AIRD HILLS - THE LAST OUTPOST

 

Aird Hills. A place frozen in time. Picture courtesy of KOPSY TENI

AIRD HILLS - A FAR FLUNG OUTPOST in GULF of PAPUA 

By Lofty of Kerema Bay

 

The delta region of the Gulf of Papua is a very powerfully persuasive place.

It has a life of its own, bubbly smell and succulent taste of mud and mudcrabs. 

Every where you go, by canoe, dinghy, flying, swimming or walking, you will be in a riverine jungle with miles and miles of swampland.

It is easy to get lost here, if you are not a local. It is also easy to get stuck in the muddy banks. 

The swamp,with all its venomous snakes, hungry crocs, mosquitoes, lizards, large pythons, is not an easy place to trek for a first timer. 

This vast tidal basin holds the key to life for the West Kerema people, from Kerema town stretching westward to the border of Western province and up into the mountains of Southern Highlands, Hela, Simbu, Morobe and Eastern Highlands.

It's a place trapped in time, with a green biodiversity weaved in the rich tapestry of the river people.

Here in the deep muddy bubbles, life revolves on the tide of the bustling rivers both for man and wildlife. 

Crocodiles flourish, marine life of barramundi and giant mud crab is abundant, the air is fresh and filled with all manner of bird life and the koriki people are super friendly.

The only way around is by the tide of the mighty river. And there are plenty, all filled with all manner of isapeas and komaras, pukpuks and crocodile.

Here there are few roads. The local taxi is the dugout or the transient log. 

Beware the floating log might also be a sharp toothed 'komara' with a powerful tail.

In November,  a friend of mine and schoolmate, magistrate Oakaiva Oiveka travelled westward to Kikori, Aird Hills, Baimuru and Kapuna for a court users forum at Kikori District.

Interestingly general law and order is almost non existent. Village court systems only exist in name.

Aird Hills is an interesting place. When you are travelling on the Kikori River towards Baimuru, you can see a hump in the distance. 

In the flatness of the swamp, Aird Hills is the only outstanding outpost in the immediate surroundings. 

A sentinel for generations. How it got its name is an enigma. Only the locals know.

The court users forum emphasis was on school children being the vulnerable group at a time when there is a rapid development in communication worldwide. 

Children, being the future leaders, and parents of the society were targeted to ensure they understood their roles and rights within the family and society as a whole.

The response was encouraging and it appeared that our people lacked the knowledge of how government bodies functioned in the whole scheme of things,  says our itinerant traveller.

Bureaucracy is a big hindrance to development and it was noted that many, if not most of the citizens of Kikori didn't know if the government existed at all.

People by nature, believe if they see any tangible development happening at home. Unfortunately, this was and is still not the case for Kikori.

In addition,  this was the same for Baimuru station when the team visited Kapuna hospital on Saturday Oct 31, 2020.

My travelling buddy was invited to speak there to disseminate information about how the justice service was effective at the rural level. 

Sad to say that it did not have any impact at all.

From information gathered in this trip, Baimuru didn't have presence of Government service as there are no public servants who live and work there.

It was neglected and remains a ghost town as we speak. 

Baimuru government station where Lofty was born many years ago.

But the main service provider is the church run Kapuna Hospital in Baimuru. 

There is nil police presence and with the recent decommissioning of reserve police officers,  law and order is a major problem.

Kikori is a resource rich area and this decision wasn't in the best interest of the district. 

People are left to wonder whether their lives and properties are safe, bearing in mind there's no rural lock up, police cells and regular police officers.

There are only 3 police officers on ground while the rest are reserves and volunteers.

The district is remotely administered from Port Moresby and other public servants are not here as well.

Urika Island.

Only the LLG Coordinator and a handful of workers live and work in Kikori.

Anyway, my poro reported the awareness took his team from Kikori Primary School to Kitomave SDA Primary school along the Kikori river.

"On a Thursday we visited Veiru Primary School and on Friday we were at Ero Primary School at Aird Hill," he recalls.

"We couldn't visit due to a land dispute meeting. On a Saturday we visited Kapuna and returned to Kikori in the afternoon. 

"It was 3 hours trip both ways and tiring but the scenery was too beautiful to ignore," my poro recalled.

Here and there on the rivers of sago, the ripples of the muddy currents, shape the life of the karu.

Dedicated to late DAVID VAI'I, a journalist and a gentleman, who would have celebrated another birthday on August 26. Drift in the big river in peace komara.