I am concerned about the actions of this current government. They are going down the path of a dictatorship and they are singling us out as the enemy of the nation. Today it is us, tomorrow it could be another provincial group for whatever reason. This is how the Nazi's started out in Germany in the 1930s.

I never supported Somare and I hated the way NA ran parliament in the last 2 terms. NA never suspended any government that took issues of a constitutional nature to court in the past. Even if the ESP Prov Govt is guilty of misuse of funds I am aware that Enga and SHP are much worse in this category yet they remain unsuspended.

I say that the new lot of Sepik leaders should withdraw from National Politics and concentrate on the home front and let this fascist regime run the nation into the ground so that the rest of PNG can understand that once you start to transgress on the consitution, there is no place sacred that you will not go.

Ol sepik brata na susa, what are your thoughts?

You can't leave National Politics coz if you go home, there are no resources in your province where you could get rich quickly. So thats why you will still hang around and try to manipulate other provinces in other to get something for yourself.
Yupla ol pipia lain ya..admit it! There is no way your leaders can be milionaires, thats why they try to manipulate the Helas so as to make some quick bucks out of deals involving their natural resources.

My friend, you must be thick. I wasn't asking you.

And by the way, many of us made alot of money from Vanilla some time ago. We did not need to steal it.

If you want to contribute, say something meaningful, just because 2 or 3 Sepik leaders get rich, does not give you the right to say that to the rest of us. We are happy to admit that Somare and Kapris got rich from the National purse.

Bernard Narakobi, one of our greatest leaders, died a poor man.

Use your brains if you have any.

@ Mangi Wosera, You are not like us the Helas. So you said you are concerned about the actions of the current Govt..so?..bai yu mekim wanem? Stopim Vanilla na bai country bagarap?
If the Govt is taking some actions againt you, then you deserve it..stop crying. None of your MPs are even in the cabinet. You people are gone..!history..!..its over!
NEC can suspend your provincial govt, withdraw your financial powers and it means nothing to PNG. Yupla no stap na PNG stap. Money is power. Hela is where the money is at the moment. We are more important than your province.
You asking about my brains, well I have been a fool for too long. Now em mipla luksave pinis. Yupla ol kain poor province nambaut noken kam na ting bai yupla paulim mipla..

If you Helas were half as smart or powerful as you're telling us you are, you wouldn't have literally wasted hundreds of millions of kina from all the oil and gas that has already left your ground forever.

You have virtually no development whatsoever to show for any of it.

So keep telling us about how smart and resourceful you are, and each time you do, we'll look again at your squandered resources up to now. The rest of the world would laugh if they knew how badly you've wasted everything up to now.

Yes..it was wasted because we were late in coming out of our caves but mind you, we are beginning to be aware of the world around us and we have realised that some smart people from some poor provinces have been manipulating us. We now have money which we will use to grab power and everything else will be history. we will be calling the shots..my man..and your children will be licking our boots.We have literally taken over Port Moresby, the capital of Port Moresby. Those who control the economy, control power.
Losers like you and your leaders should be worried now

You haven't learnt much judging from the way Oil Search and Exxon Mobil take advantage of you right now at this very moment!!!!!! They twist you around their little fingers like you Helas were pieces of string.

You're wrong in one sense. EVERYONE has been manipulating, not just 'people from poor provinces.

Secondly, the first gas and oil came out of the ground in the early 1990's. So now it's 20 years later. It took your people 20 years to come out of the caves? That's an entire generation. Dat doesn't say much for your intelligence does it?

And guess what? One of the biggest reasons why the PNG vanilla market was destroyed was because so many vanilla producers in sepik used con tricks on their vanilla. They dipped their vanilla beans in motor oil to make it look properly cured, they put metal bits inside the vanilla to increase the weight, etc. All this gave PNG a terrible reputation for vanilla and the world buyers started leaving. Thanks a lot!

Lets not cry over the past. Life goes on. Vanilla is history. A new Govt is in. The old Govt is gone.Hela is in the spotlight. The world is running to Hela. Thats where the spotlight is.Everywhere & everyone else is minor at the moment.Economic decisions/predictions were done with Hela in mind. Now is the time Hela will lead and dominate politics/economy.

