LIFESTYLE

Erave at heart

MRDC managing director Augustine Mano is resolute in his vision to ensure people realise benefits of resource projects on their lands

By CHRISTOPHER PAPIALI
IT was Saturday, July 24, 2021 when Augustine Mano, Tamua Balupa, and I took a chopper ride to Erave.
This journey was planned by Augustine Mano, the managing director of the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) a few weeks earlier but which did not eventuate as he had many things to do.
For me with the kind of political and bureaucratic work I do, I was still convincingly engaged. It is a job that is demanding and I feel happy contributing to the development of our country.
However, that Saturday was the suitable time, when Mano called and we met at Kagamuga Airport at 11am.
At 11.30 am, we flew over Mt Hagen city, passed Ialibu and entered Erave.
The feeling in the chopper was just awesome. I had flown with Mano four times before but this journey was unique and spectacular.
The weather was good. The morning sun had cleared the skies and we could see the deep gorges, pristine forest cover and the rivers flowing.
And in the midst of those panoramic views, our conversation picked up momentum.
Mano was speaking about the potential the area provided in terms of business opportunities but more importantly accessibility to government services.
I related back to a time when we had breakfast at Crown Plaza hotel prior to his appointment as MRDC MD. His zeal for justice for landowners, continuous efforts for social inclusion and full economic participation of resource owners has somewhat transformed this young entrepreneur.
Hearing him, I was deeply meditating and thinking about my childhood years in this forgotten region of the country.
Here was I flying over, seeing what was below. I could feel the barefoot walking along those river sides, trekking mountains and caves, hunting for wild game. I was flying over where my papa had treaded.
This feeling I had was real and I was lost in nostalgia. If one could ask me whether my face has turned dim, yes it was…I was in deep imagination, with tears running down my cheeks. And you know what, I turned my eyes away from Tamua, who was facing me, for I did not want him to see my tears.
I saw the canopies and the forest. Then, as we lowered Kanera Range, I saw my village Koyali, and as we followed up Tiapili Road, I saw the new road, which is part of the missing link project.
But the feeling I had with the three men inside the chopper kept me thinking about the area. Here was this untouched area of SHP, and of course a unique resemblance of the Amazon.
This is the area known for the distinct species of snakes and birds and the fertile valleys that has the potential for peanuts, banana, kaukau, taro, yam, sago, pineapple and other vegetables.
This region is now dubbed as source of organic food to Kikori and very soon when Kikori wharf is developed and our roads connect to Kerema and Kupiano bypass, we expect to flood Port Moresby market with fresh produce.
Meanwhile, herbal plants found in Erave have been proven to be very effective when given to sick people. These days, people run into the forest to find those herbal leaves and roots, just like you going to the pharmacy to look for your medicine.
As we hovered over Semberigi Valley, I saw men and machines working on the roads, doing the pioneering feeds from Pawabi to Yanguli. Once this is connected, we would then have the Waloa turn off connected.
Mano kept on saying we will achieve this before the end of 2021. He is a man of principle and vision. He has set timeline.
This is an incredible development journey that none of us dare to discuss.
Augustine Mano is a revolutionary leader, a futurist, and a great innovative game changer that will soon now transform the lost forgotten district into a massive economic hub for the highlands region. This is absolutely an economic blast, if not if properly coined, a melting hub for economic activity considering the Papua LNG and Antelope Project developments occurring in neighboring Gulf province.
He told us that when the Kikori wharf is connected, and when the roads are all linked, what we would see is the increased trade and these things will come in our life time. I believe in his profound words.
On the same day, we had an opportunity to land at Erave airstrip where community leaders welcomed Mano in style with traditional bilas and drama performances which depicted the first construction of the airstrip by the Erave people under the colonial masters.

