Create Service Industries for Papua New Guineans

The recent violence that occurred after the last State of Origin football match is to be deplored but the subsequent logic behind demolishing a squatter settlement seems hard to follow. I refer to the AAP article in the Courier Mail of 26th of June 2009 titled "Police demolish settlement where three die in Origin violence'.

A similar process occurred when a prominent businessman was recently murdered in Moresby. Now it doesn't take 'Blind Freddy' to work out that there seems to be some connection between a murder and retribution on a squatter settlement. But is that going to fix the problem? Then again, what is the problem? Murder, illegal squatters or frustrated police and officials?

Research shows that people in low-wage jobs such as in agriculture, construction, and service industries generally help the economy in some small way

Destroying people's houses surely won't make them return to their rural homelands?The rural drift is nothing new and has been ignored for years. Similar processes occurred throughout history in most countries where rural incomes and opportunities declined and the cities held the false promise of employment and better living conditions. Tens of thousands of PNG young adults graduate each year and have very little opportunities to obtain real and lawful employment.

This national resource is being squandered and allowed to fester and turn in on itself. The only real employer that can soak up some of this available and trained labour force is the service industry. No, not the public service. That doesn't produce anything and nothing that can directly be taxed. But in order to have a service industry, there must be an expectation that it can produce something people want?

Where are the government studies that have determined what people want and need? Where are the planned development opportunities for these service industries to be created and those small individual loans to make it happen? Small, personal loans to create service industries are a big success story elsewhere in the world. Why not in PNG?

By Bernard Oberleuter

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