YEah your absolutely right.The world is running to Hela to vacuum out the last of your resources. And you samting? You're gonna let them! TRICKED AGAIN, HELA!!!!!!! [nothings changed]

Contrary to the popular outward view of the late Bernard Narokobi and judging from his works, the ‘Poor Leader’ tag is infact what he himself would like to be viewed. His (as well ours) secret of life is to LIVE WELL, LOVE WELL, HAVE SOMETHING GOOD FOR EVERY PERSON and DIE HAPPY.

One of his contributions in ‘Have Something Good for Every Person’ will be his work on putting into perspective The Melanesian Way as an alternative political philosophy authentic for PNG and other Melanesians. To a larger extent our way, The Melanesian Way, is yet to be fully understood by our people, especially in the arenas of leadership, to guide us in influencing decisions that will benefit our people. An inward study of The Melanesian Way will reveal much about us as a people. As an alternative political philosophy for PNG, The Melanesian Way is sensitive to the fine, subtle and sublime beauty of our cultural diversity.

Whoever leader that understands it will transcend the seemingly cultural complexities of PNG to become very influential.

Note: I do not personally know the late Bernard Narokobi but through the work of such Melanesian Philosophers I am able to reflect on and find my place in the world as a Melanesian and Papua New Guinean.

If think you are a Melanesian and should naturally know The Melanesian Way, think again. You will be surprise to know that all that you’ve known about Melanesians is written by outsiders. Remember as one philosopher (can’t remember his name now) wrote:

‘All that I know is all that I’ve learnt. All that I’ve learnt is not all that is to know!’

Yeah, but you and yours never spoke out strongly against Somare when he was in power. So put the blame on yourself as to why there's a backlash now.

Second, as long as there's power to be gained and money to be had, I can assure you that ol Sepik kon mangi (as well as ol kon mangi from anywhere else in the world) is going to be interested in politics and becoming topshots.

That's what politics attracts - ol kon mangi types.

Poor Mangi Wosera,

your point has been taken out of context and now it's Helas against the Sepiks...
regionalism is still intact no matter how educated a person is, aye?. Just like corruption
is deeply rooted. I wonder when this mentality will cease to exist for us to be
WAN KANTRI... portraying wan kantri banner but behind the scene is deeply divided..
I just feel sorry for PNG...

Regionalism will die out when more Sepiks and Helas intermarry. That goes to every other ethnic group

Definitely it will help a lot. And then slowly, slowly, regionalism will start to assemble again. Like Queenslanders making fun of people from down south and vice versa. Tribalism is in our blood. Read about the breakup of the Soviet Union as well as of Yugoslavia and Czeckoslovakia.

Talapia,
Well said, regionalism will collapse through intermarriages between the regions, naturally that has happened, give it another 20 years we may be ok.

20?????? Try 200!!!!!!!!

Gee, I was simply asking other Sepiks to comment on an issue that only we should be interested in.

Vanilla went wrong because we could not have any standards even though we asked government to regulate the industry. Government refused to regulate it because people from all over PNG were allowed to get in as exporters and they helped destroy the industry.

This is a political question for Sepiks, not for the rest of you.

We have a lot of resources, we are the biggest producer of alluvial gold in PNG and we are now the second largest producer of cocoa in PNG. In another 3 years, we will be the largest cocoa producer in PNG. We supply 10,000 crocodile eggs to Mainlain Holdings on an annual basis making them the largest crocodile producer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Oil and Gas exploration is actually going on in our province at the moment so upla Hela noken paitim bros tumas.

The largest copper mine in PNG will is Freida Copper to start in 3 years. Its on the border of East and West Sepik however the tailings will go in our river so either we get maximum benefit or the mine will not start.

FYI, we are not from Port Moresby and Lae, I know you people are taking over those provinces right now but that is not an issue that is of interest to me. That's for those people in those areas to deal with.

Since the next regional leader of East Sepik could be from my district, I simply want to know what we should be saying to him when he does get elected next year. This is why I am asking other Sepiks for their oppinion on what we ought to do politically.

Ok no problem. I now leave you the Sepiks to take care of your own problems.
Mipla tu em planti komplen tumas na Moro International airport work iwok lo delay ya so mi go pastaim..

