The introduction says it all. I finally got around to uploading some pictures from the Thailand part of my South East Asia trip. You can find them under the photo section of the website. (where else?) or click on the title of this epistle.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Back to Brisbane?
Looks like the landowner dispute is starting to throw a real spanner in the works with construction not commencing any time soon. I am therefore contemplating moving back to Brisbane as I can potentially be of more use there then I am out here at this point in time while still being able to deal with any work related to North West Moran by email and phone. The problem of course is that he whole situation could change again in the next twenty four hours.
As an aside I start finding the long days wearying and am looking forward to being home next week and getting a few decent nights sleep. The last few days I have been awake every morning at four because of the traffic and general camp noise.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Negotiations.
The landowner negotiations are going nowhere in a hurry and yesterday
one of the clans walked out of the meeting. So at the moment we are
taking a wait and see attitude but position wise we are miles apart. It
is difficult for the landowners to see the difference between the
benefits that come from the discovery of a new oil field, which was what
happened last time, and the construction of some pipelines to an
existing field, which is what we are doing now.
While everybody accepts that delays, unrealistic expectations and
stalled negotiations are the price of doing business in PNG it's
frustrating all the same. Also we can't wait forever and an exit
strategy must be considered if we can't make any headway.
one of the clans walked out of the meeting. So at the moment we are
taking a wait and see attitude but position wise we are miles apart. It
is difficult for the landowners to see the difference between the
benefits that come from the discovery of a new oil field, which was what
happened last time, and the construction of some pipelines to an
existing field, which is what we are doing now.
While everybody accepts that delays, unrealistic expectations and
stalled negotiations are the price of doing business in PNG it's
frustrating all the same. Also we can't wait forever and an exit
strategy must be considered if we can't make any headway.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Lake Kutubu
From various points around this area and when you are flying in you get good views of Lake Kutubu. Here is some information on it.
Lake Kutubu is the second largest lake in the country. It is at an elevation of 808 meters with an area of 4,924 ha and was Until recently one of the most inaccessible areas in the country, with access only by light aircraft or on foot. The lake was formed when ash and debris from a volcanic eruption blocked of a valley. It has a maximum depth of approximately seventy meters. The lake depth can vary up to 2 m between the maximum height of a wet period and the end of a dry period. Annual average temperature is 23°C and rainfall is 4,500 mm.
The lake is fringed by reed-dominated swamp, especially at the northern and southern ends and The site includes seasonally inundated flatland swamp forest. During a scuba survey, several submerged cave systems were found.
Southern Highlands Province was the last area to be penetrated by the Australian colonial administration. The administration's first outpost was established in 1939. Indigenous land use has changed little in the intervening 60 years, in this one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country. The Fasu people are spread widely to the west and southwest of the lake and own the land in which oil fields are located. Residents of the villages around the lake rely principally on the sago palm that provides 75% of their food volume (starch), as well as supplying building material. There is subsistence gardening, and hunting and fishing encampments. There have been several attempts to introduce cash crops, such as cocoa and coffee, but with little success thus far because of limited transportation. The development of oil and gas in the region has however, increased access through the development of road links and establishment of regular airplane flights.
(Most of this info comes from a website on wetlands preservation www.wetlands.org
Lake Kutubu is the second largest lake in the country. It is at an elevation of 808 meters with an area of 4,924 ha and was Until recently one of the most inaccessible areas in the country, with access only by light aircraft or on foot. The lake was formed when ash and debris from a volcanic eruption blocked of a valley. It has a maximum depth of approximately seventy meters. The lake depth can vary up to 2 m between the maximum height of a wet period and the end of a dry period. Annual average temperature is 23°C and rainfall is 4,500 mm.
The lake is fringed by reed-dominated swamp, especially at the northern and southern ends and The site includes seasonally inundated flatland swamp forest. During a scuba survey, several submerged cave systems were found.
Southern Highlands Province was the last area to be penetrated by the Australian colonial administration. The administration's first outpost was established in 1939. Indigenous land use has changed little in the intervening 60 years, in this one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country. The Fasu people are spread widely to the west and southwest of the lake and own the land in which oil fields are located. Residents of the villages around the lake rely principally on the sago palm that provides 75% of their food volume (starch), as well as supplying building material. There is subsistence gardening, and hunting and fishing encampments. There have been several attempts to introduce cash crops, such as cocoa and coffee, but with little success thus far because of limited transportation. The development of oil and gas in the region has however, increased access through the development of road links and establishment of regular airplane flights.
(Most of this info comes from a website on wetlands preservation www.wetlands.org
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Nothing much happening
Today it looked for a while as if the weather was improving and it actually stopped raining for a few hours. I grabbed my camera and dashed off to take a few photos of the camp. Good thing that I did it straight away because now at three in the afternoon we are once again enveloped in cloud and a steady drizzle has set in. Work wise there is nothing to report really, just steady as she goes while we await the go ahead from the community affairs group to start construction, hopefully in the next week or so.
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