Sheer willpower has ensured that Betty Higgins’ business stay afloat in an otherwise forgotten part of PNG.
Running a business at the foot of Mt Wilhelm comes with its unique challenges.
For Betty Higgins, the sustainability of her lodge and trout farm, located 2,800m above sea level, hinges on her ingenuity.
“If you move your cameras around, you will see total jungles, total bush around us,” she told a visiting media team from Lae.
“I’ve been here 37 years and trying to develop this place has been a very big challenge. Infrastructure, roads is not the best in Papua New Guinea and bad bridges don’t help at all with running and conducting business like this in a remote area.
“I’m doing agri-tourism here and I move vegetables, I move fish and I move tourists. And the government of the day, looks like they don’t have any vision for this country.”
Higgins emphasised that they have been “stuck” for many years because of government neglect, adding PNG has been independent for over 4 decades yet, its rural areas remain severely under-developed.
“I’ve been doing it with great difficulty,” she said. “I don’t want people to feel sorry for me and help me with money but I’d like for them to do the roads up, I’d like for them to do the bridges up so we can commute and we can conduct business and we can survive just like everybody else in the country.”
Trekkers from far and wide use the only road from Kundiawa up to her lodge.
Many a time, tourists are forced to wait until the river subsides before they cross to Betty’s Lodge.
“I’ve been thinking about it for so long, and I never make money, so this year, I managed to make a little bit of money – I did a trout training course – I had surplus money so I put K50,000 down into that bridge.”
With the help of Kumura Foundation, a bridge was constructed and is set to be commissioned in a few weeks’ time.
“I’d like to share this with the government of Papua New Guinea; you can build these kind of cheap bridges around the country and make easy access for people living in the remote areas.
“If the government continues to neglect us, many people in the rural areas will drift back into the urban areas, and then, government will have a big problem.
“If you’re a Member of Parliament out there, think: what can I do for my people.
“If one little woman at Mt Wilhelm can do it, so can all of you.”
(Owner of Betty’s Lodge, Betty Higgins)