Spend your first moments learning how to stop being constantly tricked by Exxon Mobil, Hela boy!

I cannot believe that the Sepiks would be so stupid to trade away the Sepik River and let it be irrevocably destroyed just like the Fly River, just so you can get the Frieda mine. It doesn't matter how much benefit comes from the mine, the environmental damage will affect people for generations.

Some people simply don't think of future generations, do they? Are you typical of Sepiks with this line of thinking???????

Well, if you feel sorry for the country, look in the mirror and feel sorry for yourself. Because you're one of the millions who see the problems and do nothing to stop them.

yOU ARE A DISGRACE to hela people to make stupid comments like that....I am from Hela too but i am ashamed that you hace to make regionalistsic and plesman type arguments thatdegrade other provinces!!!

You must remember that our gas and oil wil not be here forever but,as you said, vanilla will always be there coz its renewable...wHAT If one day ol degradim Hela olsem yu mekim stap ya????

You are a stupid fool who came out of the stone age!!!! Peter oneil is acorrupt mp from SHP and will never change..You should not be proud of him being PM!!!!!

Such regionalistic sentiments of yours are whats taking the country backwards...Dont single out the sepiks hamene...Somare stap taim hela yumi kisim province na PNGLNG ya?? hamaspla MOA na BDG grant na kain kain money yumi ol hela kissim ya!!!!!

Sepiks are not to blame! just bikos ol katim pig na yu toktok olsem but olgeta gris na meat ya hELA yumi firstmen kisim lo han blo somare na bihanin PNG kisim ya!!! Yu kaikai kan na noken tok olsem.

NOKO POKONI TIMBU PAGO INA GIJAKO GILOA, LONE AGALI INA PAMA HAGA PAGO MO KO HALU KEKONI PE??? YU WANPLA HAMBA NANA YA!

PLEASE STOP YOUR CHILDISH REGIONSALISTIC SENTIMENTS AND MOVE ON.....

thanks

Citizen of PNG before Hela!
True Blood Papua new guinean

hARI Ambua Ore ni howa

Wow!!..that was a powerful speech!
It should be enough to crack the stone

Huh??????? Sepiks are obviously to blame for electing Somare over and over and over again. How can you deny responsibility for continuing to put the Grand Thief back in power repeatedly?

Hahaha...good one Skywalker..that should send the stone back home

There is no place in PNG for regionalism. Good one Skywalker. We need more patriots. Regionalism is getting us nowhere.

Peace

This is no time for regionalism, nor should it be in the future. Ours is a great nation of diverse cultures which we will always celebrate as unique in the world. It's the elected reps who play the regionalism card and get us all into trouble through wantokism and nepotism. We cannot afford to tear each other apart at this crucial time just because of stupid politicians. Other developing nations have worse stories to tell. Look to 2012 and get new people in with vision and outstanding character in.

that was a powerfull speech from skywalker to his tribesman "stone blo hela" or whoever his name is.
it shows that PNG has some patriots who are willing to die for the country that for regionalistic values.
we can only hope that there are many more like that.
Good point made mr skywalker.
LES STOP REGIONALISM and move on with our life

My thumb is up for Skywalker, you are the person with big brain matching your heart for PNG.Its always good to think positive to move forward.Negativity will drag us backward.

You are the true Papua new Guinean.

amene or balini ekara pagi laro.pi kalone lari.

The downfall of NA Somare Government is executed by lone Sepik MP(then Opposition Leader) who broke rank with Somare for the good of the nation. if Belden hasnt moved to the opposition but stick with NA Somare Government.. there will be no change of government..

The political journey of the country with the active participation of the Sepik MPs either in government or opposition will play functional governing roles for the good of our nation.

I'm not from Sepik, but from the observation Sepik will always play determining roles of the political journey of the nation.


For the last 9 years, opposition have tried to move vote-of-no-confident against Somare, but it fails and never happen.

We should remember the fact: The Change of current Government is done by Sepik.
Sepik only can destory Sepik in politics

If it was "for the good of the nation" as you say, then why did the opposition pick the corrupt ONeil to lead them???????????

I think your theory falls down from the start!

