80 Lives Lost In Kandep election related Fight

Will Kandep people learn from their actions for a better Kandep in future? Are the people at fault for taking law into their own hands pending the outcome of the election petition to declare the win of Don Polye null and void? Should there ever be a bye election, how safe will that be given the current situation. Will there ever be a better Kandep again after all these chaos? Have the people themselves lived in luxury to buy the weapons and ammunitions that they are using today and continuously for the last 5 months? The truth is....Innocent lives have been lost and there is NO WINNER in a fight and there is no special reward. We all have failed miserably in this area!!.

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80 lives lost in aftermath of poll violence

Source: The National, Monday 24th December, 2012

POLICE have urged political leaders from Enga to resolve the election-related violence in Kandep district, which has claimed 80 lives so far.
Provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari said despite fighting between supporters of two rival candidates stopping four months ago, it continued in isolated areas.
He said extra policemen were deployed to the district to maintain order but killings continued in isolated areas that police could not reach.
Lakari and Highlands police divisional commander Teddy Tei said it would be best for Kandep MP Don Polye to return home and talk to his people.
They believe that the violence is between Polye’s (supporters) and those of losing candidate Alfred Manase.
Police could not confirm how many people had died so far but sources have put the number at 80

Enga police get tough on drivers

Source: The National, Friday 21st December, 2012

ENGA police are now getting tough on drivers breaking traffic rules in the province.
Provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari said yesterday from Wabag that police had imposed K1,000 bail on drivers breaking traffic rules.
Lakari said out of 15 drivers arrested for overloading, drink driving and driving around in unregistered vehicles last week, one had to pay a K1,000 bail on Monday.
He said others would appear in the District Court to determine their fate or impose appropriate fines on them.
“I want to reduce fatal accidents in the province because last year and the previous year, we had a lot of fatal accidents during the festive season,” he said.
Lakari said police would ensure only road worthy vehicles travelled on the road.
He said because of the drivers’ carelessness fatal accidents happened and this had to stop.
“I want to warn drivers and vehicle owners to take extra precautions,” he said.
He said anyone seen breaking the traffic rules would face the full force of the law.
Lakari said police set 24-hour roadblocks at the border of Western Highlands and Enga near Kumul lodge and confiscated 100 cartons of beer and seven cartons of dark rum.
He said some people transported the alcohol on trucks into Enga to sell during the festive period when police confiscated them at the roadblock

Time govt move in to end tribal war

Source: The National, Friday 07th December, 2012

I CALL on the government to conduct an investigation into the number of people killed in Kan­-dep district following the recent general election.
The National has published several letters with regard to the election-related tribal war.
What I cannot understand is the deafening si­lence from the Kandep MP.
As a senior minister, Don Polye could have stepped in and put an end to the on-going war.
The same goes with the so-called “action governor”.
Why is Peter Ipatas so quiet too? Do not tell me that Ipatas and Polye are not concerned with the on-going war or the number of people who have lost their lives?
The PPC needs to send his men to Mariant LLG
to put an end to this fight. The tribal fight is between the Okul and Kamprip tribes.
The cause of this tribal war is not because of pigs, money, land, forest, wo­men or anything relating to tribal values and beliefs but over power. This has disrupted the lives of the innocent people of Mariant LLG.
The number of deaths cannot be confirmed be­cause no one from the police, Electoral Commission, justice department or Engan government has taken the initia­-tive to go there.
Kandep High School was forced to close while the multi-million kina wheat project was burnt.
I agree with Jerry Songpen (Nov 30) that the go­vernment must declare a state of emergency in Kandep.
Yand Kaiman
Mariant

Declare SOE in Kandep

Source: The National, Friday 30th of November, 2012

 

SINCE the declarations in July, a fierce tribal war has been raging in Kandep.
There has been destruction to local businesses, closure of government services and more than 70 people killed so far, with 57 deaths in Mariant LLG.
Students from schools in the war zone did not sit for their national examinations.
The multi-million kina Murip wheat project has been burnt down.
On Nov 26, one of the fiercest gun battles took place at Momdei village, resulting in four deaths.People are forced to seek shelter in Mendi, Wa­bag, Laia­gam, Wapenamanda, Mt Ha­gen and Hela.
I call on the Engan police, Kandep MP and other Engan leaders to help end the tribal war.
I also urge the prime minister and police mi­nister to declare a state of emergency to control the situation.

