By TREVOR WAHUNE, The National PNG A 46-YEAR-OLD man who raped his daughter for 12 years was jailed for 80 years on Friday.
And Justice Panuel Mogish said: “I wish you turn 126 years old in prison, if you are lucky enough to live that long. You have been raping your daughter since she was six.
“It’s a horrendous, heinous and an evil crime. Such sexual acts inflicted by a father on his daughter is a gross betrayal of the sacred paternal bond. “Sexual predators like you who preyed on the flesh of their own daughter is most despicable and inhumane. Sick human beings like you should be ostracised from decent communities and, peace and law-abiding citizens. “They should be banished from human society and made to live in a community of uncivilised animals.”
Justice Mogish lamented that he was worried that such cases were becoming prevalent in local societies. The man from Galeole in Talasea, West New Britain, pleaded guilty to raping his daughter when she was six in 2004 until she was 18 in April 2016.
The rapes were committed in Morobe and West New Britain where the family lived before moving to Port Moresby. The father was on remand at Bomana for two and a half years.
Justice Mogish said: “I agree with the State to not place much weight on the guilty plea as it was belated.” The aggravating factors were:
The victim was only six when she was sexually violated and was as young as 10 when she was sexually penetrated and that continued until she was 16;
For over 12 years, the father felt no guilt and continued raping his daughter;
There was a huge difference of 26 years between the father and daughter. She was six and he was 32;
The father had prior conviction of assaulting his wife and was jailed for six months in Lae in 2007; and
The father was violent towards his daughter and other relatives.
“Respect for the dignity of our womenfolk has diminished because of people who treat women as sex objects rather than as human beings who have the same rights and opportunities as men,” Justice Mogish said. The victim said in a statement: “Every daughter is her father’s pride. Unfortunately for me, it was the opposite. It saddens me to see girls getting along well with their fathers.
“It was not easy to absolve everything that happened because I lost my virginity to someone I did not love, but to my father. That’s very painful and it will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“My family has never been the same as before. We face hard times and always had arguments. The rapes caused disharmony.
“I feel torn apart and had thought of doing things I am not supposed to, but it was my mother’s courage and encouragement that gave me strength to pursue life and education. I initially dreamt of becoming a geologist but all was shattered because I couldn’t concentrate on my studies as I was constantly disturbed. I missed many classes to attend interviews.”
Justice Mogish told the man that “your daughter sees you as a monster. The sentence must serve as a deterrent to all.”
Melanisian Man were the first to loose their identity. How?
It was in the early 1500 when the first missionaries and explorers arrived on our shores, our man were rounded up, and force to do intensive labour on plantation, working 5am-5 pm, which at that time was very new to what they are used to doing, in Melanesia, Men and women dont work that hard, but they live a very healthy life. They usually work in the early part of the moning, then comes home and hangout in the village doing other task, like building or fixing canoes, mending fishing nets, building fish traps, or building houses, etc, (mens work), later in the afternoon they go back to work in the garden.
While women on the other hand, continue to do what they have been doing for generation? Looking after the kids, the family, the clan, cooking, gardening, fishing in some cultures, and making sure the family are well feed etc.
Then things start changing, Men after working in the plantation are too tired to do any thing in and around the house. Shared responsibilities like gardening, fishing, looking after the kids, becomes a womens full time job. Then we have the new introduce jobs in the house, that the white men brought, eg, washing cloths, brushing the pots, washing the plates, all these are also given to the poor women to do, including the traditional responsibilities the women already have.
Then Men with the new mindset taught to them by the white men, starting thinking that they are superior to women, they started acting like kings, and expecting the women to do everything, they men also become very aggresive if women fail her task in and around the house. The feeling of partnership and equality between men and women in our culture started disapering, men started loosing interest in their traditional responsibilities, they become confused not knowing what to do, where to go, they men then resort to alcohol to ease their confusion, resulting in wife beating, material affairs, broken families, hopeing those things will solve their problems, but still no solution.
Today alot of Melanisian men are very confused and are still searching for their real identity.
