Tuesday 1 July 2014

Why blog about writing this novel about PNG?

Welcome to this blog. While I've written numerous articles, courses and sermons over the years, this is my first attempt to blog. So I'll see how it goes. I wanted to get someway to interact with people who are interested in my stories and to get feedback on the interaction they have with those stories. So I welcome your feedback on this site.

Writing a story like "The People of the Bird" has been on my mind for many years. Little incidents that have happened to me or that I have witnessed over the years began to form as possible scenes in a story. While it is not the story of my personal journey as such, every writer will draw on life experiences which make the narrative more real, more engaging. Whether it has been flying aircraft round some of the bush areas of PNG's remote provinces such as Western, Sandaun and Milne Bay, or engaged in meetings at Board level in a company executive office in Port Moresby, I am very thankful for the depth of experience and insights in PNG that I have gained. I hope that the reality of life in PNG comes through this story, and therefore its deeper message shines through.

I started flying in the 1970's and spent several years in the Western Province when Ok Tedi was starting up. There was no road between Kiunga and Tububil. But even by the late 1970's the people in the mouth of the Fly River were complaining about deformed fish in the river. I believe that some containers of deadly cyanide, used in the gold extraction process, had fallen off a barge. Whatever the cause, the negative environmental impact was already starting to appear.

In 1982 I flew from Wewak to Hoskins and then Kieta and Honiara in a light aircraft, returning two days later. Flying over New Britain I was appalled at the mile after mile of deforestation in some parts of the island. In recent years I have been equally appalled at the deforestation in the Western Provence. I used to fly over virgin jungle, with its untold species of wildlife. Now major parts of the province are or have been logged out, and ugly roads and scarred landscape is left. How much wildlife, critical to maintaining the ecosystem, has been eradicated in the process? What about the loss of useful land for future generations?

At the level of human culture, the impact of exploration and mining has not been all positive. Landowners have received some royalties, and there has been some educational opportunities offered, as well as jobs. But the social cost has been huge with families separated, and increased alcohol abuse and HIV AIDS issues undoubtably one result. I wonder if the social improvement projects by multi-nationals really do little more than pay lip service to the social destruction they may cause?

These are but a few of the impressions which left me with the desire to find a way to express a voice of concern - concern that this beautiful country is being stripped in the name of the dollar and greed. Concern that the cost to local communities may actually be greater than the benefits they receive once they have traded their land and its value as heritage for a few kina.

I am not the first to be concerned about this situation. There are many others from conservationists to political pundits. While I love a good story, I wanted to also use that story to convey a message. It is up to you to decide if I have been successful. I am preparing the book for publication by September but have put some samplers on the Nenge Books website.