Morata One - One of PNG's settlements

Settlements across the country are perfect places for people who leave their homes to look for greener pastures. Motives can be varied why people move to major cities and towns and having them end up in settlements with wantoks (friends). Many of these people do not have proper homes and their reside with either their friends or makeshift huts. Morata One is among the many settlements across the main cities and towns in Papua New Guinea.

Gambling - a daily occurrence at Morata One - pic by D.Ketepa

I have cousins and fellow tribesmen from Western Highlands who live in Morata One and when I visit PNG, I spend at least couple of hours with these folks. Most of the inhabitants are from the Western Highlands Province and a few from Chimbu and Enga respectively.

One of the things these people told me is the fact that there is a lot of criminal activities there almost everyday. They claim that police never go there to arrest those who involve in criminal activities because they are afraid of their lives. The are notorious criminals who mostly steal cars and drive into the settlement.

Furthermore, Gibiri Street (only street) which starts from the Community Hall down to the end where Western Highlands live is badly deteriorating. Successive governments have not made an attempt to fix this road. The people are so friendly and like any other settlement, those who live in Morata One would come out early in the mornings and sell their stuff along the side of Gibiri Street. Most of the sellers are very young and hopefully trying really hard to raise some money to go to school.

Some people at Morata One even live on gambling as the above picture shows people trying some of their luck - pic by D.Ketepa

While kids busy selling, adults spend most of their time gambling to pass time. Betel nut is one of the main items on their list to make quick bucks. Nearly 95% of the guys who live there is either a taxi driver or a crew on a bus owned by mostly Western Highlanders.

I noticed that there are leaders in Morata One who could negotiate with criminals to put their weapons or criminal activities away and cooperate with police to curb down criminal activities in the area. Once that is done, they should ask the government to fix Gibiri Street.

From PNG perspective, I think that the government doesn't want to fix Gibiri Street where criminal activity is a norm in Morata One. Until criminal activity is minimal in Morata One, government services will reach there.