The rice growers of Kali
Kali Islanders pass the time on their coral atoll off the main island of Manus.
Nestled in a great expanse of sea and flung towards the western end of Papua New Guinea's Manus province is Kali Island.
This scenic coral atoll is home to about 200 islanders who trace their roots to the Titans, an ancient seafaring tribe who settled hundreds of years ago on the north and south coast of Manus. According to folklore the forefathers of present-day Kali islanders were fierce warriors, their exploits in the battlefield and ability to drive away enemy tribes impressing neighbouring Salien villagers.
The Saliens, who live on the western tip of the main island of Manus and are traditional landowners, struck a deal for the migrants to become their protectors. In exchange for their services, the Titans were given land at Likanau on the main island of Manus and access to adjacent reefs and a mangrove-covered island. The island eventually became their home and with the increase in inter-tribal marriages, the Saliens’ Nyindro language became dominant leading to the extinction of their own mother-tongue.
Hundreds of years on and the Kali islanders, just like their forefathers, maintain their resoluteness in the face of calamity. Ancient tribal enemies have been replaced by often life-and-death challenges posed by a crippled health service, deteriorating government infrastructure, rising fuel cost and the lack of income earning opportunities. Receding shorelines and unpredictable weather patterns triggered by climate change adding to their dilemma.
Climate change coupled with increasing fuel cost and the lack of income earning opportunities would have long-term implications for the island and its population, and potentially create problems such as food insecurity.
The island community continues to be subject to flooding triggered by storm surges.
However, rather than sit back and wait for government assistance the islanders opted last year to address potential food security problems by growing rice on their small land holdings on the main island of Manus. All Kali islanders embraced the project resulting in large areas of rice being planted, which impressed a visiting team from the Department of Agriculture and Livestock.
A rice wooden mill given by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock officials was soon added to their rice production assets but their labour did not pay off as it took a full day to produce a single cup of rice with the crushed seeds.
Linus Maan, the member for Kali in the community government, has written to the province’s two national parliamentarians seeking assistance to purchase a rice mill for his people. It is close to a year now and the councillor is yet to hear from the politicians. However, he has made this a priority project of the community government and funding has just been allocated for the rice mill from the district monies.
The villagers have become disheartened and somewhat frustrated at collapse of government services and their inability to produce an edible product as the fruit of their labour. Nevertheless being of the resolute kind like their ancestors before them, they continue to live a harmonious life on their mangrove-clad island despite the demise of government infrastructure around them.
A farmer from Kali Island prepares her rice plots on the main island of Manus.
The only government presence at Sili-in station, a canoe-ride away from the island, has become a shadow of its former self with government officers abandoning the isolated outpost after the deterioration of state-owned infrastructure and services. The aid-post that was at Sili-in has now been relocated to Kali but staffing is erratic as are medical supplies. The area health centre at Lessau has degenerated into disrepair and become only partly functional because of poor administration, financial problems and disputes between church authorities and land owners. The closest doctors, x-ray and pathology facilities are at the Manus provincial capital Lorengau, 90 kilometers away over what can be very rough seas. Many patients have died because of the lack of a quality health service for the area and the inability to transfer sick people to Lorengau.
“The former district government station at Sili-in is now defunct and has not been functioning properly for the last decade. A long time ago there were government officers stationed there to help with agriculture and commerce project but they have long since gone. Transportation is a great problem in getting produce from the west coast to markets in Lorengau some 90 kilometres distance. It costs almost K1000 (A$408) for petrol to travel to Lorengau and back,” said a Kali islander.
Even the bechedemer export boom, which triggered a frenzy in sea cucumber diving amongst PNG’s coastal and island communities over a decade ago, holds little promise for the islanders with a three-year National Fisheries Authority (NFA) ban on its harvesting still in place. The wait for the rice mill continues.
- This story was also published in the PNG Post-Courier (click here for the PDF page). All pictures courtesy of Dr Quentine Reilly.