Mekeo environment under threat

By PHILOMENA OAEKE SALIAU
About 120km from Port Moresby lies Veifa’a village (Mekeo) in the Bereina district of Central.
The best part of Veifa’a is walking through the jungle to explore the unknown.
The deteriorating state of the environment in Mekeo is a grave concern to the local community but what can they do with little knowledge?
Clean water supply projects have not reached most parts of Mekeo. The Mekeo people are calling on the Member for Kairuku-Hiri Peter Isoaimo to do something to protect the and their environment now before it is too late.
The operations of Tolukuma Gold Mine have caused a problem, making the local community living downstream suffer. The mine has polluted the environment with its riverine tailings disposal which is the process of discharging mine tailings, or waste rock and residue from the ore extraction process, directly into a river system. There is buildup of sediment along the Angabanga River which is an evidence of the type of waste disposal practice the mine using.
Tolukuma Gold Mine has been sold to Asidokona Mining Resources Pte Ltd in 2015.
From sources and studies conducted high level of sedimentation within the river would destroy fish habitats and food sources. Between the years 1991-2000, you could catch a big cat fish within 10 minutes of your fishing time; nowadays it’s hard to get a big fish catch.
The fish, prawn and eel population has decreased and also affected the protein intake of normal diet for every household. Only those who are skilled in hunting go hunting for wild pigs, bandicoots and wallabies. Otherwise diet-related diseases will be on the rise in Mekeo.
Flying over Ok Tedi River in the Star Mountains, I have seen the vegetation dieback and surely that will happen to the riverside vegetation in Mekeo. The soil in Mekeo is very fertile but soft, therefore soil erosion takes place easily due to climatic changes.
Doctors discovered that villagers had traces of cyanide in their blood which could have been absorbed through the skin or through consumption of plants and animals that also inhabit the area.
From a medical report sighted a woman died of liver cirrhosis, a cancer of the liver caused by alcohol or chemicals which made her stomach bulge out like a pregnant mother. There was no cure for the type of cancer except liver transplant. Many people still believe in customary practices, however the presence of chemicals does kill.
“Before more innocent lives are affected something must be done since the water reports for Mekeo area and Dr Kotapu’s findings have been released. We were tested by doctors from Port Moresby, and they found out that in our bodies we have cyanide and other harmful chemicals,” a ward councillor said.
Mekeo water samples collected in May 2005 indicate that the groundwater in localised areas in the villages of Inauauni, Amo’Amo, Veifa’a and Aipeana has levels of arsenic that are higher than or close to the acceptable maximum level of the World Health Organisation of 10µg/L (10micrograms per litre).
The elevated levels of arsenic found in this study however, are less than the drinking water standards of Papua New Guinea. These are specified in Schedule 2 of the Public Health (Drinking Water) Regulation 1984 and are based on the World Health Organisation standards of 1971. The PNG standards therefore are outdated and do not take account of advances in knowledge of the toxicology of arsenic. The PNG standard for arsenic is 50µg/L or five times higher than the current WHO standard.
As recently reported in the media, MP Peter Isoaimo has stressed on the damages done by Tolukuma Gold Mine. He said he would take legal action but is currently looking for money to hire a good lawyer to take up the case.
The Mekeo environment is under threat and the people fear loss of livelihoods and the fertility of land which is currently very fertile to grow any food crop.
Environmental damage might force people to relocate in future causing another issue. An action plan has to be implemented and moved forward to improve basic infrastructure and services, invest in sustainable activities that will raise household incomes and empower the local community to participate in sustainable development.
Mekeo’s environment is vulnerable to climate change impacts.

• Philomena Oaeke Saliau is a freelance writer.