Papua New Guinea Country Brief

The project is located in the Highlands area of Papua New Guinea and can only be reached by a
narrow, unpaved, and poorly maintained track which runs through a very rugged and winding
topography. The extreme remoteness, rugged terrain, and frequent heavy rains which make the
many rivers and streams impassable results in this area being quite isolated. The nearest city is
located several hundred kilometers distant. Under the best of circumstances, weather
permitting, it often takes two full days to traverse the distance from the project site to the
nearest city. Consequently, the priority needs of your operation are serviced through an aerial
logistics contractor which provides on-demand helicopter transport from the drilling site to the
small airport located at the nearest city.

Road Safety and Road Conditions

 Traffic moves on the left. Travel on highways outside of major towns can be hazardous. There is
no countrywide road network, and most roads, especially in rural areas, are in a poor state of
repair. Other common safety risks include erratic/drunk drivers, poorly maintained vehicles, rock
throwing, and over-crowded vehicles. Sabotage of roads by disgruntled workers is common.
 During the rainy season, landslides occur on some stretches of the Highlands Highway between
Lae and Mount Hagen. Potholes and road erosion necessitate that vehicles travel slowly and
attentively.
 Further, killing a dog/pig is almost certain to trigger a demand for monetary compensation.
 Motor vehicle accidents are a common cause of serious injury for drivers, passengers, and
pedestrians. Accidents frequently involve vehicles traveling on the wrong side of the road in an
attempt to avoid potholes. After an accident, crowds can form quickly and may attack those
whom they hold responsible by stoning and/or burning vehicles. Friends and relatives of an
injured person may demand immediate compensation from the party they hold responsible for
injuries, regardless of legal responsibility.
 In a study, it was found that one third of drivers who died in road accidents, and 42% of all those
who died from road accidents, had post-mortem blood alcohol levels above 0.80 mg%.
 A large majority of deaths in the area are caused by road accidents.
Medical Services
Medical facilities vary between hospitals in Port Moresby and the larger towns, to aid posts
(including some missionary stations) in remote areas. The quality of care varies, but facilities in
the larger towns are usually adequate for routine problems and some emergencies. However,
equipment failures and shortages of common medications can mean even routine treatments
and procedures (such as X-rays) may be unavailable. Pharmacies are typically small and may be
inadequately stocked. Doctors and hospitals often expect immediate cash payment for medical
services. The nearest medical care facility for public patients is the government operated facility
near the airfield at Mt. Hagen, which is near the operating base for the helicopter service
proving aerial logistics for the project. While poorly staffed and equipped by western standards,
it is the most commonly used and publically available facility for the Highlands region. In
theory, under PNG law, medical care is provided free of charge to all PNG citizens at publically
funded medical facilities.

Crime and Justice / Safety & Security

According to recent analysis by The Word Bank, reports in both the national and international
media and anecdotal evidence indicate that the prevalence of crime and violence is high in
Papua New Guinea. It has become an important obstacle to long-term development. At the
request of the Government of PNG, the World Bank conducted a study to better understand the
social and economic costs of crime and violence to households, business, government and civil
society, and to inform policy directions in managing these issues.

The resulting Research and Dialogue Series on The Socio-Economic Costs of Crime and Violence
in Papua New Guinea is made up of several key findings:

 Levels of crime and violence in PNG are high, and have remained consistently so over more than
a decade. The homicide rate – considered the most reliable indicator of overall crime – is
amongst the highest in the world. Robbery and assault are the most commonly reported crimes.
Family and sexual violence is also highly prevalent, and affects both females and males. Violent
crime, such as robberies and assaults, appears to be increasing as a proportion of overall crime,
and that crime is on the rise in known “hotspots” such as Lae and the National Capital District
(NCD). The use of firearms has also been increasing since 2008. Crime and violence are driven in
part by recent social and economic changes, which have created disputes that are less amenable
to management by traditional means. In particular, violence in PNG can be understood, at least
partly, as a result of the inability, or absence in more remote areas, of both traditional and
formal institutions to manage the stresses that have come with rapid economic growth,
increasing migration, and other factors.

 Crime constrains investment and growth, and the costs ripple throughout society. Eighty-one
percent of businesses reported that their decisions for further investment or expansion of their
operations were affected by the law and order situation in the country. Sixty-seven percent of
firms identified crime as a constraint; this is more than four times the regional average for firms
in East Asia and the Pacific (16 percent) and higher than all of the regional averages reported in
 the World Bank’s Business Enterprise Survey. Businesses incur high costs for security, much of
which goes toward private security forces. Eighty-four percent of companies said they pay for
security. This is over 30% higher than the average for the East Asia and Pacific region. Private
security represents a significant and growing expense: more than two-thirds of businesses
employ private security staff, and spend an average of 5 percent of their annual costs on this,
compared to an average of 3.2 percent for firms in East Asia overall.

 Business owners and employees stressed that while the economic costs of crime and violence
are important, it is the indirect, longer-term social impacts of crime and violence that effectively
limit them from operating to their full potential. High levels of crime and violence create fear
that constrains mobility of staff and clients, erodes trust, and reinforces stigma toward certain
groups perceived to be dangerous, especially youth. Domestic violence, in particular, intrudes
into the workplace.

