Preamble
Canberra’s decision to sub-contract responsibility for the Kokoda Trail to international aid-conglomerates, USA-based Abt Clobal and London based, Oxford Policy Management has resulted in PNG’s most popular tourism destination being managed as an environmental park through the Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water instead of the Minister for Veterans Affairs.
According to PNG Kokoda Track Authority records this has resulted in a 52 per cent decline in trekker numbers since their Joint Understanding was signed by the respective environment ministers in 2008.
This translates into a cumulative loss in the order of $20 million (PNGK50 million) in foregone wages, campsite fees and local purchases for the traditional village communities we were supposed to help.
The root cause of the decline has been the focus on environmental and social issues at the expense of pilgrimage tourism based on our shared military heritage; dependence on aid-funding; incompetence; and the insidious cancer of wan-tok nepotism and corruption under Canberra’s watch.
As a result of the management dysfunction, villagers across the Trail have been denied the potential to increase employment opportunities; to establish a sustainable philanthropic fund; and generate additional income streams of up to PNGK2 million per year.
If the PNG Kokoda Track Authority was a commercial business it would be placed under administration.
But its not commercial and its not accountable! It’s a foreign aid-influenced government agency whose focus on Environment, Climate Change, and Gender Based Violence at the expense of our shared military heritage has led to the downward spiral of trekker numbers and the demeaning of the pilgrimage.
Rather than manage the Kokoda Trail as a national tourism enterprise it has been left to drift at the Provincial and Local Government level with MPs, office bureaucrats, and a small army of Port Moresby based grifters fighting over the diminishing spoils of an industry they know nothing about.
In order to realize its potential as a world-class pilgrimage tourism destination it will be necessary to remove it from the aid-funded influence of foreign ‘advisors’ and the clutches of local government officials.
If the PNG National Executive Council (NEC) wishes to fulfill the vision of their founding fathers, they will need to use the provisions of their Lands Act to acquire the area gazetted as the Kokoda Trail between Owers’ Corner and Kokoda, as a national tourism asset. This will require NEC to transfer resonsibility for its management and development from the Minister for Provincial and Local Government and the aid-funded influence of the Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change to the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture.
Provincial MPs could then oversee the establishment of Incorporated Landonwer Groups (ILGs) to engage communities across the Trail and establish contracts with a Pilgrimage Tourism Authority to maintain it and keep it safe – they would also assist in identifying village needs and developing micro-business initiatives to assist them in earning additional income through meeting the needs of trekkers.
Following are strategies that would underpin the development of a Pilgrimage Tourism Authority to manage Kokoda Tourism in such a way as to enhance the value of the pilgrimage for trekkers and provide for a sustainalbe economic future for the owners of land sacred to our shared military heritage.
Joint Agreement for Commemoration
Papua New Guinea was Australian Territory in 1942 – it’s now the custodian of our shared wartime heritage in the Pacific.
A ‘Joint Agreement for the Commemoration of the Shared Wartime Heritage between Australia and PNG’ is warranted by the fact that the Kokoda Trail has emerged as PNGs most popular tourism destination with more than 65,000 Australians trekking across it over the past 20 years.
The lead agency for this should be the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) which is resonsiblie for the Australian War Memorial and the Office of Australian War Graves – the following link has a proposed draft:
Military Heritage Master Plan
The Australian War Memorial should be tasked to engage an accredited military heritage architect to develop a Military Heritage Master Plan for the 124 km Kokoda Trail between Owers Corner and Kokoda – it should include site plans for Owers Corner, Imita Rigde, Ioribaiwa Ridege, Brigade Hill-Mission Ridge, Lake Myola, Templetons Crossing-Eora Creek, Isurava, Myaka Falls, Deniki and the Kokoda Plateau.
Army-Military Heritage Cooperation
Small teams of Australian and PNG army officers could be tasked to conduct a ‘military appreciation’ of each battle site to identify the tactical boundaries of each one, identify likley F and A Echelon areas, locate weapon pits, etc., and provide this information to the Military Heritage Architect for interpretation.
