed and started to pack the few loose belongings sprawled in the room. Outside my room I could hear my counterpart pacing the living room, coughing anxiously by way of indicating he was up and ready. I responded with a cough or two and came out of the room, and he said we have to leave.
Everything we needed for this trip was packed into the back seat of the hire vehicle we were using. As we drove out of Walium station for Banu along the Ramu River, the first rays of the rising northern sun began to peep over the Finisterre Range.From the road to Madang we turned left at the Usino junction and proceeded along the Usino/Bundi road which was riddled with potholes. Although sealed and smooth as silk at one stage from the Usino-Madang junction, this section had been neglected for far too long allowing the gaping crater-like potholes to appear in most sections. It took us almost an hour and a half along a stretch that use to take 45 minutes in better days.
At Banu our boat skipper was waiting. The two 200-litre zoom drums we loaded the previous afternoon were intact on the boat. One placed across the boat and one in an upright position next to the outboard motor. It had been opened and one end of the zoom hose from the motor had been dropped into the drum so that zoom could be fed to the motor. I realised that was a better way to save time rather than stopping at intervals to change fuel containers once each one of them ran out.
Precisely at 8.30 am the skipper kicked the motor to life and spun the boat around and we were off downstream on the mighty Ramu River. My colleague project officer from World Vision Isidore Guia told me that the trip downriver would take the whole day and if we were lucky enough we would reach Kwanga mission in the Middle Ramu District, our destination by late afternoon.
We were going to launch the school community accountability agreement (SCAA) and community governance groups set up by the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council (CIMC) at the Kwanga and Annaberg elementary schools in Middle Ramu. This was done through the Together for Education (T4E) project undertaken by a consortium of partners led by World Vision PNG. Other consortium members are the University of Canberra, ChildFund and Library for All Australia. The project was funded by the PNG-Australia Partnership.
Being a first-timer on the river I was so excited. At every bend, I clicked the Canon EOS 1200D in my hand capturing anything interesting including the flora that was garnished by lush vegetation against the magnificent backdrop of mountains. For the very first time, I was also able to see the towering Mt Wilhelm, PNG’s highest peak from the river.
The significance of the Ramu is that it cuts its way through the scarcely populated Ramu valley winding its way for about 640km northwest to eventually pour into the Bismarck Sea west of Bogia station. The headwaters of the Ramu are formed in the Kratke Range in Kainantu – Eastern Highlands. Along its course, the Ramu receives numerous tributaries from the Bismarck Range to the south and the Finisterre and Adelbert ranges. Local villagers here have lived along the river for many millennia and the river has formed the basis for food, transport, and culture.
Upstream in the Kainantu area of Eastern Highlands, the Ramu flows through the Arona valley and provides for PNG’s largest PNG Power owned and operated Yonki dam where it feeds the Ramu 1 Power Station that supplies electricity to five Highlands provinces, Morobe and Madang.
Back on the river, the lush vegetation on either bank created a cool and refreshing atmosphere. This was complemented by an overcast which hid the sun for most of the journey.
Downstream the river was riddled with sandbanks and uprooted tree stumps-most of them visible. The skipper cunningly guided the boat between the hidden sandbanks or uprooted tree stumps for three-quarters of the way. The scariest thing was, if we hit a hidden log our boat would flip and all our possessions would be gone without a trace in the murky waters or we would lose the engine and drift.
But that thought left as more interesting things came into sight. After traveling a quarter of the trip down, two motorised dugouts laden with betel nut bags coming upstream. After the usual brief shouts between skippers which sometimes pass as updates, they were gone and we progressed downstream.
Hearing stories from the skipper about how he had to ferry a very sick patient at night from Atemble along this treacherous log and sandbank-filled river made me feel for the people of Middle Ramu. It dawned on me that this river was the only lifeline for the delivery of health and education services. The river was their only hope as all the small airstrips in Middle Ramu had closed years back for various reasons.
There used to be an airstrip at Aiome station, the Middle Ramu district headquarter. Airstrips were also at Annaberg and Kwanga mission stations and Josephstall, another subdistrict outpost inland from the river. But sadly all of them had closed and the Ramu River provides the only means of efficient travel and service delivery. I was told that it took about seven hours by foot from Josephstall to reach the nearest road in the Bogia district.
Middle Ramu district is endowed with vast tracts of natural forest, particularly the Arabaka LLG where some logging is being done. There were reports of natural gas discharges that have been sighted and tested by locals by lighting them up to prove the gas outflow. Middle Ramu has a lot of agricultural potentials where crops such as cocoa grow very well. I was surprised to learn that some years back the district had a cocoa exporting license -not sure what has become of it.
In 2014 the then member for Middle Ramu, Tommy Tomscoll committed a total of K3.8million to build and improve road infrastructure in the district. A 40km road from Madang was supposed to connect to the Middle Ramu stopping at the river. However, to the dismay of the people, that road is now an impassable animal track due to negligence over the years by government and political representatives.
Nevertheless, the churches are still at work regardless of the hardships to serve the many armlets nestled along the river banks. There are a good number of elementary and primary schools and health facilities in the area which are mostly church-run or supported. There is a high school at the Annaberg mission that has enrolled students from the many primary schools in the district.
If a good road is built for the people of Middle Ramu, the district will thrive and develop its huge agricultural potential. Until then the mighty Ramu has served the people for many millennia forming the basis for food, transport, and culture and it will continue until a road becomes the light at the end of the tunnel.

  • The writer is the deputy executive director of the CIMC. Comments can be sent to [email protected]