Conflict and Resource Development in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Measurements

Contributors

Acknowledgements

Opening Remarks

1. Introduction: Roots of conflict in the Southern Highlands

The place of conflict in SHP

The changing nature of conflict in SHP

Roots of conflict in the Southern Highlands

Background

Inequitable access to services

Ethnic tensions and lack of effective administration and governance

Unrealistic expectations about resource development

Early predictions

HIV/AIDS

Conclusion

References

2. The National Government and the Southern Highlands since the 2002 General Elections

National government authority between the failed and supplementary elections

Unity and devolution

Authority to intervene following the 2002 national election

Government services between the failed and supplementary elections

Developments following the supplementary elections

The Provincial Assembly

Flow-on effects to local-level government and administration

Implementation of ‘free education’

DPLGA from July 2003 to June 2004

Suspension and withdrawal of functions, powers and finances from provincial governments

The Southern Highlands Office in MIGR

Intervention in the Southern Highlands, February 2004

Delayed approval

Establishment of the SH Office in DPLGA

Recommendation for establishment of the SHP Task Force

Recommendations for enhanced administrative interaction

Recommendations for activating referral agencies

Recommendations for activating provincial democracy

Recommendations for improving law and order

Interim intervention

Application of grounds for suspension

Other recent developments

References

3. The Setting: Land, economics and development in the Southern Highlands

Conclusion

References

4. The Southern Highlands: A hasty transition from unknown to riches and chaos

History and geography

Early leadership

Provincial and local level government reforms

The Court of Disputed Returns

The churches’ role in peace mediation

The future

References

5. Cosmology, Morality and Resource Development

Calls for a Hela province

Cosmology and the idea of a Hela province

The 2002-2003 elections

References

6. ‘Hoo-Ha in Huli’: Considerations on commotion and community in the Southern Highlands

Conflict — What problem? Whose problem?

Customary dispute mechanisms in Huli

Changing social conditions

1940s-1980s

1980s-2000

The resource development cauldron

From whence will solutions emerge?

The top-down options

National

Provincial

Barriers and bridges

References

7. Issues of Stability in the Southern Highlands Province

There was a time of order in the Southern Highlands

Guiding principles and procedures under the kiap system

Signs of the decline of the kiap system.

Kiaps in resource industry community affairs organisations — some elements of adaptation

What are the key problems now facing resource developers in SHP?

How can the ‘kiap system’ address these problems?

How it might be done

What needs to be done

A possible development program to meet the six key elements

References

8. The Future of Resource Development in the Southern Highlands

The need for contact and communication

Leadership qualities

Resources and the breakdown of law and order

The future of petroleum development in the Southern Highlands

9. Community-Based Development in Tari — Present and Prospects

The situation in Tari

Background

Fighting and crime

Service delivery failure

Rural stagnation

Community-based development

The Family Health and Rural Improvement Program

Results

Community-Based Health Care

CBHC/FHRIP partnership

Melanesian Farmer First Network

Program requirements

Conclusion

References

10. A Brief Overview of Government, Law and Order, and Social Matters in the Tari District

Key factors

Social evolution

Illegal gun culture

Compensation

Lack of government

Police

Courts

Health

Education

Provincial government personnel

Local-level government and district administration

Members of parliament

Post-election activities

What to do

Conclusion

11. Porgera Joint Venture’s Presence in the Southern Highlands Province

The PJV presence

Environmental impact

Community impact

What is required (from a resource developer’s viewpoint)

Normal government services to be available to people

Access to a competent legal system

Institutions to function as expected

District and local-level government plans to be established

The Office of Planning and Rural Development

Donor agencies to utilise resource developers’ knowledge

Conclusion

12. What if they don’t want your kind of development? Reflections on the Southern Highlands

First contacts on the road to independence

The new provincial administration: 1975-1984

Youth and their communities in the Southern Highlands

Youth projects in the Southern Highlands: Success or failure?

The Lake Kutubu Project: ‘What sort of development is this?’

Conclusion: Whose kind of development do they want?

References

13. Conflict Vulnerability Assessment of the Southern Highlands Province

Historical factors

Assumption

Tradition of tribal fighting

Effectiveness/applicability of traditional conflict resolution mechanisms diminished

Trend

Political/governance factors

Assumptions

Patronage model of governance and corruption

Volatile electoral processes with intense inter-group rivalry for political and resource control

Service delivery breakdown

Moribund provincial public service

Lack of national government intervention

Emergence of non-government service providers

Lack of information (media)

Separatist sentiment — Hela Province movement

Trend

Security sector factors

Assumption

Endemic lawlessness

Competence and size of police service

Proliferation of small arms

Trend

Social factors

Assumption

High level of language group (tribal) diversity

Declining standards of living

Poor human development indicators

Lack of employment/income generating opportunities

Youth bulge

Violence against women

High population growth rate

‘Quick’ development

HIV/AIDS

Trend

Economic factors

Assumption

Relatively large provincial cash flows

Reliance on mining sector for provincial revenue

Skewed income distribution

Criminal encroachment on the informal economy

Trend

Environment and natural resource factors

Assumption

Land/resource ownership issues

Land pressure and growing food security issues

Trend

International factors

Assumptions

Lack of engagement with other donors

Proximity to instability/conflict in neighbouring provinces

Illicit small arms/drugs trade

Conclusion

14. An Inside Post-mortem on the Southern Highlands: A perspective from Tari

Background

The way forward to recovery

Program one: Restoration of confidence in the SHP Government and its administration

Appointment of a provincial administrator

2001 selection and recruitment

Restructuring of the provincial administration

Establishment of a human resource management development program

Appointment and placement of public servants to be based on merit

Reactivation of the district administration centres

Local-level government reforms

Review of provincial and district five-year developmental rolling plans

Effective management of and accountability for the province’s finances

Program two: Restoration of law and order

Local disputes

Tribal fights

Political rivalry

Criminal activities

The effectiveness of government and the community justice system

Peace for development

Arms build-up

Status of the law-enforcing system

The court system

Corrective institutions

Program three: Restoration of education and health services

Education

Health

Program four: Restoration and upgrading of the existing infrastructure

Program five: Restoration of sustainable economic development programs

Conclusion

Index