It was recently that the Melanisian women are standing up and saying, Men you are not doing it right, we can teach you how to do it. Womens Rights group are supporting women to fight against men. So women are also leaving their traditional responsibilities, thinking it would change the outcome for the better, but the conciquenses are the same has men, but much more demaging then their men folks, women are also becoming very aggresive around the house, having affairs at work, remarrying, and the list goes on. Women are the core of Life, the family, the culture, the clans, and everything that makes up who we are as a people. Once you change that, everything colaspe.
My point here is, Melanisian Men and women let us stop our inhouse fighting, over womens rights and mens rights, because we are both victim of an introduce system and mindset that we not aware of. And let us sit down together and discuss what we should do as a people to take back our loss Identity.
PEOPLE of the Pacific need to get ready to dramatically change their eating habits because the food revolution is coming soon to a screen near them.
The region’s first genuine reality TV show will not only entertain you but it packs an ultra-serious three course punch that will not only change many lives for the better but will even save some as well.
Intrigued?
Well this worthy series, which is the brainchild of NZ celebrity chef Robert Oliver, is a cross between the highly successful reality shows My Kitchen Rules (MKR) and Masterchef – wrapped up in a smorgasbord of Pacific tastes.
He told The Vanuatu Independent Online news this week that the overriding concept of the show goes back to his first cookbook which was released in 2014.
“I really looked hard at what local cuisine meant in the Pacific, what it consisted of and how it was more than just sitting down and eating, but was a part of the lives of the Pacific islanders,” he said.
“Along the way I saw how bad NCDs had become throughout the Pacific, and in particular diabetes which is a real scourge of the region, and I thought we could do something about it.
“I was not a big fan of reality TV until I was a judge on MKR and then I realized just how potent it is.
“So the Pacific Island Food Revolution is aimed at being a real movement, a social movement using the power of reality TV, radio and social media to change people’s eating behaviour.
“The Revolution will activate local cuisine knowledge and turn a mirror on the Pacific itself that reveals that eating fresh, local, indigenous foods is the answer to good health.’’
Mr Oliver said the show covers four countries – Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa – in 12 one-hour episodes.
“The reality TV program is like My Kitchen Rules but kinder and filled with Pacific heritage and humour,” he said.
“The challenges in the TV competition will look to provide solutions that people have identified as barriers to healthy eating such as convenience, taste and affordability.
“People can become Food Warriors on social media or at www.pacificislandfoodrevolution.com. There they can share their journeys and download toolkits, lesson plans for teachers and Pacific classrooms.’’
Chef Oliver said 24 talented but untrained cooks, working in pairs, from Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa will compete in the TV competition, which he hosts.
“The show will see the cooks embrace their Pacific food heritage and use local produce to create traditional or new flavoured dishes, while competing to win,” he said.
TV hosts of the Pacific Island Food Revolution, Dr Jone Hawea (Fiji), Fololeni Curr (Tonga), Robert Oliver, Pita Taufatofua (UNICEF), Dora Rossi (Samoa), Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur (Vanuatu).
Two Tongans, Fololeni Curr, and UNICEF Pacific Ambassador Pita Taufatofua, will be Robert’s co-hosts for some episodes of the show, along with Dr Jone Hawea from Fiji, Dora Rossi from Samoa, and Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur from Vanuatu.
Two winners will be taken from each episode through to the finals in Fiji.
“The entire show will be broadcast in Australia, New Zealand and throughout the Pacific for free, starting April,’’ he said.
He said it is funded jointly by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, with the pilot program costing AUD$7 million.
It was filmed last year and Robert said they are already working on a second series.
Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur and Robert Oliver.
Vanuatu’s two episodes were filmed at Breakas Resort near Port Vila with Voutausi as co-host.
“She is really remarkable – she delivered such knowledge and is really dynamic on screen.
“She is going to be a superstar, she is so authoritative,’’ he said.
Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur is the perfect co-host for the Revolution in Vanuatu because, through her own food company, Lapida Foods, she had been preaching the same message for many years.
“It was a lot of fun for me to do the show, but it also has an important message to sell,” she said.
“We need to reactivate the younger generation so they learn the right types of food that they should be preparing and eating.
“We want them talking to their grandparents and that generation about how they use local products to create a balanced diet that is healthy but good to eat.”
Voutausi said it is important that the contestants on the show are not professional chefs, but home cooks.
