PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

By Damaris Minikula

WEWAK, Papua New Guinea (The National, April 27) - A new chapter being written in the town of Maprik, about 120 kilometers out of Wewak, the provincial capital of East Sepik, Papua New Guinea.

The colonial town, founded by the Australians as a regional administrative center in 1937, had been neglected sine Papua New Guinea gained Independence in 1975. Remains of warplanes, airstrips and gravesites were reminders of the colonial era while administrative buildings; residential houses and roads have been left to deteriorate.

But a new wind of change is blowing in Maprik’s direction.

This once sleepy town, forgotten by its politicians and tucked away in the bush, is now the bustling center for people as far as Drekikier, East/West Sepik bordering villages, river ports of the Pagwi/Sepik River area, Wosera and some parts of Wingei and Yangoru.

Three years ago, the town came into the limelight both within and abroad.

Part of the resurgence is due to a vanilla boom that has brought farmers K120 to K140 (US$40 million to $47 million) annually. The farmers were earning between K700 (US$235) and K900 (US$303) a kilogram for their vanilla beans.

New PMVs and Toyota land cruisers and houses emerged from this boom in vanilla prices.

Then there’s their Parliament representative, likened to the "Angel Gabriel" for bringing the Maprik people a message of hope and goodwill in the likes of new bridges and sealed roads along the Sepik Highway.

Gone are the crater-sized potholes and the long and agonizing four hours drive from Wewak to Maprik. With the new sealed roads, one can make the distance in less than two hours.

I recalled my family trips to Maprik where we’d count ourselves lucky if there was no rain when we traveled the highway. The rains made it difficult for PMVs to move through bogs of thick, clayish mud. The driver and his assistants would pull the PMVs out off the mud with a rope that was specially kept in the vehicles for such occasions.

New primary schools and a new secondary school have also been built to cater for the growing number of students leaving high schools. A community service radio station, rural electrification program and water supply systems are high on the agenda with groundwork having commenced already.

Many people I interviewed in Maprik have high praise for this simple, down-to-earth man, who they say has done a lot to improve his people’s lives in less than five years.

Gabriel Kapris, 43, is from Supari Village in the Maprik district and is married with four children.

A mechanical engineer by profession, he graduated with a Bachelors Degree from the University of Technology in Lae in 1985. He worked with the PNG Waterboard for two years before joining the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) in 1988 where he worked for four years. Another two years saw him attached with Eda Ranu. In 1997, he resigned to contest the national elections. He lost to Sir Pita Lus. After the election, he landed a job with Waterboard as the Madang branch manager for three years before he joined Eda Ranu as the operations manager.

He resigned again to contest the 2002 general elections. This time he ousted the long- serving member of more than three decades, Sir Pita.

He entered Parliament in 2002 with more than 15 years of project management and construction experience from PNG and abroad under his belt. Fittingly, he was given the portfolio of Works and Implementation.

Under Kapris’ leadership, over 100 bridges have been built in the rural areas under the Yumi Yet Bridge Programme. By the end of this year, at least 146 bridges should be completed.

"For the Government to carry out its export-driven policy, people must have access to proper roads and bridges to bring out their cash crops and produce," he said.

Kapris maintains that all roads, both national and the feeder roads, should be equally treated as important.

"You can’t just build national roads and highways and leave the feeder roads out. The feeder roads are just as important. The District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) is good because it caters for some of these roads," said Kapris.

He also plans to revive the Plant and Transport Branch (PTB) within the Works Department. He said the Government has set aside K2.2 million (US$74,140) to revive PTB because most of the construction work involved can be done cheaply.

Kapris wants to see all villages have water supply systems, power supply and education services.

"I’d like people to look at improving agriculture and consider alternate cash crops besides vanilla, cocoa and coffee," he said.

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