I think we Sepiks have contributed enough leadership to this nation, it's time to stay low profile and fix our own back yard. LEt National politics end with The Old man. There's nothing to show and be proud of as the province of the first Prime Minister of this nation. New Regional MP whoever he is has to concerntrate on building the Province. Bigshot attitude blo yumi ol Sepik bai yumi mas stopim na lets swallow our pride. Yu see whats happening in politics right now. This country does not need Sepiks, they are trying to eliminate all Powers of Sepiks. They had enough, they think all Sepiks are involved and they are trying to subotage and suffocate services to our peple in the rural areas as payback.

The next governor should be a home grown leader, Man isave silip kirap lo province wantaim ol pipol. Port Moresby based candidates should not be voted in, I don't care what qualification they hold. Givim igo long Mangi lo ples yet. People should know who he is.

Cheers!

No, it doesn't show anything of the kind. Once again, I see a bunch of us getting all stirred up and happy over a few charismatic words. The exact same thing we do when a corrupt pollie says sweet things into our ears.

Skywalker hasn't demonstrated at all that he's a nationalist willing to die for his country. What crap to even say such nonsense. All he has demonstrated is that he's willing to go on an anonymous internet forum and speak to maybe a 100 people (at most) instead of using that time to get out in the public squares and speak to thousands. He has demonstrated that, like us all, he's an armchair activist, not someone actually willing to get out and create the kind of uproar it always takes to change things for the better.

Most importantly, he hasn't given us a single means by which he's going to turn around the natural process of tribalism/regionalism.

Bottom line- Skywalker hasn't changed a thing, nor (as long as he spends his time on the internet) is he likely to.

SEPIKS, SORRY BUT OUR TURN IS OVER. ITS GOOD TO REALISE IT AND GO BACK TO DEVELOP OUR HOME PROVINCE.

THE SUKUMANDI IS DEAD IN POLITICS HENCE SEPIK INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL LEVEL IS OVER!!

TO AVOID UNNECESSARY CRITICISMS AND COMMENTS, LETS CREATE OUR OWN SEPIK FORUM TO ADDRESS SUCH ISSUES AND OTHERS CONCERNING SEPIKS ALONE.


toktok lo nala sandin...

poi plo krup

The time is over for sepiks in politc. The trend implies that go bek to sepik and develop your own province. You have vested enough for the Nation. There no need to worry about. Go bek lo ples na stretim ples. Wewak ino develop gut yet na plandi saveman pinis. Can you do something for Wewak and the open electorates in the province?

true naionalist pasin is shown above...one nation, one country!
united we stand, divided we fall

The Chinese have become experts in how to divide us to get what they want - wave money in front of our faces!

Ol kam long invitation blong Sepik

Oi, original post em igo long ol Sepik by Mangi Wosera. Why can't yu leave us alone
We don't stick our noses into your electorates affairs because it is of no interest to us Sepiks. Unfortunately people from other places seem to be interested in what Sepiks are trying to discuss. We've fed you enough, now we are trying to see how we can help ourselves so piss off.

We gave you independence twice already what more do you want from Sepiks. What our advise. No not this time. Kisim moni long resource blong yupla na makim gutpla use long em. Nogut bai you go back long square one.

Cheers

Reading all comments gives me the feeling that we are trying to take revenge on each other at the expense of the the mi-nute.

To the people of PNG, not all sepiks are the same. Its only those so called elites in POM are spoiling the real hatwok sepik at home. No all are eating from Somare's plate.

To stone blo Hela - your comment indicated that you still need to develop your mental capacity. PNG doesnt need you as an individual. You can be the LO but actually, developers are benefiting more than you do and they are the actual LO. You are just the custodian if you cannot manage and develop your resource. Things are changing and development is taking place which you should be proud of and help contribute meaningfully towards the development of your province. Otherwise you are just a liability in your own Province and your comments indicate that

TURU YA!

Sukundimi, your text in Cap Letters, olsem wanem sampla belhat ah. Mipla no die yet, Sepiks carry brains, therefore when the rest of the body argures its hard lo ol lo tok stret or make sense bikos nogat het blo ol TNT as they say.

Everyone applauds Skywalker for fine words just like we all applaud our politicians for fine words. But the proof of the pudding is in whether any actions follow up the words. I can guarantee you that all you anti-regionalism people (I count myself as one) won't lift a finger to do anything actually significant to stop regionalism in its tracks. We won't bother to write letters in the newspapers, we won't make posters and throw them all over the NCDC, we won't get on talk radio to talk about the problem, or do anything at all.