“It showed what could be done with the right ingredients and some knowledge.
“I really believe that a show like this can change the lives of whole communities for the better.”
She said she was going to be a part of the second series and hoped the show would run for at least three or four series.
“It is lots of fun to be involved, you learn about your own food styles and it has a really important message.”
Locals face polluted seas and dying fish after Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier runs aground close to Unesco-protected atoll
On a normal weekend, the waters of Kangava Bay would be busy with children playing or collecting clam shells and villagers heading out to catch reef fish to eat. But last Sunday the bay was quiet.
Locals can no longer cool off in the neon blue waters of Rennell Island, a tiny dot in the vast South Pacific that lies at the southern tip of the Solomon Islands. They can no longer spot parrotfish swimming in the shallows, picnic on the sand or fetch fresh water from streams and springs near the sea.
The reason lies just yards offshore. It is hard to miss. Four weeks ago the huge Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier MV Solomon Trader, carrying 700 tonnes of oil, ran aground on Kongobainiu reef after becoming loosed from its mooring. Now dead fish float in the bay. The tide is black. A thick oily blanket of tar covers the surface of the water and coats beaches, rockpools, logs and leaves.
The coastal villages of Matanga, Vangu, Lavangu and Kangava have been the hardest hit by the oil spill. Paul Neil, who lives in Lavangu village, told the Guardian that children had been told not to swim in the sea and that fishing had been banned for the foreseeable future. With no way to find their own food, the villagers were now depending on deliveries from the capital Honiara, 150 miles away. Neil said the slick had changed the local way of life.
“Now we cannot use our sea and reef to do fishing and find shells to eat. We really suffered from it,” he said.
Steward Seuika, whose family live close to Kangava Bay, said residents had been forced to drink rainwater after fresh water collected from springs near the shore became contaminated with oil.
“The oil slick affects our corals and marine life. It also contaminates our water which comes out from the stones on the land near the beach. So now we run out of clean water to drink.”
As well as the food shortages, some locals have reported being burned after coming into contact with the oil while trying to clean it up. There were also reports that others were struggling to sleep because of the smell.
“Some people reported experiencing skin burns after the oil stuck on their body,” McQueen Bahenua, the provincial disaster officer, said.
A man-made disaster
The people of Rennell Island are accustomed to natural disasters. The remote atoll is regularly buffeted by cyclones and inundated by floods. But four weeks ago disaster came in a different guise.
In the early hours of 5 February, the seas were swelled by a cyclone, and the huge ship ran aground on Kongobainiu reef. The 225-metre long tanker had been loading bauxite from a nearby mine when it somehow was cast adrift.
One week after the ship ran around, the coral cut a gash on its side, spilling 80 tonnes of oil into the pristine waters of the bay. Now the slick extends for six kilometres. On Sunday, it could be seen spreading out from the stricken carrier, as if it was bleeding.
The authorities are scrambling to get to grips with what has become the biggest man-made disaster in the nation’s history. They are desperate to stem the flow of oil before it reaches the southernmost part of the island, known as East Rennell. The Unesco protected is home to the largest raised coral atoll in the world.
The UN body describes East Rennell – with its unique limestone formations, large lake and dense forest – as “a true natural laboratory for scientific study”.
Anger and frustration
Among the villages and beyond, anger at the pace of the response from the shipping company and Solomon Islands government is mounting.
There have been reported frustrations that King Trader and its South Korean insurer, Korea P&I Club, are not moving fast enough to take responsibility. While the insurance company has engaged a salvage company in the Solomon Islands to secure and remove the ship, so far the bulk of the oil remains on board.
An investigation has also been launched into how the bulk carrier, chartered by Indonesian mining company Bintan Mining IC, was allowed to run aground.
King Trader and Korea P&I Club have apologised, describing the situation as “ totally unacceptable”. In a statement the companies said “although matters of liability are yet to be determined… [we] have expressed deep remorse”. The statement said they were “acutely aware of environmental damage” and were working as quickly as possible to bring the spill under control.
Aerial surveillance taken by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has shown little progress on stopping oil leaking from the vessel. Experts say the clean-up operation could take months. But for residents of Rennell and its precious reefs, time is short.
