What is PNG's NOBLE DREAM to let foreigners exploit, log and destroy trees and rainforests?
Commentary by Lucas Kiap
We [Papua New Guineans] have allowed foreigners to log our timbers for decades turning themselves into millionaires and tycoons, transforming economies and cities back in their countries into thriving economies and modern cities while leaving behind massive destruction to our forests and completely changing the way of life of our people.
We have sacrificed our precious rainforest and people for exploitation by foreigners for decades but what have we achieved in return for giving away our rainforests?
Big record budgets every year for the people - is this our noble dream for our people and country to have big budget plans every year to justify the continues destruction of our rainforest?
Our people are still living in bush huts and in poverty. Population growth is high but no housing development to shelter them. The working class in urban centers can only afford to live in the settlements. House rental rates are hyperinflated in this country.
Worse still we are still building high cost, substandard and poor quality buildings from foreign imported materials. We are still adopting colonial designs for temporarily housing.
Yet we are home to one of the largest rainforest in the world.
Rainforest is our green gold. We would have logged our own trees and built enough modern houses so that today there can be enough houses for our seven million population.
It doesn't make sense for our country to have a housing problem when we have rainforest all around us to cut them and build enough houses for our people.
Why we have been giving it away freely to foreigners to enrich themselves, build their country and their people while we have nothing to show for ourselves?
What is that noble dream we are living today if our people can't afford or still struggling to own a house knowing that we are surrounded by rainforests?
Why we are paying dearly for the destruction of our rainforests and way of life of our people when we don't need sophisticated foreign technologies and huge capital for logging?
We have sacrificed our precious rainforest and people for exploitation by foreigners for decades but what have we achieved in return for giving away our rainforests?
Big record budgets every year for the people - is this our noble dream for our people and country to have big budget plans every year to justify the continues destruction of our rainforest?
Our people are still living in bush huts and in poverty. Population growth is high but no housing development to shelter them. The working class in urban centers can only afford to live in the settlements. House rental rates are hyperinflated in this country.
Worse still we are still building high cost, substandard and poor quality buildings from foreign imported materials. We are still adopting colonial designs for temporarily housing.
Yet we are home to one of the largest rainforest in the world.
Rainforest is our green gold. We would have logged our own trees and built enough modern houses so that today there can be enough houses for our seven million population.
It doesn't make sense for our country to have a housing problem when we have rainforest all around us to cut them and build enough houses for our people.
Why we have been giving it away freely to foreigners to enrich themselves, build their country and their people while we have nothing to show for ourselves?
What is that noble dream we are living today if our people can't afford or still struggling to own a house knowing that we are surrounded by rainforests?
Why we are paying dearly for the destruction of our rainforests and way of life of our people when we don't need sophisticated foreign technologies and huge capital for logging?
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