Madventures/Blog

Strangers came to dig holes in the ground. It all seemed a bit weird for the tribe.

And then the mountains disappeared.

For rocks. For metals. With names like nickel, cold and copper.

Then people got sick. Missionaries tried to help. The tribe was told about how the metals had found their way into the bloodstream of every men, women and child.

They were not allowed to drink from the river anymore. They were not allowed to fish nor wash in it.

It sounded like the work of demons. And in a way it was. Who else but demons would cut down the trees and topple the mountains.

Who else than demons would have such frightening, foreign names.

BHP-Billiton. Nautilus Minerals. Harmony.

Years passed. The water didn’t get better. The people didn’t get better.

The tribes were given consultation by a lawyer from the city.

The tribe could get monies. A significant amount of monies. Billions of dollars.

But what good was billions of dollars, when they never had use for it before?

Two things were certain.

One: The monetary compensation would change the lives of the tribes forever. Some would call it progress.

Two: It will take 300 years to clean up the toxic contamination caused by mining operations in PNG.