The plight of the displaced Manam islanders

Patrick Matbob

The recent death of a three-year-old girl in a suspected cannibalism case has drawn attention to the plight of more than 15,000 displaced Manam islanders in Madang Province of PNG.
The girl from the volcano devastated island of Manam was living at Asuramba, one of the three main care centres for the islanders on the mainland. She is the latest victim in a conflict between the islanders in the care centres and the local people that has so far resulted in three deaths and suffering for hundreds others.
The infant was with her mother when they were confronted by a group of armed men from one of the local villages. The mother escaped leaving behind the girl.
Four days later, police investigating the incident recovered the skull and jaw bone of the infant. Islanders suspect she had been killed and eaten by her captors as part of a local ritual. Police are investigating.
The care centres where the islanders are living are situated on plantations that have been bought by the state to resettle them after the volcanic disaster in 2004-2005.
The resettlement of the large number of islanders has, however, created problems with the local people over the use of resources such as land for gardening, water, materials to build houses and use of the sea.
The conflict between the islanders and landowners at Asuramba which resulted in the infant’s death had been going on since the settlement was established. In 2006, the local people in the area called on the government to evacuate the islanders blaming them for the increasing law and order problems in the area. Villagers complained of theft of their coconut, cocoa and food in the gardens, of harassment of women, sale of homebrew and marijuana, overcrowding at the local health centre and harassment and abuse of motorists on the Madang/Bogia highway.
Violent response: However, the government has not been able to resettle the islanders resulting in the conflict erupting on New Year’s eve.
An elderly Manam man living in one of the villages on the mainland was attacked and killed by an unknown assailant.
The killing sparked a violent response from the islanders who attacked and burnt down an entire village of Suaru forcing more than 500 villagers to seek refuge in the mountains.
The local people retaliated and attacked the islanders resulting in a death of a high school student. In order to ease the conflict, the Madang provincial government stepped in and in March repatriated 197 families back to Manam island.
Those evacuated are now facing renewed hardships with food, water and shelter because of the poor conditions on the island.
To-date the national government has not explained why it has not been able to resettle the islanders as it planned to do.
When the Manam volcano first erupted in December 1996 killing 13 people, the government and donor agencies had reacted swiftly to address the disaster. The first lot of islanders were evacuated and settled at Potsdam on the mainland. Later in the 2004-5 series of eruptions, the rest of the islanders were evacuated and settled temporarily on state acquired plantations at Potsdam, Asuramba, Mangem and other state land. Some local people even offered their traditional land to help their island neighbours.
A provincial government Manam disaster committee headed by the current Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet had overseen and dealt with the issues of the settlers and landowners up until 2007.
The national government then took over the resettlement issue when it enacted the Manam Resettlement Authority (MRA) and promised to lease about 60,000 hectares of land in the Andarum area in Madang to resettle the displaced people living at the care centres.
Then Secretary for the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Valentine Kambori, told the islanders the government had already put in place a complete fiscal plan for infrastructure development on the proposed site.
According to the business plan of the MRA, each of the 2024 family units living in the major care centres would receive 10 hectares of land at the new promised site. The host community would also benefit with infrastructure development.
But since then, very little has happened. No one seems to know what is happening with MRA which is chaired by local MP John Hickey.
In a recent interview, chairman of PNG’s National Disaster Committee Manasupe Zurenuoc said the government had to ask for outside help because MRA failed to do its job. It sought the help of  the United Nations and a UN team has already visited the care centres to gauge the peoples' views.
Police intervention in the conflict has helped quieten  the situation, however, local leaders in the area are concerned the violence may escalate if the resettlement issue is not addressed.
Before the killing of the infant, several homes in the care centres were burnt down and a creek the settlers used was believed to have been poisoned. Samples of dead fish obtained from the creek had been sent for laboratory testing but the results have not been released yet.
Madang Police Commander, Anthony Wagambie has appealed for calm and urged the government to address the resettlement issue urgently.