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Coral Beach with mangroves at Oyveioa Village Trobriand Is. Photo by I.Isikel

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Benefits and Miseries

Mining earns some revenue for the country but that is not the end of the story. It is lauded by many as a revenue earner and i used to believe this however, the trend of miseries associated with mining in the country points more towards the villagers, land owners, and the environment as the real losers. Villages and inhabitants located within or near the mines suffer more physically and socially. The current events in Porgera  this year 2017 where it is reported a police raid, again, was carried out is yet another example of misery brought upon the villagers as a result of mining. Facts surrounding this event of police raid have yet to be verified but what is certain is another misery in the midst of national pursuit of benefits. Apart from the villagers' misery there is continuous animosity over mining benefits held in trust between the government and various stakeholders. This is brought up in political debates on the floor of parliament and in the public via the media. With ...
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Deep Sea Science

Deep sea science is the proper investment. On July 20, 2014 I posted the short three-paragraph article below ( italics)  and titled " Investing in the future" I now add two paragraphs to my thoughts after reading something new. Opposition to experimental seabed mining should be viewed as investing in our future including our environment. We must not accept to be the guinea pig , but pass it on to more technologically advanced countries and we learn from them. Why should technologically advanced countries choose a country that is least in technological developments by its own citizens and institutions? It is not morally proper and lacks moral conscience. China and India are two of the leading countries in knowledge and technology on seabed mining and have been major participants in international conferences. The experiments should be carried out in their waters, not in Papua New Guinea. Nautilus is a Canadian company and therefore must carry out this seabed mining expe...
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Marine Stones

Harvesting of Marine Stones: The Past and Today The sea, like the land, has been a source of sustenance for humans since the stone ages. In the Old Stone Age humans wandered from place to place, foraging for food, eating, resting and moving on. Eventually humans learnt to settle and do things by using the land and sea. One of the things learnt was making and use of lime powder from corals. Initially wood ash was used but gradually humans found out that coral stone from the sea was of the best quality. That was a long time ago and today there is far more interest in harvesting from the sea, including the continuation of search and collection of precious stones. Coral stone from the coral reefs are harvested and processed into lime powder. It is practiced by the Tolai of Rabaul as well as other coastal villages in PNG, including the Kiriwina coastals in Trobriands. The practice had been around since our ancestors discovered coral as a mineral for processing into lime po...
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