Thus, the regionalism/tribalism side will win, while we'll still be applauding Skywalker for his fine words.

I am a son of HELA too and Im shocked to learn that my Brother Stone Blo Hela is still ples Type! SEPIKS are our brothers and countrymen! Yu Sepik o Hela o Papua O tolai but sapos you stap lo narapla country bai yu realisim importance blo countrymen blo you!

Sir Michael T Somare, like all the clan and tribal elders who have gone before him, provided leadership in the context of Melanesians.

In villages, whenever a person needs assistance they will freely ask for help from relatives. Of course not all help is readily given. But to those who share, help is never denied them! It often depends on whether the person seeking help has given it in the past. Members of different families and clans will contribute to the work either to discharge an obligation or to create new obligations or to give honor to an endeared personal relationship. To work for others is part of the Melanesian spirit of caring for others.

Following this time honoured virtue of Melanesian Leadership in PNG National Politics, Sir Michael has worked to try and create an obligation, by sacrifising his own Province for PNG.

Before deciding on wether on not to stick with National Politics the question is has Sir Michael done enough to create a sense of that obligation?

Like him or loath him, if the answer is yes, then the challenge is really now on 'non-Sepiks' to discharge this obligation to develop East Sepik to be on par with other 'well developed' provinces of PNG.

If the answer is no, have no fear. Sepiks can still count on self-reliance. We are not a people of no consequence. Our history grew from our own villages. We do not derive our virtures from others. It is because of who were are that we can embrace the recent changing of the guard at the National Politics and face whatever challenges thrown at us.

I totally support you bro! The previous government was not even made up of 100 percent Sepiks! What is the O'neil namah government trying to prove. I'm putting my hand up for autonomy for East Sepik Province. I have spoken to Governor Waranaka, Author Somare and other prominent Sepiks about the idea of autonomy and they have given positive responses. I have in fact started a group on Facebook named Autonomy for East Sepik. Please join this group and add your views. I believe we Sepiks will be treated as a minority now that our father the Grand chief had gone down. SAPOS YUPLA OL TRUPLA SEPIK Supportim mipla!

your idea of having east sepik autonomy is just another emotional sentiments and a "dream talk"..it will not happen..

Although that's what people said when the Bosnians... and the croatians... and the kosovians.... and the slovenians.... and the montenegrans.. etc etc said they wanted to separate from Yugoslavia in Europe. In the end, they all did, Yugoslavia collapsed and now there's about 8-10 new countries in its place.

Thank you for a thought stimulating topic concerning us Sepiks. While regionalism and ethnicity is our identity and something we all are proud of, let us also be considerate about its negative impact on our country, Papua New Guinea, particularly in this time and age.

I am also proud of my Sepik heritage but I would rather promote nationalism more than regionalism in this era of globalization.

If we Sepiks are serious about being ‘the glue’ that holds this country together than I do not believe that as clear thinking Papua New Guineans we can afford to ‘follow the crowd’ and do what most of our other fellow Papua New Guinean citizens are doing by continuing to mix regionalism and professionalism in providing strategic direction and visionary leadership for our country and its younger generations. We got to start doing things differently by thinking, acting and writing differently. If we held such strong convictions of our strength of character, physical aggressiveness and reputation that is shaped by our Sepik heritage then what are way to start to choose to be different and yet maintain our unique identity among the many peoples of Papua New Guinea by denouncing regionalism. We have demonstrated the courage to confront difficult situations in the past and I believe we can provide that lead in denouncing regionalism outright!

Regionalism (and ethnicity) are old paradox way of thinking and I believe are not good fundamentals to progress our country forward in this age of increasing globalization because it only exists within the country and outside our provinces. Relying on regionalism/ethnicity as the foundational principle for leading this country of many peoples will be fundamentally flawed and at best most contradictory. Besides it is weakest at its sources. Its strength as a unifying force decreases as one move further away from its zone of influence. For example, Papua New Guineans living abroad think lesser of being Sepik, Momase, Highlander, Papuan or NGI. When they move back into Port Moresby, however, this regionalism and ethnicity lines become more pronounced. The unity brought about by the feeling of ‘being Sepik’ or of a particular region decreases exponentially as we move further back into our ‘little’ provincial capitals, districts, local level governments, villages and clans.

