The Morobe Tertiary Students Union have partnered with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG to address issues affecting the people of Morobe.
Thirty-six Morobe students from different tertiary institutions around the country participated in a two-day retreat at Bundun, Bulolo district.
Facilitated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG, the event created a space for the students to interact and discuss ways to tackle some of the issues facing the province.
High on the agenda was the subject of deep-sea mine tailings placement method proposed by the Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture, where mine waste will be dumped into the Huon Gulf.
The student union secretary, Brendon Beneng, who is a final year communication for development studies student at the University of Technology, found the program to be enlightening.
“Most of us, who came from different fields of study, we were able to share ideas and could clearly see the injustice faced by the people of Morobe, especially looking into the deep-sea mine tailings placement.
“It has been a good experience and we believe we’ll still continue to battle this issue in partnership with ELCPNG.”
Third year law student at the University of PNG, Janet Tali, who is also UPNG’s 2021 female vice-president and MTSU female representative, said the development issues discussed were based on the aspirations of PNG’s founding fathers.
She drew attention to the five national goals of: Integral human development; Equality and participation; National sovereignty and self-reliance; Natural resources and the environment and; Papua New Guinean Ways.
Apart from environmental, social and economic issues, Tali outlined that in the name of development, PNG’s traditions and way of life are disrespected or forgotten.
“Our PNG ways are our identity,” she said. “And one of the major problems we identified during our discussion was our identity crisis. That’s one of the points that we have to talk about; promoting PNG ways.”
The students concluded their retreat on Tuesday afternoon.
The union is planning a meeting soon to discuss steps to be taken to best address Morobe’s development issues.
(The Morobe Tertiary Students Union retreat at Bundun, Bulolo district)