Spare a thought for the rural folk

 PAPUA New Guinea this week celebrated its 39th Independence anniversary. In every corner of the country communities took time to observe the milestone in their own way and had some kind of celebration and festivity to mark the occasion. 

But while the feel good atmosphere pervaded the streets of the largest urban centres and provincial capitals and district stations, people many rural areas in the country would have wondered what all the fuss was about.

For all the accolades and self-congratulatory statements and remarks made during this time, people still tend to gloss over the fact that the country may be 39 years independent but there are many parts of the country that cannot celebrate with the same fervour because very little has changed since September 16, 1975.

The question that must be asked is how has 39 years of self-government changed the lives of the rural folk?

Are people in remote places like Kaintiba and Menyamya better off now than they were 40 years ago? 

It is always a welcomed change for people in these places to have something to look forward to once in a while, to forget, even for a fleeting moment, the daily grind of their existence by celebrating national holidays. 

The people of Kaintiba, for instance, have lived an isolated existence for many years. The district falls under the Kerema electorate of Gulf. Local MP Richard Mendani celebrated Independence Day with these neglected folk to show his concern and commitment to their needs. 

The gesture was touching and says he is aware of their plight but what can be done for these people to make them feel that they are part of the province and country?

While being proud of having reached 39 years without having suffered any major episodes and being intact as a sovereign nation, people, especially those in the cities and towns, should spare a thought for their less fortunate brethren, the rural majority. 

Many in urban areas take so much for granted that they forget the suffering and hardships endured by their fellow men in the isolated communities across the length and breadth of PNG.

Access to and the availability of basic healthcare including medicines and qualified health professionals; education including schools and teachers; infrastructure including roads, bridges and wharfs are a luxury for many people.

This country still has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the region if not the world. 

There are still many children in rural communities who do not get a chance to go to school because they either cannot get to the area because of distance or because the institution is closed down and in other areas there are simply no teachers.  

Roads and bridges are built to open up the country to development and allow the flow of goods and services to every citizen. After all these years the capital of the country is still not linked by road to any other main centre.

The lack of development in these communities is an indictment on the governments of every term since independence. It seems that all the development is taking place in the major cities and the provincial capitals, next to nothing has happened out in the bush.

Port Moresby, the nation’s capital, is experiencing a boom with the construction industry seeing much work in preparation for major events – sports and world politics – and one can understand why so much focus is on the city but it is obvious that the capital’s progress is outstripping the rest of the country.

Many of its denizens carry on ignorant of the situation out in the provinces.

There has to be some kind of balance. Even development, with every centre gaining some of the benefits of the country’s riches must be the goal. 

The people of Kaintiba and every other part of the country that is missing out deserves this. 

How long will they have to put up with being the forgotten ones? 

How long will they have to endure the lack of development and be forced to the cities and towns just to get some of the benefits every citizen of this country has a right to regardless of what town, village, valley or island they come from?