Jerry Songpen
Kambia village, Kandep

Please, probe mass killings in Kandep tribal fights

yutok

Friday 23rd November 2012

I APPEAL to the Government to investigate the number of people killed in Kandep District after the 2012 National Election. The following is an observation report of rumours you may have heard about election related tribal fight in Kandep District. Foremost, I’m not a politician but I feel obliged to speak on behalf of thousands of homeless and those that had fallen victims to this inhumane act. Note that no media report or police had given exact neutral account of suffering and result of tribal warfare in the district over the months.
I’m appealing to Don Polye and Peter Ipatas to bring to justice people involved in this man-made disaster. The core of the tribal fight is between Okul and Kamprip tribes.
It is already public information that the tribal fight is related to 2012 National Election results. I went home last month and noted that peace negotiation is possible through formal government intervention. The reason of tribal warfare is not customary related such as pig, money, land, forest, women and anything of tribal values and beliefs. The raging tribal war is over power struggle bringing disaster to majority innocent population in the Marient constituency. The confirmed number of people killed from both sides of the tribal factions to date is 52, over 100 people are wounded. I’m appealing to the Electoral Commission, Department of Justice and Attorney General, Department of Prime Minister and NEC, Department of Police and Internal Security, Enga Provincial Government, Member for Kandep Open, Enga Provincial Police to investigate number of people killed, properties destroyed and bring to justice those people responsible.
Those who wish to help us restore peace can contact us to contribute resource and ideas on mobile number 72843266.

Yand kAIMAN
Marient

Polye and Manase urged to stop tribal war

News	Friday 23rd November 2012

By JOHNNY POIYA

Treasury Minister Don Polye and lawyer Alfred Manase are being urged to return to Kandep immediately and fix up the chaos in the electorate.
The two leaders are wanted by police, the Enga provincial government and the people of Kandep to return and broker peace among the election related warring tribes and enable government services to flow into the remote electorate.
Government services ceased following the voting during this year’s elections. All schools, health services and other government services closed down and staff fled as tribal clashes erupted sporadically all over the electorate. The closures remain as of Wednesday when the Post-Courier and Highlands Divisional Police Commander Teddy Tei visited the district.
A fight between Mr Polye’s and Mr Manase’s supporters in the Marend LLG, which allegedly involves over 36 council wards, has so far resulted in an unconfirmed 50 deaths, according to Kandep police.
Chief Tei who supported the call for the two leaders to come home, also called on the Enga provincial government to dispatch a Peace and Good Order Committee into the area immediately to prevent further killings and destruction.
One of Enga province’s pride, the multi-million kina Kandep wheat factory, was razed to the ground when election related violence erupted in Muiyan. A nearby tribe attacked tribes around the wheat facility and killed four men and burnt down the factory, administration building and several staff houses.
The wheat factory, opened in 2001 when Jimson Sauk was the local MP, and was established by the Chinese government and run by Chinese experts till its burning down. Two new vehicles used by the officers were also burnt down. Warriors equipped with homemade guns, bush knives and bows and arrows were at the scene when this reporter arrived.
The project produced wheat during its early stages but gradually got run down as funding ceased to come from the national government to sustain its operations, in some instances, funds were diverted elsewhere.
Had it not been for Enga police’s quick action in the area following the declaration of Polye as MP, many other public installations would have been destroyed. Thirty officers from Wabag were sent in and are still camped there.
ACP Tei met local leaders at the Kandep station and gauged their views on the situation on the ground and supported the call from the people of Kandep to have Polye and Manase return to initiate and broker peace.

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Kandep students paying the price of conflict

Source: The National, Wednesday 31st October, 2012

THE tribal war in Kandep has claimed many lives, destroyed property worth millions and ruined go­vernment and church-run services.
Vital services have ceased and one such insti­tution that suspended its services indefinitely since August is the Kandep High School.
It is hard to comprehend the victimisation of innocent students.
Leaders must bear the blame for their negligence and failure to rein in their supporters.
It sends a chill down my spine to think of the sacrifice and commitment of students to ad­vance to the next grade going to waste.
What also concerns me is that many students who qualify for Grade 9 would be denied enrolment due to space limitation.
Students will have to re­peat their grades and pa­rents would have to shoulder the financial burden.
I call on the leaders of the warring tribes to iron out their issues so that students can go to school next year and other services can be delivered.
People must come to their senses and bury the hatchet.
Peace must prevail in Kandep for everyone to enjoy.
Komson Nick Kome
Sirunki

Good idea to relocate school to Lower Wage

Source: The National, Friday 19th October, 2012

I SUPPORT the idea of relocating Kandep High School to Lower Wage.
Kandep has been de­clared a fighting zone.
We urge the Enga pro­vincial education board to relocate the school or build us a new one.
Kandep has about 80,000 people, half of them from Upper and Lo­wer Wage LLG areas.
Crime in Kandep is serious and is expected to last for years.
Important government services such as schools and health centres should be located to places where there is peace and harmony.
It is an expensive exercise but worth doing for the sake of the people.
Lower Wage has many community leaders such as Jimson Sauk, Tum Akiala, Michael Marape and John Lakai who have high regard for such ser­vices.
The Kandep High School has been suffering from interruptions since 2002.
Without any cash crops to support our economy, we believe in our children’s education.
We are privileged to have Peter Ipatas as our governor, who cares about our children’s future.
He has done a lot for Enga and I am sure he will give us a good response as always.
Please listen to our cry and give us a school.