 In Papua New Guinea, confrontation and conflict are an integral part of life, and are not seen as
inherently negative. Commentators note that conflict is a regularly used, encouraged, and seen
as a legitimate way of dealing with disputes and seeking justice and restitution for perceived
wrong-doings. The forms that conflict takes appear to be very similar across the country.
Conflicts have traditionally taken place between neighboring clans also known as ‘tribes’, but can
also take place within clan units, and even within families. The high levels of connectivity
between many neighboring clans in PNG, through inter-marrying, trade, lineage mixing and so
on, means that rather than being static, groups engaging in conflict are constantly shifting their
boundaries. Fights are owned by a head-man and the disputants involved vary from conflict to
conflict, depending in the issue as interests and allegiances are easily shifted based on the issue
at hand and the way in which any individual, family or group chooses to identify itself during a
given dispute. Active conflicts between clans can take place almost continuously, and are never
fully resolved, but rather continue over long periods of time. Disputes may lie dormant for
extended periods of time, and be drawn upon suddenly when a new event or issue triggers the
old claims. Most disputes are comprised of a mix of multiple claims that have never been
resolved, but some of which may have been ‘settled’ on a temporary basis.

 Violent conflict has a strong cultural basis in PNG, as the use of violence is seen as a legitimate
means of expressing grievances. Physical fighting is one of the most common ways in which local
societies handle disputes. Fighting can take place with traditional weapons such as bows and
arrows, spears or bush knives and, increasingly, with firearms. Fighting, along with the demand
and payment of compensation, are important ceremonial events in which norms and values are
reaffirmed by the participants. Cultural beliefs and norms encourage revenge-seeking through
retributive fighting or the ‘payback’, as it is known, particularly for deaths incurred. An attack on
an individual is considered an attack on the whole group and any individual linked to one of the
groups involved in a dispute can be targeted for ‘pay-back’ actions. Similarly, kin, friends and
allies of an aggrieved individual are all equally wronged-against, and all are expected to support
fighting. While still common in rural areas, there is significant evidence that the continuation of
 ‘pay-back’ or retributive actions takes place in urban areas as well.

 In addition to the use of physical violence, disputes are also ‘prosecuted’ in public by ‘talking it
out’ in informal gatherings of people who discuss the issue. Agreements are reached by
consensus or through mediation of a ‘headman’ or another interested party. Ongoing dialogue,
rather than permanent resolution of a dispute, is most common. The lack of a fixed code of
acceptable behavior along with the lack of role for third or external parties means that
prosecution of disputes and resolution occur through individual discretion and self-regulation.

 The particular characteristics of conflict systems in PNG have implications for strategies for law
enforcement and peace-brokering of conflict. The involvement of external parties –such as
mediators or courts looking for rapid and final resolution to conflicts, and non-financial sanctions
may simply not resonate with disputants. Given the strong cultural impetus to engage in
violence, the use of sanctions that have no basis within cultures in PNG -such as incarceration
and formal justice systems have not proved effective in deterring the use of violence and in
halting cycles of ‘pay-back’ between disputants.

 The payment of compensation in the settling of disputes is another important aspect of

traditional forms of engaging in and managing conflict; it is key to accumulation and distributing
wealth, and also in demonstrating group status and power. Material compensation, traditionally
in the form of pigs, but today more often as cash, is often demanded, and paid from one party to
another to ‘resolve’ a grievance. Observers have noted that historically long-dormant disputes
would suddenly be reactivated and compensation demanded, for example, when a group had
accumulated an above-average number of pigs or when a group faced depletion of their own
resources. Maintaining equilibrium of resources between neighboring clans is very important to
some societies in PNG, and this is achieved primarily through compensation exchange.

 The economy has shifted in the past 30 years from small scale agriculture to a resource (mining,
oil, and gas) economy, but without a wide or equal distribution of the benefits of resource
projects. Inequality in the distribution of benefits from these natural resource projects within
and between communities is noted as a significant source of conflict, as perceptions of injustice
prevail. Remember that communities and clans seek to maintain resource equilibrium among
themselves. Conflicts have also arisen between communities and the state, and between
communities and the private companies investing in the resource projects. Lack of clarity in roles
between the state, private actors and community leaders in negotiating land-leasing or of
benefits on behalf of these communities makes a significant contribution to conflict and violence
around resource projects. These forms of conflict, when they occur, can result in heightened and
extended violent conflict, with severe repercussions for communities, private companies and the
state alike.

 PNG has approximately 4,500 national police charged with law enforcement in a country of
almost seven million inhabitants; it is one of the lowest police-to-population ratios in the world.
The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary faces daunting obstacles in trying to gain the
cooperation of local communities, which frequently prefer to deal with criminals by themselves.
The Constabulary also faces resource constraints and difficulties in imposing internal discipline.
Consequently, police are thin on the ground, and response time may be measured in hours, not
minutes. These criminal indicants offer some perspective on the serious security threats Papua
New Guinea faces today.