Tuesday April 25, 2006
So is Port Moresby safe?
Most people I met before leaving for Port Moresby seemed negative about the place. The shuttle bus driver that dropped me off at Brisbane Airport, handed my luggage to me saying, “Have a safe trip. No really! I mean stay safe”. Not terribly comforting… considering that on earlier enquiring about my destination, he had rejoined with the information that he himself had lived in Port Moresby for some years.
A quick read of the Australian Government travel advisory on PNG was even less positive. Further reading online revealed Port Moresby ranked at the bottom of a list of 130 cities worldwide.
The Air Niugini inflight magazine was the first to attempt turning the tide of popular opinion, with a piece written by no less than Robert Keith-Reid. Well, if Keith-Reid can survive Moresby, there may be hope after all!
So are Moresby’s security problems are over-hyped?
After landing at Jackson International, the signals became rather confused. During the short drive from the airport to the hotel, I was struck by two things: the amount of razor wire on display, and the prevalence of grafitti. So the locals stay inside the razor wire and the hooligans paint the outside?
The hotel , when we finally arrived, seemed to have pretty conservative views about security as well. though not stooping to the level of draping everything in razor wire, they keep the main gate closed, have a posse of security guards around the clock and even keep a Rotweiler (day shift) and a German Shepherd (night shift) on hand.
To the consternation of another traveller from Fiji, a walk around the block was proposed. An hour later, we were back in the hotel, having walked down to Ela beach, around the block, checked out the ubiquitous Chinese takeaway shops, photographed “the oldest building in Port Moresby”, and were generally ignored.
The locals advise that it’s generally safe as long as you keep out of the settlements. When asked about the ubiquitous security guards: “It’s mostly a precaution”. A precaution against what, I have yet to ascertain.
Filed by Jachin Sheehy under 