The negative underlying impact of regionalism/ethnicity type mentality is at play and greatly felt at the opposite extremes of its zones of influence where it is more prevalent as a dividing force rather than a uniting one. At our country’s political level it threatens disintegration. At the district levels it prevents equal distribution and hinders trickling down of basic government services. If we can take regionalism and ethnicity with us to the political and bureaucratic arena of our country than why cannot we pursue the delivery of much needed basic services to our own people, especially at the district and village levels, with the same zealous passion? I am yet to see a practical demonstration of Sepik politicians (wining and losing candidates) putting their campaign differences aside, and working together by complementing each other’s strengths, weakness and networks to bring much needed basic services to our people. At the district and LLG levels where it matters the most why cannot all our Sepik brains work together!

The world is getting smaller and smaller, being compacted into a global village with the advancement of modern, cheap and quick access to communication technology. Coupled also with safe, cheap and quick access to modern modes of transportation Sepiks will be found living and interacting with other Papua New Guineans more often than before. Let us not alienate ourselves too much from other Papua New Guineans and start formulating our line of thinking in preparation to live in our national village, Papua New Guinea. It has already been happening!

In this time of globalization, thinking regionalism and ethnicity ‘belittles’ us and will hold back our country’s progress!

I can see that we are now mining a very rich vein of thought.

I really appreciate these comments. Perhaps as a strategy, the regional member of East Sepik must stay home and concentrate on keeping the house in order and moving forward.

That still leaves 6 open Mps from the province to contribute at National level.

You are right, I think we have been pretty much the glue that held it all together. I guess the old man kind of lost the plot towards the end and it is a real pity none of his children are like him. It seems to me that his children have become well to do since he became prime minister. This of course would have made other regions feel that all sepiks have somehow benefited from this practice.

The most important thing in my view is that we must protect the constitution at all costs, the accusation that NA through the speaker did pretty much whatever they pleased is also now true of the new government. There is nothing nationalistic about either group as far as I can see. Both groups are guilty of fostering disunity and ethnic division.

I think young papua new guineans ought to reject this kind of distructing thinking and practice and band together and reject all these old people with their old ethnic ideals.

Even as a Sepik, I must say that I admired Sam Abal's leadership. He inspired me. I have also worked with the newly elected member from Chimbu in the past, Mr Tobias Kulang and I must say I am pleased that he got elected. I think that is the strength many of us have as an ethnic group, we are willing to recognise talent when we see it, regardless of where it comes from.

Nice thoughts there. I hope those people standing outside Waigani court House with that banner and the current Govt share the same ideas as you. The way I see it, you a fools hanging outside the rich man's house, coz he will never invite you in for dinner.
Simply put- PNG does not like you now

You know, if you had been saying all this loud and clear during the years your Grand Thief was in office, it would have had impact, because it would have showed the nation that not all Sepiks accepted the nepotism and regionalism game that their leader was playing.

But all that time you were silent.

Now your words sound cheap. They sound like you're frightened and scared about what your own silence during the past 7 years has caused.

I hope you're ashamed of yourself for maintaining that silence during the years when it would have really counted had you spoken up.

All of you non-sepiks who are contributing uninvited comments easily forget that Somare all this time got support from many non-sepiks to be prime minister.

The Sepik people did elect him but they did not make him pm. Parliament did that. If you look around, many ethnic groups, including highlanders benefited greatly when Somare was in power. Not us.

For those of us who live at home, we can confirm that we have not benefited from Sir Michaels reign as PM. O'Neil, in his first month of being in office takes home K107m to Southern Highlands (is this a sign of things to come?). We have never seen this kind of money go to East Sepik. I am not complaining, just stating a fact. We were promised K600m, we never received the cheque. I am not crying over spilt milk. My people continue to carry cocoa in bilums and walk 8 hours to the nearest road to bag and take to market. This is our culture, we work hard for every toea we earn and we will continue to do that forever.

This discussion is not about Sepiks versus Southern Highlanders or highlanders in general.