Tim Temo
Via email
 

Polye calls for shift in approach

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Source: The National, Friday 19th October, 2012

By JEFFREY ELAPA
TREASURER Don Polye has urged deve­lopment partners and international financial institutions to shift from a programatic approach to a more sustainable development-oriented approach of development assistance to the country.
Polye said that after meeting with newly appointed World Bank president Dr Kim Yong during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Tokyo, Japan, last week.
Polye said he met with senior leaders of the Asian Development Bank and advised them of the country’s deve­lopment needs and how they could come in to help in the development of the country.
He said his advice to the two financial institutions was that they should redirect their focus on helping Papua New Guinea in developing the human resource because the nation’s prosperity lay in the people.
Polye asked the World Bank to introduce a more programatic approach to aid delivery in PNG such as the Asian Development Bank’s Multi-tranche Financing Facility (ADB MFF) for infrastructure and utilities sectors.
He said under the ADB MFF a “pool” of funding was negotiated with the bank and funds were made available to the borrower through the tranches after project costs and other details were finalised.
“I asked them that instead of thinning the programmes, the development partners assist in major projects such as infrastructure and increasing small and medium businesses of locals,” Polye said.
He appealed to the financial institutions to fund four major infrastructure development projects in the country.
Polye said senior officials from the two institutions would be visiting the country at his request early next month and in January to discuss in detail what actions they recommended for developing countries such as Papua New Guinea

The Koroway Tribe of West Papua

Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news

The Koroway in pictures: tribe living in remote Indonesian forest officially recognised as 'tree-dwellers'

A group of hunter gatherers living in a remote Indonesian forest are thought to have become the first tribe to be officially recognised as tree-dwellers. The Korowai, or Koroway, from Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua, live in tree houses, speak their own tribal language, and live off forest animals and plants

A member of the Koroway tribe stands on a ladder leading to his house

 Almost 3,000 members of the nomadic clan, whose people wear only banana leaves, were recorded for the first time in the country's census this year.

A stone axe gets re-wrapped in rattan. The Koroway say they don't know where the axe stones come from, but ethnologists assume they were quarried in the highlands and then traded down through generations of exchange relationships

Members of the tribe skilfully climb ladders to their wooden homes often as high as 164ft (50m) from the forest floor where they usually live in a family of up to eight. Homes are built at different heights depending on how well they get on with their fellow tribe members

Aerial view of an abandoned tree house. The photographer estimated it to be 50 metres tall

Picture: GEORGE STEINMETZ / CORBIS

 

The horticultural tribesmen excel at hunting and fishing

A Koroway man carries a juvenile cassowary killed after it was trapped in a snare

 

Koroway arrows, each having a different name, and used for different types of prey. The large barbed arrow in the centre is made from cassowary leg bone and used for killing people. The one to the left of that has a four-pointed tip for fish. The one with the wide blunt tip is used for lizards, and the one with the broad bamboo tip is for wild pigs

 

Until the late 1970s, when anthropologists embarked on a study of the tribe, the Korowai were unaware of the existence of any peoples other than themselves

A Koroway man carrying a stone axe crosses a flooded area of the forest that has been bridged with a network of rattan-tied poles

They have engaged in cannilbalism but anthropologists believe that exposure to the outside world has put an end to this practice in recent years. Korowai people mainly eat wild boar, deer, sago and bananas

A Koroway woman processes pulverised sago palm trunk into the starchy food that is the staple for almost every meal

Only a handful of Korowai are thought to be able to read and write. A total of 2,868 of them were interviewed by census workers through missionary translators using sign language. Suntono, the head of Indonesia's statistics agency for Papua, said: "It's as if they're still living in the Stone Age. They don't wear any clothes and they live in trees in the jungles....

The grubs are larvae of the Capricorn beetle, and move like someone trying to wiggle out of a sleeping bag. Sago trees are felled four to six weeks before a feast, and left to rot in the swampy forest where they become infested with larvae. When the grubs are at the right stage of development (4-6 weeks later), the trees are opened up and pulled apart with a stone axe or pointed stick. The grubs are a favourite food, and are eaten both raw and cooked. They taste fatty, with a vague nutty taste, like soggy overcooked walnuts. In the protein-deficient world of the Koroway, Sago grubs are one of the few sources of fat

"...Now that we know who they are, their numbers and characteristics, they won't be isolated anymore. We can ensure they get access to education and health care just like any other Indonesian."

A man climbs down an ironwood tree after knocking loose a nest of black ants that he uses for fish bait

The hosts of a sago grub feast stand in a circle in the foreground, and exchange mock attacks with their guests (not pictured) before entering the feast house

 

Preparation of a lizard for a meal in the forest where it was caught 

 

A group of dwellings belonging to a clan comprised of three brothers who live in the same clearing

 

A man works on the roof of a tree house

 

Houses belonging to the Koroway tribe stand in a forest near Merauke city in Indonesia's Papua province