The District of South Fly

The District of South Fly shares its borders with Australia and Indonesia. The obvious need not be mentioned; transport links in the South Fly are pretty primitive. Women carrying babies and cargo negotiate precarious single-log bridges in the jungle. Patients have to be stretchered to aid posts and sub health centers that do not have proper equipment and drugs.

Many die and are never taken back home for burial due to the distance and risk of decomposition. Such has been the case for villagers from Dimisisi village who succumbed to illness at Upiara sub-health-center and have been buried at the nearby villages of Kondobol and Bok.

Of course, Western Province is home to a major Public Health catastrophe where in 2010 around 300 lives were lost to cholera. Most of the victims were children and the elderly from South Fly. Public Health woes continue to give a nasty headache to Queensland health Authorities who have to cope with the patients who flock to Saibai Island, in search of better Health services. Multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) continues to pose a major threat to the population.

Despite its rich natural resources and the existence of the Ok Tedi mine that has bankrolled Papua New Guinea, Western Province continues to lag behind in most aspects of development. The largest shareholder of Ok Tedi, the PNG Sustainable Development Company Program, has failed in its fiduciary duty towards the people of South Fly.