Revisiting the top stories and pictures of 2017

The National Weekender

By ELLEN TIAMU
THIS week we take stock of what 2017 was like, especially through the feature stories that have graced the pages of the Weekender over the past 51 Fridays.
A great deal of thanks to the continued efforts and contributions of freelance writers and journos, public relations personnel, learned professors, historians, and, of course, our reporters, Weekender has materialized every week this year for our readers, many of whom that I’ve met, remark at how they enjoy The National’s weekly magazine. (Or maybe, they were too polite to tell me otherwise).
The features this year have varied widely. Most, I would say, captured the continued struggles of Papua New Guineans in rural areas. They speak of people, who, despite having dreams and aspirations similar to that those of us in towns possess, the capacity to making a life for themselves and their families, and contributing to their towns – and the country even- cannot do so due to the non-existence of good roads, or just roads, for that matter. When they do have some semblance of a road, they are in poor condition, making it difficult even for public transport to frequent these villages. Where a PMV braves it out, the cost of travel is too high for subsistence farmers to even bother. This is why light aircrafts are still the main of transport in forgotten, outback places. Most third level airlines that fly in and out of these forsaken places,
do it for the love of the people more than for profit.
The bulk of our populace is in villages where health care is dismal and still critical. A sick man or woman has to re-think whether or not to make a visit to the aid post or health center in search of help. For one, these health facilities could be too far to attempt, secondly, they might be without basic drugs and medication and thirdly, they might be devoid of a nurse or health extension officer. It might not be the fault of these remote aid posts and health outposts that continuity of medicine and drugs is a real concern.
It’s no wonder that most Papua New Guineans who spend years working in towns and main cities refuse to return home upon retirement.
The coffee borer very much continues to be the pest that it is for the lucrative million-kina coffee industry with the CIC and its partner organizations consistently reliant on the media, including Weekender,
to pass on vital information to coffee growers.
Still on the national front, many people in different localities around the country sent in stories of openings of schools, churches and classrooms. There were stories on the achievements of people, both national and expatriate, who did well for the country. Sadly, we also ran feature stories on the deaths of simple, but special,
people who contributed tremendously- in sport, religion, or public service – to PNG’s early upbringing. One noted leader was former Chief Electoral Commissioner Sir Andrew Trawen who died just as the
general elections were about to begin in August this year.
Listed below is a list of stories we bring to you this week to remind you of 2017, the year that was.

  • Speaking of elections, the General Election was the major national event. Many people spoke strongly on the issue of corruption. Many wanted to see a change of government. Many yet, were all for the sitting prime minister and his team. Speaking on the eve of polling in July, Chief Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato assured everyone of a smooth ride.
  •  Another momentus event this year was the stepping down of the founding father of PNG’s Independence and democracy Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare after 49 years as a politician.
  •  Roads are said to be the harbinger of progress into remote places and the backbone of any economy which is why the government is literally making headway on this by making roads and bridges development a priority, with a lot of help from its overseas partners.
  • The discussion on sorcery has been a long drawn issue that will definitely not go away just yet unless authorities take a tougher stance on people who kill others who they accuse of practicing sorcery.
    This topic is a national issue and should not be relegated to the back burner.
  •  Violence against women continues to be a blot against PNG with international bodies reporting that almost two thirds of women in the country prone to experiencing some form of violence at the hands of their husbands or partners. “To¬gether with other human rights violations such as sexual violence (rape, child sexual abuse), assault, and sorcery-related killings Papua New Guinean women have
    been ranked among the most abused women in the world outside of a conflict zone”, says Doctors Without Borders.
  •  Like their mothers, sisters, and female relatives, many children in PNG suffer silently from abuse, too afraid to speak up. Torture, sexual violence, assault, forced marriage, emotional abuse, ne¬glect, and
    lately human trafficking are real for many of our young. PNG has the highest child mortality rate in the Pacific.
  •  On a lighter note, PNG hosted the PNG Kumul World Longboard Surfing championships, a world-class event earlier this
    year at Tupira Surf Club in beautiful Madang. The event attracted surfers from all over the world and was scheduled as the third major event on the calendar of the World Surfing League 2017.
  •  In September, three very brave men arrived in Port Moresby after more than a year of trying to be the first to circumnavigate the island of New Guinea in a traditional Milne Bay canoe. Weekender
    first ran a story on the trio in June when they were in Merauke, Indonesia, and about to re-enter PNG waters in Western province.
    And finally, some research, somewhere, says people are more prone to concentrating at the negatives in life rather than the positives. That might be the case with many of us here on the eastern side of the
    beautiful island of New Guinea. While life may seem difficult in rural settings, each of these settings have their own places where beauty and serenity can bring comfort and ease as captured in the photographs on page 13.
    Thank you to all who contributed to Weekender and we hope to continue the great partnership in 2018. For those aspiring writers who haven’t yet put pen topaper, this might be the time to start.