Author Archive

In a country like Papua New Guinea (PNG), you don’t expect much from the government. If you do, you will be disappointed. You see, there is a problem when colonisation and Western democracy clash head on with the values and practices of a customary society. The by-product of this collision […]

When we talk about healthcare in Solomon Islands, it’s back to the very basics. It’s more basic than doctors, hospitals or access to medical supplies. My visit to a coastal village in Ngela, Central Islands Province, really opened my eyes to how the absence of proper sanitation affects people’s health […]

In search of employment opportunities, young people from the outer provinces of Solomon Islands flock to Honiara – the country’s capital – in massive droves.  There, they bunk with their extended relations who live in peri-urban settlements and in overcrowded housing.  The only source of drinking water is from a […]

Hot. Stuffy. Noisy. White man dressed in checkered shirt and jeans. Oh and there’s another one. And another one. Some carrying brief cases and laptop bags.  Some burying their faces in newspapers. Some intensely engaged in conversations on their mobile phones. This is a typical scene at the Jackson Airport […]

It’s been almost fifteen years since the end of the civil war and the landowners on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are discussing the return of the mining giant Rio Tinto. Rio’s infamous Panguna mine, owned by its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) was at the […]