This discussion is about Sepiks now doing something for themselves because it is obvious from the anti-sepik comments that all of you are under the impression that Sepiks have benefited enormously from Somare being pm. The reverse is actually true.

Sepiks now need to strategise so that we now develop our home province because Somare never did anything for us in 40 years of being an elected rep and 10 years of being pm. The only thing Somare gave us was the oppertunity to get a great education. I walked 15 kilometers every day for 6 years to get educated.

If the Sepik people have to walk 1,000 kilometers to get development, I think we should do that.

Mangi Wosera,

Jealousy and Greed are things that kill a nation and at present am scared the way things are going. Although, not sharing the same culture as you, I have seen Sr. Michael as a true melanesian leader practising the culture of sana a philoshopy practised in the Sepik (Giving others first and hoping they would return the same when their time comes).

Sepiks have nothing to be proud of all these time. To me Somare has given nothing to his own people who have mendated him to represent them all these years but only build his empire by playing politics at the national level to keep him at the helm whilst forgeting his own people. I hope our new leaders do away with greed and selfisheness. Only then our country would remain united.

IW

Ummmm ...don't forget, yes it may be true that he forgot his own Sepiks who voted him but NOT his family. They have weath more than enough to seal all roads in East Sepik, Build Classrooms and Hospitals and even have Free Education. Money blo ESP em stap long account blo ol ...checkim na lukim. Why can't you guys vote them out? Tingim nation igo na yupela yet olsem wanem ? WAKE UP !!!

Seriously, ESP you have better leaders who can take you to greater heights...Taim blo change nau.

You fools. The original purpose of elected representatives was to support NATIONAL development, not regional development. Somare understood this clearly in his early years then got corrupted later on. Do you think it's a better situation for each member to now be stealing from the national purse and using the money to fund some local projects that probably will mostly collapse, thus depriving the nation of the money it needs for national development?

The Highlands highway (currently in terrible shape) allows so much export revenue to be generated for the nation as a whole, it should have always taken higher priority than any regional road. But did it? No. For donkeys years we've been half *** building one short regional road after another, all of which have quickly become potholed and nearly unusable, while the Highlands highway continues to rot.

That's the problem with electing MPs that think of the local interest before the national interest. Yet, that's what nearly every Scaper is screaming for. And they're screaming in blind ignorance of the way government has functioned best elsewhere in the world.

PNG, Land of Blind Ignorance

Papua New Guineans are the biggest of Racists in the whole universe, where is our little ethnic group and cultural divide taking us? NOWHERE!
The more we try to identify with our own ethnic group, the poorer we become and build bigger walls around ourselves thus isolating us indeed.

I am an highlander but I have brothers from the Sepik, Morobe, Madang, NGI, Papua and they are more closer to me. These are mates I have met over the course of my schooling, training, work life and in other settings and whom I have come to love, appreciate and respect. They are infact more closer to me than my own family.

For those who have lived and worked overseas, you would know that the other races don't identify you in your ethnic group, they us as alike and one, even some confuse us for Africans so when you come to think of it, our little ethnic group is nothing at all.

However it seem to have tremendous impact on our ability to prosper as a nation. Lets look at some examples:
1) Back in the 80s, alot of teachers in my school were those from the coast, dedicated, hard working and committed to teaching and I learnt a great deal. I am where i am today because of their effort.
Today, alot of them are scared to go up there and so we have locals teaching and generally majority of them dont even teach so the poor child does not learn well.
2) Alot of positions in the private companys, public service are being filled by unqualified/inexperience locals and the companies/departments are stagnant, no growth or progress. Just going around the circle blaming someone else.
3) Dishonesty, misuse and lack of respect is rampant
4) other relatives are become leeches/parasites on the few that are working and placing a serious economic burden on the person. In turn, we become poorer and poorer looking after the lazy tribe. You talk about economic growth, it is dependent on a productive population and lots of Papua New Guineans are lazy and so dependent on their other relatives who happen to be working. This is in turn putting so much strain on our potential to grow.

the point is our internal racism and cronyism is not doing the nation any good, it is the fundamental reason PNG is not progressing and will never progress unless we break away from this and recognize talents, ability, qualification, experience and what the person can offer rather than he or she is from.