Australian – PNG Research Project
An Australian-Japan Research Project was established at the Australian War Memorial around 20 years ago. The project sought to explore aspects of Australian and Japanese attitudes to the Pacific War using archival material held by the Australian War Memorial.
The recent upscaling of army cooperation between Australia and PNG in response to China’s expanding influence in the Pacific should include a strategy to identify, record, map and signpost significant battlesites of each campaign in Papua and New Guinea from 1942 to 1945.
The Australian War Memorial could assist by developing an ‘Australian-PNG Project’ along similar lines to their Australia-Japan Project. It would include provision for PNG history scholars to to be hosted for long-term assignments.
Reg Yates, a former Australian Army captain has explored all of the significant campaign sites throughout Papua New Guinea over a 40-year period and published ‘A Guide to Adventurous Training for ADF Personnel’. This could be used as a template for a detailed heritage plan of each site.
The army ‘military appreciation’ model could then be replicated at other significant campaign sites throughout PNG.
LINK: Australia – Japan Research Project
Kokoda Tourism Management Structure
An appropriate management structure would include:
- a Board of Directors qualified in governance, law, accounting, military heritage;
- A CEO with a successful track record in commercial business management;
- A Chief Ranger and a Field Ranger
- Qualified administrative staff
- An Advisory Council represented by each ILG President.
Given that the current dysfuctional management system has evolved under Australia’s watch since 2009 it is incumbent upon them to fund the following positions for a period of up to five (5) years by which time the management system should aim to be self-funding:
- Chief Exexutive Officer;
- Chief Ranger;
- Field Ranger;
- Accounts Manager.
Kokoda Trail Pilgimage Tourism Authority (PTA) Licensing System
A credible Kokoda Trail Pilgrmage Tourism Authority (PTA) Licencing System requires a rules-based management system. It is essential that the same rules apply to all Australian and PNG Kokoda tour companies without exception.
The annual license fee for Kokoda Tour Companies should be K10,000 to assist in covering the cost of administration and compliance by the Pilgrimage Touris Authority.
A refundable bond of K5,000 should be lodged with the application for a licence – the bond will be refunded if the Kokoda Tour Company elects to surrender their licence.
All Kokoda Tour Companies should be required to fully comply with the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) Act and hold a valid Public Liability Insurance policy as a condition of their license.
Australian Kokoda Tour Companies
The licencing system should reflect the fact that Australian tour companies are required to invest considerable resources in registering as a ‘Foreign Enterprise’ in accordance with the IPA Act; annual compliance costs; marketing of treks; purchase of vehicles, rentals of buses and trucks; purchase of tents, uniforms, sleeping gear and campaign equipment, rental of storage space; recruiting and training trek leaders; booking international air travel and accommodation; and managing clients.
As a result of the investment required to operate a legitimate business in accordance with the IPA Act they require legislative protection against illegal tour operators.
PNG Kokoda Tour Companies
Registered PNG companies also invest considerable resources in arranging ground and air transport; recruiting and training guides and porters; storage, issue and maintenance of uniforms, sleeping bags, camping gear and communications equipment; confirmation of campsite bookings, on-Trail payments for campsites and local contingencies; and the purchase, storage, and issue of food and medical supplies for the duration of each trek.