The senior fisheries officer of Renbel province, Job Hukaoana, warns the bulk carrier must be removed quickly because low tides could cause further problems.
“If there is a low tide in the coming months, the carrier may capsize. If the bulk carrier capsizes in the sea, it will cause another huge man-made disaster.”
The MV Solomon Trader along the coastline of Rennell Island Photograph: HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images
His frustration is echoed by neighbouring governments and conservation groups concerned at the pace of the clean-up. Australia’s high commissioner to the Solomon Islands, Roderick Brazier, says the spill is an “ecological disaster”.
In Kavanga Bay, residents are anxious for life to get back to normal and get back in the water.
But OceansWatch Solomon Islands spokesman Lawrence Nodua believes the situation is only going to get worse.
“The communities around Lughu Bay, with an estimated 300 people residing along the coast will not be able to have fresh fish for food for unknown length of time,” he says.
“It is only a matter of time before the oil reaches the world heritage area.”
By Rebecca Kuku Relatives of the grade 8 schoolgirl who said she was raped by her teacher in a Southern Highlands school accepted more than K2000 from the teacher’s family as part of “bel kol” compensation payment.
However, the girl’s father told The National that the compensation was received by his family without his consent.
“My family are now calling on me to bring my daughter back up for her to be compensated as the bel kol was already received,” he said.
The father made a call last week for police intervention after he was threatened, intimidated and pressured to remove the police report he had made against the teacher accused of raping his daughter, 16.
The teacher has been charged with raping a minor and is in custody. Police Commissioner Gari Baki said relatives of the accused would be arrested and charged with threatening.
He said threats against people reporting rape cases were against the law.
“Do not accept compensation for rape cases,” he said.
“If someone is raped, it is a criminal offence and a complaint must be laid with police who are duty-bound to arrest the suspect or suspects involved.” Baki said teachers were given the responsibility to look after students and not to abuse them.
“The threats and intimidation that the accused relatives are allegedly making on the relatives of the young girl are unacceptable,” he said.
“Police will do everything possible to ensure that this matter is dealt with properly and those that are making threats will be arrested and charged.”
A COMMUNITY in Lae is still living in shock over the death of two men, one a student, during a clash with police who came to investigate an arson report on Sunday
Dead were Angkef Lazarus, 28, who leaves behind a pregnant wife, and Kwane Gaius Obless, 19, who was in grade 8 last year.
Police had gone to Munum village in Wampar, Huon Gulf, Morobe to investigate the burning down of homes estimated to be worth K50,000. Councillor Sowe Doney said the people wanted K100,000 to be paid by the police and the State to cover funeral expenses.
Huon Gulf district chief executive officer Moses Wanga and his assistant Cliff Wembiong discussed the matter with provincial administrator Bart Ipambonj yesterday.
Wanga said district officials would investigate the incident and collate information for the provincial administration’s deliberation.
Ipambonj plans to send a team of officials to the village to conduct law and order awareness. Provincial police commander Alex N’Drasal said the people needed to understand what caused the problem.
“We should understand what caused the burning of homes and valuable properties leaving families homeless,” N’Drasal said.
CYCLONE Oma is slowing down and gathering strength as it sits off Vanuatu’s Santo for a third straight day.
The storm, still a category two, is about 295 kilometres west-southwest of the country’s largest island.
It has followed an unusual path and completed three loops off Santo’s western coast.
Because of this, the island has been lashed with torrential rains, strong storm surges and winds in excess of 100 kilometres an hour.
The Vanuatu Meteorological Service says Oma is proving difficult to forecast, but it is gradually moving southwest away from Vanuatu.
However, storm warnings are still in force for at least the next 24 hours.
The Meteo’s latest cyclone track map as at 9.12am Saturday, February 16.
Meanwhile, Sir Vanuatu has announced that it will resume all domestic flights as scheduled.
It said all ATR domestic services, flights to southern provinces and all international services will operate as scheduled this weekend.
“Our team are closely monitoring the weather situation and further updates will be provided as when they become available,” said a spokesman.
“Customers impacted by the recent flights suspensions are encouraged to reconfirm their flights and update their local contact details via MY BOOKING on www.airvanuatu.com or contact the Air Vanuatu Reservation team.”
