When memories fade and history is gone

IT seems our tradition, culture and history are dismissing in Papua New Guinea while negligence and ignorance foil our people, government departments and bureaucracies that are mandated to protect our cultures and history.
Apart from monuments, museums, war relics and cultural events, cemeteries are among the most valuable of historic resources.
Cemeteries reveal information about historic events, religion, lifestyles and genealogy.
The Badihagwa cemetery, on the hilly part west of Hanuabada village in Port Moresby, holds a valuable part of the country’s history that shaped Port Moresby and Papua New Guinea.
Here, lie early missionaries from other Pacific nations such as Fiji and Samoa, early European settlers, London Missionary Society missionaries, early Chinese traders, patrol officers and early administrators and their children who had died in Port Moresby.
Unfortunately, there is no dignity in preserving history at the Badihagwa cemetery. The cemetery is subject to vandalism and theft, uncontrolled growth of tall grass, burning of grass and rubbish on the graves, copper plaques stolen and destroyed, disposal of household rubbish and unbelievingly nearby villages burying their dead on top of those already buried there!
Some names on head stones (or what was left of them) that rang a vague bell are Sir Hubert Murray, Frank Lawes and George Hunter. They were very important people in our history because today there are streets and a stadium in Port Moresby named after these men.
On my visit recently, I was aghast when I learnt that Sir Hubert Murray – that the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium is named after – is also buried here!
His grave had broken pieces of bottles that drunks had left behind.
The Sir Hubert Murray Stadium is another piece of history that needs protecting. This is the historic place where the flag lowering ceremony took place on 15 September 1975 before the PNG flag was raised the next day on Independence Hill.
Sir Hubert Murray arrived in Port Moresby in 1904 with his family and was appointed the chief judicial officer of British New Guinea under Sir William McGregor’s 10 year administration.
 He was the only trained lawyer in British New Guinea at the time and heard all the cases coming before the Central Court. He later became the Lieutenant Governor and died in 1940.
Another broken headstone revealed the name Seeto Chin.
“This is the Chinese section of the cemetery,” said Christine Elly.
Christine and her family are traditional landowners of the cemetery and take the time to clean the cemetery with the assistance of individuals Jenata Douglas, Kevin Byrne and AusAID and the Rotary Club.
“Seeto Chin was born on 8 Oct 1890 and died in 1964,” Christine continued. The gravestone was covered in graffiti, dry grass and empty tinned cans.
Christine pointed to another grave that had its plaque missing. “This is the grave of a 17 year old Australian girl named Beverly who drowned at Ela Beach.
She lived in Port Moresby with her parents who worked here,” she told me.
Thomas Philip Myles Byrne arrived in Port Moresby from Ireland via Australia. He was appointed as an officer with the colonial administration and worked alongside Sir Hubert Murray.
He later rose to the rank of Chief Collector of Customs in Papua working in Port Moresby and Samarai.
Thomas Byrne died in 1952 and was buried at Badihagwa cemetery.
His wife Helena Mary Byrne was also buried there when she died in 1966.
“My grandmother Helena was buried somewhere here,” said Kevin Byrne, pointing to shrubbery and tall grass.
Kevin Byrne’s father, Thomas Patrick Byrne, was born to Thomas Philip and Helena in Port Moresby and later worked in Lae with the colonial government.
Kevin and his sister Maureen were born in Lae while his brother Peter was born in Manus where their father later transferred to, and became the Managing Director of Edgell and Whitley.
Kevin Byrne is the Corporate Affairs Manager of InterOil and visits the cemetery often to support Christine and her family with funds and equipment required to clean the cemetery.
“Christine is doing a wonderful personal service for many of us.
“It’s a pity that the country of PNG treats the early pioneers to this country with so much disrespect. I get angry when I come here to see my family at rest in such disgraceful conditions and a country that consumed so much of their lives does not care,’ said Kevin.
‘The cemetery was fenced with funding from the Australian government and the Rotary Club. The whole cemetery has been allowed to go to wreck and ruin. And the worst aspect is villagers are burying their dead on top of those who were buried here earlier. There is a lot of history that needs to be protected here,” he added.
Here at Badihagwa cemetery is the essence of innumerous biographies woven into the history of Port Moresby and Papua New Guinea.
I envisaged school children coming here for excursions, families on Sunday afternoon, and visitors from overseas or proud descendants of the deceased coming here to visit this cemetery to appreciate history that contributed to shaping our country.
Our culture, traditions and history are the essence of our existence and with the challenge of globalisation escalated by negligence, there is an urgency to preserve and restore our historical pride.