The following Case Study proves there is a market for legitmate PNG companies to provide personnel and logistic support for Australian companies:
| Case Study: In 2004 Adventure Kokoda Pty Ltd established a contract with Sogeri Enterprises Pty Ltd to provide all personnel, medical and logistic support for their treks. The contract involved Adventure Kokoda collecting payments from trekkers 60-days in advance and transferring funds to Sogeri Enterprises 30-days in advance. The fee payable to Sogeri Enterprises was based on an average rate of K6000 per trekker plus accommodation. Sogeri Enterprises were then responsible for meet groups at the airport, providing all the personnel, medical and logistic support to get them safely across the Trail, and deliver back to the departure airport at the end of their trek. As a result of this arrangement Warren Bartlett, owner of Sogeri Enterprises, went on to build a lodge that could accommodate up 40 guests; employed two permanent PNG Managers and up to 30 locals during peak trekking periods; invested in two buses and a truck; and used his lodge to run conferences for Government Departments. After Bartlett wound up Sogeri Enterprises before his return to Australia in 2019 we established Adventure Kokoda PNG which has since employed a permanent PNG manager, invested in the purchase of an office unit, a rental property and vehicles to meet our personnel and logistic requirements however we have no protections against illegal tour companies who are easily able to undercut us. |
Welfare Protection – PNG Guides and Carriers
Neglect of the welfare of PNG guides and porters is an ongoing scandal which needs to be addressed – many are overloaded, underpaid, underfed, and ill-equipped.
Many are also ‘overworked’ by companies who advertise ‘Fast Treks’ between four and six days – these place extra stress on guides and porters who have to cover the same distance in a shorter time, often with increased loads because it negates the need for a half-way drop.
Such companies also demean the value of Kokoda by marketing it as a macho-race rather than a pilgrimage.
There is therefore a need to adopte a standard rate of pay based on an 8-day trek which is the average time to traverse the 124 km Kokoda Trail – therefore if the tour operator requires that they make it across in six days they must still pay them for eight days.
Their welfare has been ignored by the Kokoda Initiative-CEPA-KTA officials under the influence of the Kokoda Tour Operators Association (KTOA) for too long as outlined in the followong link:
LINK: Australian Kokoda Tour Operators Association – Exposed
The provision of trek uniforms for guides and porters should be a fundamental requirement for all trek groups because they are the most photogrpahed component of most groups. If they look like ‘raskols’ because all they are wearing is a free t-shirt with the company logo they will be ignored. However, if they look sharpe they will feature on countless thousands of social media posts from trekkers.
The same applies to their welfare – if they are required to bring their own blanket, as most are, they will shiver through long nights in the higher altitudes – and if they are provided with a paltry cash allowance to source their own food from villagers they will be perpetually underfed.
This would not be acceptable in any union or association in Australia – and it should not be acceptable in PNG!
Licensed Kokoda tour companies should therefore be required to provide each guide and carrier with the following at the start of each trek:
- Cap;
- T-Shirt;
- Waterproof rain jacket;
- Shorts;
- Sleeping bag; and a
- Foam sleeping mat
Clothing items should contain the name and logo of the relevant Kokoda tour company.
Kokoda tour companies should also be required to provide the same ration scale for their PNG support crews as they do for their trekkers – with appropriate adjustments for items such as wopa biscuits, etc.
Weight Limit
The maximum weight limit for guides and porters should be18 kg which was the maximum allowed by Regimental Medical Officers during the Kokoda campaign in 1942 – this will obviously generate more jobs for subsistence villlagers.
Log Books
Consideration should be given to developing an accreditation system along with log books for guides and porters to enhance their status because they are, without question, PNGs best ambassadors – Log books also act as a reference for those who might wish to seek other employment opportunities.
Peak and Non-Peak Trekking Periods
According to KTA records peak times for trekking during the year occur during the Anzac period in April and designated school holiday periods.
The records also show many opportunistic tour operators ‘cherry-pick’ peak season periods and do nothing to build their business to generate local employment at other times.
Consideration should therefore be given to imposing a 100 per cent peak season loading on trek permits for tour operators who lead an average of less than 150 trekkers across the Trail during the previous three trekking seasons.
This will create an incentive to market their treks outside peak periods and therefore provide a more even spread of employment opportunities for local guides, porters and campsite owners during the trekking season.
Such a loading would increase the income stream for Kokoda Tioyriusm management during these periods.