By Kylie Kiunguyu on February 3, 2019 — The debate has been raging for the past eight years: Which African leader was the greater pioneer of Pan-Africanism – Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah or monarch and semi-deity Emperor Haile Selassie? Finally, both have been honoured with commemorative statues at the headquarters of the African Union.
The issue of the African Union (AU) and the Haile Selassie monument has been a point of contention since 2012. The controversy started with the unveiling of a statue of Ghanaian Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. Built to commemorate his founding role in the Organisation of African Unity, the AU’s predecessor, the Nkrumah statue was inaugurated together with the AU’s new US$200 million Chinese-built headquarters.
Ethiopians felt that Haile Selassie should have been similarly honoured; in fact, a statue of him should have preceded that of Nkrumah. His supporters argued that Selassie was a famous colonial resistance leader and a longer-standing supporter of African liberation than Nkrumah was.
They embarked on a campaign to lobby for a Selassie statue, claiming that the man who ruled Ethiopia for 40 years had “the legal, moral, historical and diplomatic legitimacy to have his statue erected next to Kwame Nkrumah”.
This did not go down well with Ethiopia’s then leader, Meles Zenawi, who said it was “crass” to question the choice of Nkrumah as an African symbol. He has repeatedly denounced Selassie, who died in 1975, as a “feudal dictator”, according to the Independent newspaper.
“It is only Nkrumah who is remembered whenever we talk about Pan-Africanism,” Meles told local media. “It is a shame not to accept his role.”
Selassie supporters remained undaunted, saying it was because of Selassie that the AU is in Addis Ababa. “It is not because of the current regime,” historian Mesfin Tariku told The Africa Report. “We have no idea of the criteria used to choose Nkrumah.”
The campaign has ended and its labour has proven to be fruitful: A statue of Emperor Haile Selassie will be unveiled at the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union on 10 February 2019 in Addis Ababa.
The deputy chairperson of the AU noted in the organisation’s press release that “the commemorative statue of Emperor Haile Selassie is an important recognition of the Emperor’s contribution to Africa’s liberation and unity leading up to the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963.”
President @SahleWorkZewde observed with pride the work of @_AfricanUnion from its beginning as #OAU which always had its headquarters in Addis Ababa since 1963. OAU, now the #AU, has greatly influenced the development of the political and socio-economic landscape of Africa.
The deputy chairperson went on to state that Ethiopia has been a host and seat of the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union, for over 50 years. “This is Africa’s diplomatic capital and a symbol of Pan-Africanism. We extend our appreciation to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia as well as the good people of Ethiopia for their commitment to the AU.”
Princess Mariam Sena Asfaw Wossen, a granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie, conveyed the royal family’s gratitude to the African Union, saying, “This historic decision is an illustration of unity of purpose by African leaders.”
THE Government is looking at merging the National Lands Commission and the Land Titles Commission under a new organisation which will be called Lands Tribunal Commission, Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven says.
Steven presented a statement in Parliament yesterday on the National Lands Commission (NLC) and said the commission was established under the National Land Registration Act and it conducted hearing on former customary land acquired by the colonial government prior to independence to ascertain if any settlement awards could be awarded and kept a register of such national land.
“It is also important in ensuring titles are formally issued to the state as this is a very important factor when discussing economic development issues in the context of our country,” Steven said.
He said it was one such practical issue that was discussed as part of the government’s efforts to address the themes developed for the leaders’ summit this year.
“So under the current white paper on Law and Justice in Papua New Guinea, there is a proposal to merge both the NLC and the Lands Titles Commission as the Lands Tribunal Commission,” Steven said.
He said the Department of Justice and Attorney-General had initiated administrative arrangements on the merger and was finalised for the legislative framework subject to any further review of the white paper.
“I hope to bring before Parliament for consideration when it is ready,” Steven said.
They are found in the Solomon Islands northeast of Australia with an unusual trait – beautiful dark skin with naturally blond hair.
It is believed that blondes could only be found among Caucasians; so, how do the Melanesians, mostly located east of Papua New Guinea in Oceania, have the striking contrast of the darkest skin in the world outside of Africa and blonde hair? This question has baffled many scientists for years.
