The Kokoda Trail Tourism Development Association is now putting foreign Kokoda tour companies on notice.
President, Kila Sibolo, has declared that foreign firms who do not comply with PNG law, who do not meet their financial obligations to campsite owners, and who do not provide for the welfare of guides and porters will no longer be tolerated.
“KTTDA is a landowner-based association established to ensure our village communities across the Kokoda Trail receive their fair share of benefits and opportunities from Kokoda tourism,” said Sibolo.
“We have used the COVID shutdown period to review past practices and we were shocked at what we found.
“A unanimous motion of a PNG Tour Operators Forum in 2017 was ignored at a later meeting in Cairns and the recommendations were never implemented.
“As a result, our guides and porters from across the Trail have been overloaded by foreign tour operators.
“One of them died and, according to a KTA ranger, he was forced to carry almost double the recommended weight of 18kg that was the maximum allowed by Australian doctors during the Kokoda campaign in 1942.
“Overloading can also lead to long term problems with porters’ backs, hips and knees so we have to help protect them as there are no health services in villages to treat these long-term problems.
“It also means that foreign tour companies are able to save money by not employing as many guides and porters to get them across the Trail.
“Campsite owners have told us that many foreign tour companies do not pay the K5 per night for their guides and porters. This means they don’t have enough money to provide proper facilities for them.
“We have also been told that some tour companies, who charge trekkers up to K5000 each to trek across the Trail, will not spend K50 on a sleeping bag and mat for their guides and porters. They expect them to bring their own blanket and sleep on wet ground. This would not be tolerated by unions in Australia and it will no longer be tolerated by Kokoda tourism,” said Sibolo.
Sibolo is seeking a meeting with the Kokoda Track Authority, on behalf of KTTDA, to establish a partnership with their rangers to help put an end to the exploitation of villagers engaged in Kokoda tourism.
(Kokoda Track Authority picture)