Fee Structures
Tour Operator Licence Fees
The annual licence fee will be K10,000 to cover the cost of administration and compliance by Kokoda Tourism Management.
A bond of K5000 will apply. The bond will be repayable on the surrender of any KTC licence.
Trek Permit Fees
Trek fees will be sufficient to cover the cost of a functional management organisation.
The current trek fee of K350 includes an unofficial ‘marketing levy’ of K50 which has never been spent on ‘marketing’ and will therefore be removed.
A K300 fee for a trek permit would raise K990,000 to cover the cost of administrating the management body including tourism rangers.
The Australian Government[i] should be invited to fund four essential positions i.e. a Chief Executive Officer, a Commercial Business Manager, a Chief Ranger and a Field Ranger for the first five (5) years after the responsibility for Kokoda Tourism has been convereted into a pilgrimage tourism authority. The remainder of the positions in the management authority will be funded by the PNG Government and trek permit fee income.
Levies should be introduced for maintenance, significant sites, community development, PNG support crew welfare, and charities.
Ancilliary Income Opportunities
Trademark ‘Kokoda’
Trademark the word ‘Kokoda’ and levy a fee on individuals and companies who wish to use it for name branding, merchandise, etc
Kokoda Passport
Design a souvenir ‘Kokoda Passport’ for sale with a brief intro on PNG, the Koiari, Biage and Orokaiva; a brief on the history of the Trail; a chronology of the Kokoda campaign; a map; names of villages, etc.
Additional Levies
Trail Maintenance Levy
The solution to the challenge of maintenance is relatively simple and could be solved with a ‘Trail Maintenance Levy’ of K100 per trekker. This wuld generate an income of K330,000 for payment to villagers involved in the maintenance of the Trail each year.
The Trail would be divided into the following sections:
- Section 1: Owers Corner to Ofi Creek;
- Section 2: Ofi Creek to Menari;
- Section 3: Menari to Kagi;
- Section 4: Kagi to Naduri
- Section 5: Kagi to Lake Myola
- Section 6: Lake Myola to Eora Creek
- Section 7: Eora Creek to Isurava Memorial; and
- Section 8: Isurava Memorial to Kokoda
The levy would be used to employ local guides and porters during the off-trekking season and therefore extend their opportunities for employment.
An assessment of the work to be done each year would be conducted by the Chief Ranger.
Kokoda tour companies should be invited to provide reports at the end of each trek to the Chief Ranger. They would also report on the standard of work carried out by maintenance crews and make recommendations as appropriate.
The following tasks would be included in the annual maintenance plan:
- Build and maintain ‘traditional’ bridges across all creeks and rivers – these could be modelled on the cane bridge across Eora Creek. All bridges should be at least one metre wide with handrails on both sides bound with natural fibres;
- Lay and maintain corduroy paths along the Nauro swamp area and other similar sections;
- Maintain steps (golden staircase style) on steep sections of the Trail; and
- Cut a couple of parallel tracks (north-south and south-north) where there is serious erosion between the Kokoda Trail Gap and Eora Creek, the southern slopes of Imita and Ioribaiwa ridges, and the Nauro swamp area – this will allow degraded areas to regenerate. The direction of each parallel track would be controlled by the tourism rangers.
Community Development Levy
It is not possible to have community development without community consultation and community involvement.
The most effective means of achieving this is through the conduct of annual village-based workshops with facilitators experienced in local language and culture – the following link provides a model for the conduct of such workshops:
This will ensure a continuous review of objectives, partnerships and commitments.
This important area has been ignored by DFAT Kokoda Initiative officials since they assumed control of the industry in 2009 despite much advice to the contrary.
A Community Development Levy of PNGK100 would raise approximately PNGK300,000 per year to be invested in projects identified by village advisory councils via their Incorporated Landowner Groups.
There is a also an opportunity for an independent philanthropic entity (a ‘Kokoda Trust) – see ‘Philanthropy’ below.
