Gremlins were hard at work somewhere along the way in our much-relied-upon e-communication systems therefore you did not hear from me last week. Anyway, here I am, safe and sound.

 My discussion today is focused on the importance of us, born and bred Papua New Guineans, to respect and protect our homeland. Let us build and nurture this mentality: “If I cannot do it, who will do it for my country”.

 This land called Papua New Guinea is where the remains of our ancestors lie. Their spirits are here. Our tribes, clans and family lineages are here.

Our connection with our land and its waterways go back to time immemorial. Evidence provided by modern science in Kuk in the Western Highlands Province suggests that our ancestors were involved in organized agriculture on this land 10,000 years ago – well before organized agriculture emerged in some of the much-referenced early civilizations in the Middle East and elsewhere.

 We as a first nation or native people of this land and its waterways have no other place. This is our home for as long as humans dwell on this planet.

Let us not be swayed by the illusion of capitalist gimmickry that the world has become a “global village” through globalization facilitated by the advances in modern knowledge, skills, transport and technologies and that we are all to benefit anywhere in the world.

This gambit claims that we can live and work anywhere on the planet. This claim may be true for a handful of educated elites and the middle class in our midst. But it is not possible for the rest of us. There are a few of our people working and studying in other parts of the world. There are also

a minority of Papua New Guineans, especially the middle class and elite, who are permanent residents and citizens of other countries. A handful of Papua New Guineans are also citizens of other countries by virtue of marriage.

 Besides these exceptions, PNG is a permanent home for the majority of the 8 million-plus citizens who will die and be buried here.

Ours is a challenge to harness some of the advances of globalization to serve our own needs and most importantly nurture our land to sustain ourselves well into the future.

Each of us Melanesian Papua New Guineans have a tribe, a clan and a family lineage to identify with and use as a reference point of our origins. We have a village with its adjoining tribal lands and waterways to call home or hauslain as we call it in Tok Pisin (PNG Pidgin).

 This land, its waterways and airspace is ours to protect from all forms of destructive forces that are already here or lurking along our borders. Who will protect our land, if we as rightful heirs to it cannot do it, or cheat our stewardship roles? This is a lifelong question for all of us, Melanesian

Papua New Guineans to have at the back of mind and answer it in our deeds.

People have paid the ultimate price with their lives to protect their lands, waterways and identity in many other parts of the world throughout human history. Some people, such our brothers and sisters on the other side of the colonial artificial border in Papua provinces, still struggling to take control of their own lands.

 Our ancestors in the tribal communities fought pitted tribal wars and laid down their lives in tribal land conflicts before the Europeans arrived and pacified us under one modern united nation of PNG.

The colonial government and the Christian missionaries did tremendously well in pacifying and unifying all the tribal communities into one modern Christian nation-state under one constitution and flag, although there are still pockets of tribal conflicts over land in different parts of PNG today.

 The latter demonstrates how our people value land and they take it upon themselves to dispute each other.

 Modern day Papua New Guineans should and must stand up for what is right and just for our country. The fact that majority of Papua New Guineans have the direct linkages to the country as described above means they have the inalienable rights to defend their indigenous homeland from what is not right and just.

Some of the fellow Papua New Guineans who fall for a quick short-term gain by breaking our laws, particularly when dealing with foreigners, must be exposed and punished.

 I wonder, whether there is ever any guilt and remorsefulness in the hearts of some of the socalled landowners who take sides with international logging cartels and facilitate the mass destruction of our virgin forests.

 The Papua New Guineans who have been involved in the international cocaine smuggling syndicate uncovered near Port Moresby recently provides another dimension to the selfishness that is creeping into the minds of some of our people for a quick monetary gain.

 These individuals betrayed their birthright and identity as Papua New Guineans to be involved with an international cocaine smuggling syndicate for a very short-term gain. They must be exposed and punished.

 These kinds of behaviour calls for law-abiding citizens to honour their birthright as Papua New Guineans to report the suspected lawbreakers to police and other authorities.

 The PNG participants in the cocaine smuggling racket do not have a second country to go to like the foreigners who have engaged them in the illicit trade. It is great to see police arresting several of the Papua New Guineans involved in the cocaine smuggling operation. They have dented the

international image of our country. This kind of acts can destroy our international image. The international community can view our country as a weak nation with porous borders that international drug cartels organized crime syndicates and other shady entities to exploit.

Our country does not deserve such a classification.

July like the individuals who were involved in cocaine smuggling through our sovereign territory, there are some other fellow Papua New Guineans who are busy cooking up schemes to loot from the public purse. In all government agencies you will find people in positions of responsibility or

decion-makers cooking up deals to self-benefit. (I will discuss more on this next week focusing on medical doctors employed by the Department of Health engaging in private practice at the same time).

Successive national governments of our country have risen and fallen on the sword of these ‘busy

bodies’ who cook up deals to benefit themselves and their partners in crime, either nationally or internationally. Our governments do not deserve to be treated this way.

 We can do a lot better than what we have been doing to prevent the pilfering of our land by a greedy few in our midst.

We can change things around for the better, when each one of us are willing and able to do the small things right. Report suspicious and unlawful activities in your local communities to authorities. Get involved in community concern groups advocating against all forms of pilfering of

our country.

 Facebook and other social media platforms are there for us to utilize to our advantage for such work. Post facts and figures of suspicious and unlawful activities in your respective areas in credible social media sites. Modern information and communication technologies in the palm of

our hands makes very possible for us to record and all forms of crime and corrupt activities and tender it as evidence.

 Stop embezzlement from happening if you can. If we all turn a blind eye and say it is the job of the police, Public Accounts Committee or the Ombudsman Commission then we will not stop the tide of mismanagement and corruption weighed against us.

 This land is yearning for good stewardship from all its sons and daughters.

Our land has faced enough pilfering of its rich endowments by a minority of our own people and their associates from other countries over the cause of the 44 years of independence. As we look forward to celebrate

44 years of modern nationhood next month, it is time for every one of us as Papua New Guineans to take stock of what we have done or not done individually as a steward for our great country.

 We cannot be living in illusions and dreaming for our provincial towns and district centres to become cities like Port Moresby, Cairns or Sydney connected with mega-highways. That is an unrealistic and unsustainable dream. Mega cities and urban sprawls connected with mega highways

are an anathema to our combined heritage from our ancestors, which is the vast open spaces and pristine natural environment. Our responsibility as stewards is to safeguard our heritage in the form of our natural endowments for future generations.

 Let us do things in our individual capacities like controlling population growth. Let us weigh out the benefits of the extractive industries against the lasting damages to our land, waters and livelihoods before agreeing to a project. In this regard, full marks to the people of the two Sepik provinces in opposing the Frieda River mine that they believe will destroy the natural environment and the livelihood of people along the mighty Sepik River. We have to come out of the mindset of viewing the extractive industries as the panacea for socio-economic advancement. Let us consciously advocate for and invest in less destructive and disruptive economic sectors. Let us educate our leaders in Parliament think outside of the status quo and things differently.

 We need to ask what each one of us can do better as stewards for this wonderful land of ours.

Our country needs us – badly!

 Thank you once again for reading. Please send your comments and suggestions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.