Until now, genetic experts and scientists have attributed the odd trait of the over half a million Melanesian people to inheritance – from the Europeans, particularly, the British, German and Australians, who have been associated with the island for several years.
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In the 19th century, many of the islands were under German jurisdiction and in 1893, the UK took the southern Solomon Islands and declared the region a protectorate.
The rest of the islands were subsequently added to the protectorate, with Australian and British companies later setting up coconut plantations.
The Melanesians are the world’s only black blondes — Blonde Hair
Thus, it was not unwise to think that the dark-skinned Melanesians had their blonde hair after mixing with “foreigners,” though the local people insisted that their blonde hair was due to their diet rich in fish and their constant exposure to the sun.
In 2012, it turned out that all these theories were false, as investigations revealed that the weird colour combination of the Melanesians was due to a random mutation.
A single mutation was found to be responsible for almost half of the variation in Solomon Islanders’ hair colour and the striking aspect was that this gene mutation appeared to have arisen in the Pacific and not introduced into the island by fair-haired Europeans intermarrying with islanders.
“[T]he human characteristic of blond hair arose independently in equatorial Oceania,” study researcher Eimear Kenny, a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said.
“That’s quite unexpected and fascinating.”
The researchers gathered saliva from 43 blonds and 42 dark-haired Solomon Islanders to analyze for clues to the genes behind their hair colour.
A genome-wide analysis turned up a shockingly clear result, rare in the world of genetics where a single trait can be influenced by dozens or more genes. A gene called TYRP1, which resides on the ninth chromosome of human’s 23 pairs of chromosomes, explained 46.4 per cent of the variation in the islanders’ hair colour. (Chromosomes are coiled packets of DNA.)
A mutation in this gene affects an enzyme known to be involved in human pigmentation, the researchers found. This mutation doesn’t appear in European genomes, an analysis of genomes from 52 human populations around the world revealed. Rather, it seems to have arisen independently and persisted in the Melanesian population.”
The Melanesians are the world’s only black blondes
For Jonathan Friedlaender, an anthropologist emeritus at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the mutation may have arisen by chance in one individual and drifted to a high frequency in the Solomon Islands because the original population was small.
“This whole area seems to have been populated by very small groups of people making it across these stepping-stone islands, so you do have very dramatic effects in fluctuations of gene frequency.”
Out of the research, it was also discovered that while all humans outside of Africa have genes passed down from the Neanderthals, Melanesians are the only known humans with a different prehistoric ancestry.
They are believed to have evolved from an interbreeding of the Denisova hominin, Neanderthal man’s distant cousin, hence the people have to some extent different genes, which gives them their unique blond hair.
A child from the tropical region of Melanesia
The tropical region of Melanesia is part of a larger culture area called Oceania that includes Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Australia.
With its native people otherwise called Papuans, Melanesia includes the islands of New Guinea, Vanuatu (the former New Hebrides), New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, and some smaller neighbouring islands.
Accounts state that they emigrated from Africa between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago and dispersed along the southern edge of Asia.
Melanesia currently has over 1,000 languages, with pidgins and creole languages developing from trade and cultural interaction centuries before European encounter.
The Melanesia people have still kept some of their traditional beliefs and customs — trip down memory lane
The area had no written language before the arrival of the Europeans and hence they used words of mouth from generation to generation to educate and share stories.
Till date, there are still communities that have little interaction with the rest of the world.
Christianity is the main religion, with many missionaries across the area though some people still practice their native religions such as the belief in a variety of spirits that inhabit the forests, mountains, and swamps.
A family from Melanesia — Flickr
Households vary in size and in some small societies, everyone in the group lives in a house. Apart from playing ceremonial and political roles in the region, women are often the primary caregivers to children and the primary producers of food.
Solomon Islands Melanesian dancers — trip down memory lane
Sculpture and painting have attracted thousands of tourists to the area, particularly, the Sepik River region, though this has yet to provide wealth for the majority of the people.
Just like the rest of the world, the tropical region of Melanesia has had to grapple with some social problems such as alcoholism, crime, and other serious health conditions like malaria, as well as AIDS, particularly in Papua New Guinea.
In spite of these challenges, the region, with its beautiful islands, is to many people a paradise with an exotic history and culture and the happiest and friendliest people in the world.