Significant Site Levy
There is considerable angst amongst landowners of significant sites across the Trail because they are missing out on a large share of potential benefits due to the lack of any accounting/banking system to support them.
KTA-TPA management could assist by collecting fees in advance and paying them directly into each landowner’s bank account. This would require them to identify each significant site and each landowner – then assist each one to establish a bank account.
Significant sites include Owers Corner, Imita Ridge, Ioribaiwa Ridge, Brigade Hill, Lake Myola, Templeton’s Crossing, Eora Creek, Abuari Waterfall, Isurava battlesite, Deniki and Kokoda.
A K15 Significant Site Levy (the price of a cappuccino in Sydney) has the potential to raise K544,500 (i.e. K49,500] for each landowner).
Significant site landowners would be required to maintain the site in a clean and safe condition. They would have further opportunities to earn additional income through the sale of brewed coffee, scones, fresh fruit, bilum bags and carved sticks.
But first government has to restore each site with significant interpretative memorials.
Until then the owners of sites sacred to our shared military heritage will be denied an income stream to maintain and protect these sacred places.
Charity Levy
Australian charities have used the Kokoda Trail to raise significant amounts of funds for various causes back in Australia. Whilst these are well intentioned there is little evidence of such funding contributing to worthy causes in PNG – even after their trekkers witness the needs of villagers along the Trail!
Professional charities who use The Kokoda Trail as a primary source of fundraising do not seem to have any moral conflict about using a Trail in a 3rd world country to raise funds for well-meaning causes in the ‘land of plenty’ without leaving anything behind.
| Case Studies: One professional charity, the Kokoda Challenge, hijacked the idea of having an annual team endurance event to raise funds for educational and health scholarships and diverted the profits to develop a ‘Camp Kokoda’ on the Gold Coast in Queensland for Australian youth. The ‘Kokoda Challenge’ has since ‘diverted’ more than $2.7 million (K7 million) from the intended recipients in PNG to young Australians who already have access to an abundance of generous government support programs in this area. Another professional Australian charity, Inspired Adventures has raised an estimated K7.5 million from fundraising treks across the Trail. We are not aware of any funds being donated to charitable causes anywhere across it. There are also hundreds of individuals and organizations who use the Trail for a ‘one-off’ fundraiser for their local cause. Collectively they have raised many millions of Kina but have left virtually nothing behind. |
This issue was first raised in 2008 on this blog – it was ignored village charities have missed out on at least K1 million as a result.
The only effective means of ensuring village communities receive their fair share of income from charitable causes is to introduce a ‘Charity Levy’ for each trekker.
This should be based on K1250 per trekker for ‘one-off’ charities and K2500 for professional charities. It has the potential of raising an additional K225,000 per year for local community development.
These can be easily monitored by establishing a ‘Google Alert’ for ‘Kokoda Charity’.
Ancillary Income Earning Opportunities for Villagers
Villagers along the Trail are currently denied the opportunity to earn additional income from tour groups – because they have never been taught how to provide services and goods to meet their needs.
This is probably because none of the executives within the DFAT Kokoda Initiative-CEPA-KTA-KIC alliance, nor those engaged in management, have ever trekked across the Trail with a professional pilgrimage group to understand the reality of pilgrimage tourism.
Tour operators who understand the risk of running a business and generating their own income have suggested ways local communities could earn additional income – but they have been consistently ignored by those in distant offices on secure salaries.
Following are some of the suggestions that have been offered in the past:
Owers Corner
Owers Corner has the potential to be PNGs most popular tourism attraction.
Its capacity to earn considerable income is due to its road access to the nation’s capital, Port Moresby.
This has been negated because of our patronising dealings with local landowners and our lack of historical awareness. As a result the campsite built with AusAID funds has never been used and the area has nothing to attract visitors.
