‘The enemy must leave’

“Mothers And

children cannot go to the garden to get food. Many of them,

particularly during

June, had to hide in caves because of the threat from Papua New Guinea govern ment who used heli copters to spray the people with chemi cals. Even now many are in the bush hiding.”

These are the words of Ruby Mirinka, 40, deputy matron at Arawa general

Hospital, speaking

in Honiara last month. A few days

earlier she had arrived in the Solomon Islands after escaping from Bougain ville.

She and her husband paddled out in a canoe at night to avoid being spotted by Papua New Guinea patrol boats and helicopters. She had to leave behind her three children to come to Honiara for medical treatment.

Because of the lack of medicine and medical facilities the hospital now only runs a basic out-patients service. There is no electricity, running water or other essential services on Bougainville.

Sewerage tanks have not been emptied in four years.

“Little babies are suffering from colds and developing chest infections because they don’t have clothes, this is the fourth year.

“New-born babies are not protected from illnesses because there is no immunisation. Many of the babies that are born, die...

Children now no longer go to school on Bougainville. Previously the island had some of the best education facilities and one of the highest literacy rates in Papua New Guinea.

The lack of doctors further adds to the problems. “In south and central (Bou gainville) there are only three doctors two in Arawa itself. But even though doctors and a few nurses are available it is hopeless because we need things to work with such things as drugs. Basi cally the whole hospital is shut down.

“The main thing which I see and we all see is that people can cope and start from scratch if there are no enemies around.”

“We can survive on garden food which

is much healthier but because the PNG soldiers are around and there is bomb ing from the air from helicop ters, the en vironment is not safe for people to relax and be free to do as they like and help them selves.”

“The enemy must leave and let the people be free.”

Mirinka says despite the

hardships the people are far from giving up. She when the situation gets hard and there is bombing the people are even more determined to be free.

“When you have a mosquito around biting you want that mosquito to go away and that is the feeling the people have.”

Mirinka says she sees the PNG defence force helicopter nearly every week and has witnessed the army aeroplane firing on the town of Arawa. She had to hide under the hospital to escape.

She said since defence force soldiers had left it was much quieter, there was more respect and it safe for women to walk alone at night.

“From my observation of BRAs they are doing their duty, protecting the island, not harassing or doing anything to us.”

The only food the people on Bougain ville have is what they grow in their gardens and this can sometimes become scarce when there is a change of season.

There is no salt, no sugar, no infant formula, no tea, no coffee, no anything.

Mirinka says it can become hard but somehow they survive.

She said those who lived on the coast used to go fishing but now they don’t because they are scared of patrol boats.

She said even if she had the chance to get her family off Bougainville she wouldn’t as the island was her home.

That feeling, she said, is shared by all

Bougainvilleans.

She has no money to return with the much needed supplies. She goes back with little more then hope. Hope that some how, some way, the madness will end. □

Ruby Mirinka: hopina the madness ends