A SAD CASE SCENARIO

by JONAH IRUM

Well, well, well; The Pacific Games are over. Every good thing must come to an end but the walk of life is all about moving on. The excitement and the achievements of the event is now history. When we beat farewell to our wan solwara wantoks the environment in Port Moresby is beginning to slowly adjust into its normal way of life. For the rest of PNG it is business as usual.

Since the so called spectacular opening ceremony through to the closing ceremony PNG once again reaffirmed its position as the big boy or bikpla mangi of the Pacific region. The announcement by the Governor General to render assistance to Tonga as the host nation for the 16th Pacific Games come 2019 is yet another commitment from the bikpla mangi besides the financial assistance it rendered to Fiji during its National Elections and to Solomon Islands recently.

Anyway, many of us especially the Port Moresby citizens will share many fond memories of the games. The people to people interactions between the Athletes is the yardstick by itself to measure how such magnificent events can really unite a group of people from different and diverse cultural backgrounds.

Whilst many of us has shared our views about the games, I wish to share my concern which I view as the Sad Case Scenario. What prompted me to give my view this title is due to what I learnt from Kundu 2 telecast during the opening ceremony. In fact the TV Crew led by our very own entertainer Mr. Leo Morgan Jnr was one step ahead by going through the brief profile backgrounds of every country that participated at the Games. Two of those profile information that caught my attention was the landmass and population size of the Pacific nations. The smallest Island nation being Tokelau I suppose with a population of about 1,400 people. Can we say that this population size is insignificant in the eyes of the beholder? Or rather can it simply go into extinction who cares? No we can’t or rather it can’t be.

The Pacific region is faced with bigger and complex challenges beyond our capacity to deal with. If the games is one such avenue by which we interact with our wantoks than can we unite in similar fashion to fight for our rights as an innocent group of people who have fallen victims of Imperialism? Climate change, global warming, rising sea levels are a threat to the Pacific. Who knows some of the Region’s smaller island nations might be submerged even before the 16th Pacific Games. Thus written off from the World map altogether.
How will PNG as a bikpla mangi of the region come to the rescue of its smaller island nations brothers and sisters? But before PNG render any assistance it have to first deal with it’s in- house issues or concerns. We have people from the Catallaze Islands, Manus Islands, the Duke of York Islands, the Murik Lakes of East Sepik, the Kranget Islands in Madang and others that needed to be evacuated and resettled. Resettling humans is easy said than done. Here we have the cultures to deal with, belief systems to overcome, humans and land bonds to untie, adaptation and socioeconomic issues to worry about and others.

Extinction is the word closely associated with animals. Zoos are places where endangered animal species are kept and cared for. Can humans subjected to such treatments? The effects of global warming are real. Our smaller Pacific Island nations will eventually lose their identity, a sense of belonging, cultures and traditions, belief systems, sacred sites, fishing grounds and land which they claim as their very own. As a bikpla mangi how are we going to ensure that evacuation and resettlement if it warrants take into consideration the preservation of cultures, traditions, belief systems and identity of our fellow brothers and sisters?

The setup of the Asylum and Refugees processing centre out there in Manus Island is yet another attempt by the bikpla mangi to please its former colonizer who is part of the Imperialism network. Instead can the bikpla mangi render a helping hand to the Pacific brothers and sisters who are genuine Refugees and Victims of Imperialism? Besides the threats there are also opportunities which the Bikpla Mangi is better positioned to benefit from. Such opportunities may range from Brain drain and Immigration by citizens of smaller island nations etc to PNG can immensely contribute to nation building among others. In addition, our wan solwara wantoks are known for their right kind of attitude and well-presented behaviours. The Bikpla Mangi can boost to inhibit an Island of Gold floating on the sea of Oil however with the kind of attitude we currently demonstrate we cannot develop as a people hence the development of our nation. Our smaller island wantoks can teach us many lessons about how we should conduct ourselves in a manner which will guarantee a safe, clean and tidy environment which we can inhibit and enjoy.

With the Bikpla Mangi status come huge responsibilities. The smaller ones will always have high hopes and expectations that the bikpla mangi have all the answers to their needs and wants. The question is ‘has PNG improved on its status from a developing country to that of a donor nation?’ Have we improved on our socio-economic indicators to graduate out from a developing country and to attain the status of a developed/donor nation? Where will about 87% of our fine unemployed athletes end up now that the games are over? These are some questions that have bombarded me throughout the duration of the Pacific Games.
Olsem na Bikpla mangi really need to seriously use the experience of the Pacific Games as a defining moment to view the world in a different perspective.

The perspective of fairness, justice, respect and equality for all and start to develop good policies and strategies relevant to deal with its in-house concerns as well as the external concerns affecting the Pacific region. As a people blessed with all the natural resources let’s be challenged to take a paradigm shift in our attitude away from what is was before the games and adapt the one that we demonstrated throughout the two weeks when our wan solwara wantoks were in our shores.

The hour for change has come so let us not take things for granted.

Lik2 kusai ting2 tasol.

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