The opportunity to develop a traditional Koiari village with a coffee shop; an arts and crafts centre; a welcome ‘sing-sing’ and traditional dance area; an audio-visual centre which tells the story of the Kokoda campaign and escorted day treks down to the Goldie River or Imita Ridge is yet to be realised.
LINK: Owers Corner – Gateway to the Kokoda Trail
Brewed Coffee
PNG coffee is the coffee capital of the Pacific.
Despite this it is not possible to buy a cup of hot, brewed cup of coffee anywhere across the Trail.
If trekkers brought just two cups of coffee a day (and a fresh scone) at K20 each during an 8-day trek they could increase village ancillary earnings by up to K1 million per trekking season!
Bread Ovens
After a couple of days on the Trail trekkers develop a craving for fresh bread and toast.
In the early 1990s the campsite at Lake Myola operated an oven which baked bread and heted water for the shower. They served toast with long-life butter and jam in the morning.
They harvested fresh trout in the stream that runs through the lake and served them for breakfast.
They also had a guesthouse with 16 rooms – each one had its own bed and mattress.
They cooked pizza dishes for dinner and were in the process of planting their own coffee beans when a vexatious land dispute initiated by a corrupt KTA Board Member from a nearby village, and which the KTA failed to mediate, put an end to the campsite.
They ran sheep and cattle and the site had its own airfield’
The site has now been abandoned for more than 15 years and remains as a monument to their failure.
The site could be rebuilt – but not until there is a change of management.
A couple of villages were issued with drum ovens from the KTA in 2007 when it was under PNG management and NGOs provided cooking classes. Unfortunately the NGOs never trained the villagers in basic business principles so when the ‘free’ flour was exhausted they stopped baking bread.
Villagers had assumed trek operators would carry in the flour they needed for the bread and they would simply bake it. The NGOs who left with a good-feeling about themselves had not consulted with trek operators in regard to this ‘capacity building’ initiative and so not a single Kina has been realised as a result.
Trekkers Laundry
One of the onerous tasks for trekkers is the washing and drying of muddy/sweaty clothing at the end of each day. Most trekkers would gladly pay $5 (K13) to have their clothes washed each night, dried in a local hut or Haus Drai and delivered back to their tent the next morning.
Potential earnings of up to K442,000 per trekking season could be realised with this initiative.
‘Sing-Sings’ – Re-enactments
Over the past 32 years I have witnessed some spectacular local ‘sing-sings’ and re-enactments of wartime carriers. Trekkers gladly pay K15 each for such occasions but the idea of a consistent co-ordinated plan has obviously not been part of any Aid-funded ‘capacity building’ program. If a sing-sing was planned for just three (3) locations during an 8-day trek it could result in additional earnings of K148,500 per year.
Village Bilums
Trekkers rarely purchase a bilum bag along the Trail because they are no different to the coloured woollen ones they see in Port Moresby. Traditional string bags made from twisted bark fibre with the name of the place and ‘Kokoda Trail’ screened onto them would fetch a premium price. Most trekkers would purchase at least one and many would take the opportunity to purchase a complete set.
If each trekker purchased just one for K150 each it could increase village earnings by up to K495,000 per year.
Carved ‘Kokoda Trail’ sticks are popular items with trekkers at K50 each – this could raise an additional K16,500 per year.
Hot Showers
Trekkers gladly pay K5 for a hot shower at Bombers Campsite. They used to do the same at Lake Myola until it was put out of action by a vexatious land claim at great cost to the local landowners. Campsite owners could easily be assisted by army engineers in building a hot-shower facility as a means of providing a sought after service for trekkers and earning additional income as a result.
One hot shower per day over an 8-dat trek at K5 would increase village earnings by up to K132,000.
Warehousing Facilities
There are no logistic support facilities along the Trail for Kokoda tour operators.
As a result they are required to charter an aircraft to deliver supplies for the second half of their respective treks. This is an expensive option subject to the vagaries of aircraft availability and weather.
