Papuan Islands

There Was Too Much Work Offering, So . . .

Hunger In The Papuan Islands

From a Special Correspondent A recent announcement by the Administration in Port Moresby, that there was widespread mal nutrition on Goodenough Island (in the Eastern Papuan archi pelagoes) directs attention to a rather serious situation there.

Ninety per cent, of the trouble is due to Administration policy; and it looks as if Port Moresby applied a new law without any thought of the social consequences.

Goodenough Islanders, together with the natives of the other two large islands of the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago, have been going away under labour contracts, since about 1900.

As one lot returned, another lot would offer themselves for labour; and a more or less stable resident population resulted. It varied quite a lot, at times, but never reached any condition of dangerous un balance, until recently.

The older native people saw to that. However (with what I suppose would be called progress—or educa tion) a lot of the powers of the old people have been lost.

That factor, together with the shortage of native labour in the chief centres, and the good con ditions offering, gradually raised the labour absentee percentage at Good enough Island—as well as at some other places in these archipelagoes —to reach a proportion which was potentially dangerous to the future of the islanders.

The Administration checked on it for almost two years, and then Goodenoughs were prohibited from accepting employment outside. Most of the absent workers returned to Goodenough in the first six months, and none left.

There was no surplus of food anywhere in these islands at the time, because: © No market existed for any such surplus. • There was no reason to produce any more than the resident natives could use. • Normal crops were reduced bv the dry weather, which still con tinues. © No provision was made by the °£al people . for the returning roc^ Ure 5 s ' anc * f °r the increased resident population which resulted irom prohibition of employment.

It is a bit too much to expect

natives to realise themselves that a custom in operation for so many years had now finished and that new provision had to be made accordingly. Returning labourers had always brought back bags of rice and cases of meat, as well as cash to buy more-all of which helped out the food supply. All that was now finished. , , Gardens do not grow overnight.

It was only to be expected that some food shortage would result, measures were taken to combat it.

Surely an Agricultural Officer could have made a survey of the food gardens’ potential, and advised the local natives prior to the closing of the area? It was not a decision taken overnight.

Being an island, Goodenough is

cut off, to a great extent from areas; and it has no meatnatural resources of food natural

Annthpr fonw’.u' . . .

tion °shm i ih°b jy£ ich Admmistra which r ® all sed—and outside W fhP !? an y .People A ?S^. t tJ ?, n 1S ‘ hat employed I—n 1 —n have - b !? n town^rpai a S d more , ln the town areas, on wharves ete anri many were employed by the oil companies in more or less static work; and these have not offered for plantation work (the equivalent 0 f gardening) for some years They consider themselves above such common work as gardening Many actually were in the skilled or semi-skilled class, and enibved conditions better than those now offering in village life.

They now have no way of making

use of their skill or knowledge, and will forget most of it before eventually returning to work.

No one disputes the fact that the number of Goodenoughs away at work was reaching a dangerous level, and that something had to be done; but there is much more to such a drastic change than just making a new regulation.

There are always some cases of malnutrition in native life, as in ours; but seldom do deaths take place from it.

There is a hospital only a few hours away by canoe, on Ferguson Island, which is the main base native hospital for these islands, and it is well staffed.

There should not have been all this trouble. I know one mission has been issuing extra food to help the children.

Trouble could follow in the shape of “Cargo Cult”, or subversion. A population the size of that of Goodenough (which is in the thousands) prevented by both regu lations and the geographical situa tion from going elsewhere to get sustenance, and many of them used to much better conditions of housing and living, suffering from malnutrition and thrown on their own resources, unable to make use of the knowledge and skills they have come by, could become dangerous.