During World War 2 Manus Island was a significant American naval base. My father visited there in the Australian aircraft carrier, HMAS Sydney at the conclusion of the war. At 23 years of age he was a veteran and survivor of several years of war on the Mediterranean including as a crew member of the destroyer, HMAS Stewart, a member of the famous “Scrap Iron Flotilla”. At this tumultuous time my father enjoyed a spot of shore leave, there on Manus. I was born in Sydney at around the same time.
My first experience with Manus Island was in April, 1967, it was a view from deck of the Sydney. I was a 21 year old infantry soldier in-transit to South Vietnam. The Sydney and the accompanying destroyers refuelled in Manus, prior to heading on, towards the Philippines and SVN. After the endless miles of empty ocean the sheltered waters and the contrasting greens and blues of the Lorengau lagoon were quite breathtaking. As soon as we anchored there came to us, a multitude of canoes, The occupants were urging us to part with a few dollars in exchange for shells and beads. My first commercial transaction on Manus was the purchase of some trinkets. These few hours that I spent, parked off Manus, left a lasting impression upon me. When the opportunity presented to return to the region, some 2 years later, I jumped at the offer.
The terrain of Bougainville, several hundred miles to the south, was not unlike Manus. It is more mountainous but it possesses the same plethora of outlying islands, surrounded by endless coral reefs. There was so much visible marine life that one had the impression the fish were trying to jump into the boat. I came to Bougainville in the employ of Bechtel WKE who had been commissioned by Rio Tinto, to build a $300 + Million copper mine. There were many international construction companies engaged on Bougainville including Dumez, from France, Morris Knudsen & Fluor, from the US, Barclay Bros, Johns & Waygood and Steeldeck, from Australia, Beazley Homes, from New Zealand, etc.
In those early days there was the opportunity to work in a hands on capacity with the Papua New Guineans. I forged many friendships. Some of them have endured until today. It was during this time that I became aware of the wide disparity in the appearance, the personal make ups and the skills of the various tribes. There exists, across PNG, more than more than 840 languages including 17 on Bougainville and 30 in Manus Province. This attests to the warlike nature of the Islands` peoples. I spent several years in roles associated with the transfer of skills. I have become quite skilled at defining, just at a glance and a listen, the tribal / provincial heritage of the people. From my early times I noted that it was the Manusians and, to a lesser extent, the other islanders who were often the high achievers in any grouping of the peoples. They are quite prolific within the senior levels of the PNG Public Service. I have also come across some outstanding tradesmen who hail from this region.
As a recruiter, it was their prowess across the trade disciplines that caused me to watch closely for any talent that claimed a heritage in Manus. When the Bougainville mine came to its untimely closure in 1990 I carefully gathered to my database every skilled Manusian in preparation for the re opening of the mine or for other ventures in which the fledgling JDA may become associated. There was little delay. In late 1990, the Australian Defence Force contracted to Candec Thiess for the construction of their Lombrum, Manus wharf facilities. Bob Moore of Kooragang Enterprises, Newcastle, Australia became aware that JDA could provide him with access to some high quality metal fabricators. Not only did we supply Bob with several tradesmen, they were supplied direct from the local Manus community.
There was then a gap of several months before I again had occasion to conduct campaign recruitment into Manus. This time I was scouring the country for the most skilled plant operators and tradesmen to build Chevron`s Kutubu pipeline. The cost of recruiting from mainland PNG was significantly less than bringing them from the island provinces. On the basis of their superior skills level and work ethic I was able to convince my main direct client, McConnell Dowell – Spiecapag JV, that it was necessary for me to include Lorengau in our recruitment strategy. We made many successful appointments from these visits. There was a mix of Plant Operators, Surveyors, Mechanical Fitters, Boilermakers and Electricians. Appointments that spring to mind are Plant Operator, Glen Salapan, Mechanical Engineer, Peter Pamolak and Boilermaker, Esekia Bulumanau. .A few of my Manus lads were interviewed and tested, as part of JDA`s exclusive contract to provide startup and operations personnel for Kutubu oilfield operations. However most of these roles were reserved for people from the project area, ie, from within the Gulf and Southern Highlands provinces.
Most of JDA`s recruitment activity at Manus has been associated with bringing Manusians to the Resources Sector, situated quite remote from Manus. During 1991 there was a quite notable exception. The Province`s only international standard, lodgings house, the Harbourside Hotel, was in need of a Manager. JDA were commissioned to source this person. We recruited Bernie Luck to the post and he did a fine job there for some 6 years. Bernie achieved much during his stay in Lorengau including the leadership of an enterprising group of people who hosted the world kayaking championships. Bernie expanded the hotel from 18 to 28 rooms. For several years Bernie was an active member of the Hospital Board. Now in retirement on Queensland`s Sunshine Coast, Bernie recalls his time at Manus with great fondness. Once again we are proud to relate that one of our people made a significant difference to the lives of people in this extremely remote part of the world.
With limited natural resources to exploit, the Manus Province does not attract the infrastructure funding that has maintained the momentum of growth in most other PNG Provinces. If one had not visited there for several years there would usually be only minimal changes over such a time span. The single consistent revenue raising came from the relocation of many of its best people to employment in PNG`s mainland centres.
We are now embarking on a time of massive growth. The first time that Manus Province was utilized by the Australian Government to house asylum seekers was in 1964. There were 38 people resettled from West Irian (Papua). In the 50 years of their residence in Manus these people have not just settled… they have thrived !
In 2000, the Australian Government (AG), under John Howard, was confronted by an increasing number of asylum seekers. The Pacific Solution Strategy was formulated and processing centres were established in Lombrum, on Manus and on the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru. In the following year the AG and the PNG Government (PNGB) had a MOU ratified by the Manus Provincial Government. Negotiations continued until September, 2012 when the AG and the PNGG finally entered into the existing MOU.
Today the construction and the staffing to support the AG`s much expanded asylum seeker solution program is now in-train and JDA were positioned to make a significant contribution.