There is an opportunity for containers to be used as a warehouse in either Efogi or Naduri villages to store food and equipment on behalf of tour operators who could rent secure storage space.
Such a facility could be combined with a village store to service local community needs.
Kokoda Plateau
The Kokoda Trail plateau has potential as a major wartime tourism hub because of its airfield and proximity to the Isurava memorial. The plateau lends itself to the establishment of a Military Historical Precinct and an Orokaiva Cultural Centre. The proclamation of ‘Kokoda Day’ by the PNG Government on 3rd November would provide a focus for a national philanthropic marketing campaign and become a source of national pride throughout the country.
The above initiatives provide an opportunity for additional income of up to K2.5 million per year by meeting the needs of Kokoda tourists during their trek however it will require a coordinated plan, a realistic timeframe, and a considerable amount of training.
The opportunity is real because trekkers are currently returning with considerable amounts of unspent cash because of a lack of opportunity to spend it on anything during their treks..
Campsites
Campsites should be a unique feature of the Kokoda Trail experience[iii].
They should be built from bush material and contain tent sites with drainage, a kitchen and dining area for individual trek groups, separate sleeping huts and for male and female[iv] support crew, a haus drai for both trekkers and support crew, and hygienic ablution blocks with showers, latrines, with privacy screens. They should also contain sufficient firewood.
Ideally they should be segregated from villages so they do not impose on their day-to-day routine – particularly the Sabbath. They should not be ‘grouped’ with other sites as individual trek groups develop and cherish their own integrity as part of their Kokoda experience.
‘Grouped’ campsites also increase the opportunity for theft and increase the size of the scar on the local environment.
There has been no order in the development of campsites along the Trail over the past 15 years. Landowners carved out sites at random then found there was not enough business to sustain them. Many have since been abandoned and are slowly being reclaimed by the jungle.
Campsites should be strategically located to meet the demands of peak trekking periods.
There is scope for landowners to operate sites as micro-business enterprises.
Campsite fees owed by trekkers could be pre-paid to KTA-TPA management and deposited directly into each landowner’s bank account prior to the arrival of each group.
Campsite Fees
The current campsite fee of K20 for trekkers and K5 for PNG guides could be increased by up to 50 per cent for those sites who meet agreeable minimum standards established by Management.
This would potentially increase their combined income by up to K50,000 a year – it could be further increased with the establishment and accreditation of a proper campsite booking and audit system.
Campsite Audits
There is an urgent need for a ‘Campsite Audit System’ to ensure local landowners receive the full amount owing to them. Such an audit has been recommended many times in recent years but has never been implemented. As a result local campsite owners are being seriously short-changed by unscrupulous tour operators.
It is a relatively easy task for Tourism Rangers to gather the details of payments from each tour group at each campsite and relay the figures back to the Chief Ranger. For some inexplicable reason the KTA has refused to adopt such a system.
Campsite Register
There needs to be a Campsite Register provided to every campsite owner along the Kokoda Trail. The Campsite Register would be photographed by the Rangers as part of their campsite audit process and submitted to the management authority at the end of each calendar month.
The Campsite Register should include:
- Date
- Trek No (as per Trek Permit)
- Direction of Trek (Kokoda to Owers or Owers to Kokoda)
- No of Trekkers
- No of Trek Guides/Porters
- Total campsite fees paid
- Total payment for food provided by campsite owner/village
- Trek leaders name
- Trek leaders signature
Kokoda tour operators would be required to pay all guesthouse and campsite fees prior to moving on from that location.
The ultimate objective would be to pay all campsite fees in advance according to approved trek itineraries. These could be deposited into campsite owners bank accounts immediately after the trek operator reports that all facilities and services were provided (clean toilets, discreet ablution facilities, dining facilities, haus drai, firewood, accommodation for guides and trekkers, etc.).