We were lost for words, as we stood there seeing these dramas and even the words spoken by Anderson Awasa and Erave Station Councilor, Eddie Paglipari, summed up the unwavering hope they had on Augustine Mano.
Mano declared in front of his people gathered that by December 2021, we expect to have first landing of PNG Air aircraft and so as other commercial airlines. In this stages of development, the accompanying infrastructure developments should include terminals, banking, telecommunication, postal, water and sanitation, and tourism services.
Mano is not a politician but has the smiles with no attachments – nothing of trivial exaggerations but of substance and reform. He has a sympathetic heart. In short, he wants to become that enabling agent for economic prosperity and social inclusiveness for all the four LLGs of Erave.
He has the heart for his people. Erave is his home. He is more than convinced that he would rather do something for Erave.
I was also given the opportunity to talk and I told the people to embrace change and do away with tribal fights, conflicts, and consumption of drugs. And in fact, I have been speaking on these things at the main Erave Market since 2016 till now. I keep on telling the people that development will come and they had to go into gardening and do other things to earn money rather than doing nothing.
Our trip was short but sweet. The 35 minutes with the people on the ground brought everyone closer to have a glimpse of Mr. Mano. His words had tantalizing effect that would always be the talking point day and night in the coming months.
For the Erave people, we must burry the past, and lean on the future. We must give care and love to those visiting the district.
I am sure you all have demonstrated that to Augustine Mano and we shall meet again in December.
And this time we will do a direct flight from Port Moresby to Erave on PNG Air.
See you in December!

• Christopher Papiali is a freelance writer.

Clean water flows into Sapulo

By JOSHUA MANI
THE Kapakamarigi community in Lower Bena, Eastern Highlands, now have clean water available in walking distance.
Through a community initiative, the Sapulo Water Project, which was started in 2017, ground water is filtered and pumped to tanks for daily use.
Led by Ali Kivizo and Jagsey Kitoro, the community built filtration structures. The first structure they built is a well containing stones, sand and gravel which strain and remove dirt from ground water. The water from the well is then piped to two cement tanks which filter water using a net. After the net filtration, water goes into a collection chamber which has a series of pipes that channel water from the middle layer into a 5,000-litre reserve tank.
It is estimated that over 600 people are benefiting from the project, including missionaries and their families living at the Kapakamarigi Foursquare Bible College. At the moment, there are two tanks serving the people, but they have plans to increase the number of tanks and taps and bring the water into households.
Samples of the water were sent to the Institute of Medical Research in Goroka and the test results showed that the water was 99 per cent bacteria-free and had a lot of minerals.
Prior to the project, the community got its water from distant creeks which posed risks of water-borne diseases as the creeks were contaminated by farming activities such as cash cropping and animal husbandry.
Kivizo, who initiated the project, said he wanted to ensure that his grandchildren and the next generation had a good source of water because Lower Bena was a grassland area which was normally dry.
“We cannot sit down and ask our Members of Parliament and donors to come give use free things. We have to work and they can come and help,” he said. “Is see that there are so many con men going around so our leaders and donors have no trust in people going around with just talk. That is why I decided to organise people in the village.”
Kivizo said the project has received good backing from the community and the school, health center and the Foursquare church in Kapakamarigi. He said elementary school children contributed 50 toea, primary school children K1, secondary school students K2 and adults in the village contributed K5 each.
“The is a community project even though I initiated and led it. Even workers in the local elementary school, the health center and the Foursquare Bible College gave contributions,” he said.
“We were also given some pipes by the Bush Bata group.”
It is estimated that over K70,000 have been spent on the project and Kivizo is hoping to officially open the project and give a financial report to the community over a feast.
So far, the project has received a limited technical assistance. Kivizo’s nephew, Roger, is one of those helping with technical advice. Roger is a final year civil engineering student at the PNG University of Technology in Lae.
Roger helped during his semester break to set up another tank closer to the village as the 5,000-litre tank was out in the gardening area. With engineering principles learned from his studies, he helped reduced the distance by using pipes to build up pressure to pump water uphill. This enabled them to put up another tank closer to the villagers.
Apart from the technical help Roger provides, he is also helping to put in proposals for help. He said he had written to Oxfam PNG for help under their Water and Sanitation Hygiene (Wash) programme and was working to send a submission to Digicel Foundation as well.
Kivizo said they had plans to bring the water supply to the Foursquare Gospel Bible College at Kapakamarigi and expand the number of taps available to villagers.