Philanthropy
There is an opportunity for an independent philanthropic entity such as a ‘Kokoda Trust’ to be established to meet the charitable needs of village communities.
More than 65,000 Australians, including some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the country, have trekked across the Kokoda Trail over the past 20 years.
Many of these would have been willing to leave a footprint behind through the support of community development initiatives in education, health, agriculture and village learning centres if they had been approached to do so and they knew there was a financial management system based on good governance.
This has not happened because the management authority has never developed a philanthropic database despite being urged to do so on many occassions over the years.
| It’s worth noting that if just 10 percent of those 65,000 trekkers agreed to donate the equivalent cost of a cappuccino and scone per week, a ‘Kokoda Philanthropic Trust Account’ would now have an automatic income stream of $2 million (PNGK6 million per year to assist with education, health and community development. |
The reality today is they have zero income from this source because the Kokoda Initiuative and their surrogate Kokoda Track Authority has been either too ignorant, too incompetent, or too lazy to implement such a philanthropic trust account!
The reluctance of government to proclaim ‘Kokoda Day’ as a national day of commemoration on 3 November each year had denied past trekkers an opportunity participate in national fundraising campaigns to support philanthropic initiatives.
LINK: Our Kokoda Charity
Conclusion
The current management system imposed on the Kokoda Trail by Australian environment officials since 2009 has long-since collapsed and is well beyond its use-by date.
The root cause of the decay has been the focus on environmental and social issues at the expense of pilgrimage tourism based on our shared military heritage; dependence on aid-funding; incompetence; and the insidious cancer of nepotism and corruption.
As a result of the management dysfunction, villagers across the Trail have been denied the potential to increase employment opportunities; to establish a sustainable philanthropic fund; and generate additional income streams of up to K2 million per year.
This will not change until the Kokoda Trail is managed at the national level as opposed to the current Provincial and Local Government level.
To realize its potential as a world-class pilgrimage tourism destination and maximise the economic benefits for the traditional landowner communities it must be managed as a commercial SME enterprise within Kumul Consolidated Holdings.
The establishment of a ‘Kokoda Trust’ with strict governance has the potential to meet the health and education needs of all villagers across the Trail.
Recommendations
- National Executive Council acquire the boundaries of the Kokoda Trail, as gazetted in 1972, as a national tourism asset (a Kokoda Heritage Park’ perhaps!).
- The current DFAT ‘Kokoda Initiative’ be rebadged as the ‘Owen Stanley Ranges to reflect its environment objectives.
- Establish Kokoda Tourism as a commercial enterprise within Kumul Consolidated Holdings.
- Invite Australia to develop a ‘Joint Agreement for the Commemoration of the Shared Wartime Heritage between Australia and Papua New Guinea’.
- Establish a ‘Kokoda Trust’ in partnership with Network Kokoda’ for the philanthropic benefit of village communities.
Related Links:
[i][i] The Australian Government has to accept responsibility for the demise of Kokoda Tourism since they assumed responsibility for the Kokoda Trail in 2009. They should therefore accept the fact they have a responsibility to towards safeguarding our military heritage across the Kokoda Trail and other significant campaign sites in Papua and New Guinea. Lest We Forget!
[ii] This would be partially offset by terminating the current American Anthropologist who was engaged as Australia’s National Military Heritage Advisor under a recruiting process that could best be described as dodgy, and terminating the current agreement with Queensland National Parks.
[iii] In French Polynesia all hotels are required to ensure the exterior of their accommodation rooms are built to a ‘traditional design’ with bush material covering each roof. This has created an industry where local groups specialise in prefabricated natural roofing components which are replaced every couple of years. For the visitor it creates an impression of a native nirvana. A similar vision for Kokoda campsites would have a similar impact on trekkers and ensure a constant flood of idyllic pictures for social media.
[iv] PNG females are capable of employment as guides and porters however this is not currently possible as there are no separate accommodation or ablution facilities for them in campsites.
