Travel Guide Kiunga

Kiunga owes its existence to being the highest navigable point in the Fly River, where the barges transporting the copper extracted to Tabubil pass. The region has an important financial outlet from the mining company of Ok Tedi, which compensates for the ecological damage caused by the mine and the passage of vessels on the tribal portions of the river. But to see the city, we wonder where that money goes. The mining company is supposed to provide infrastructure. It obviously only provides those who arrange it: a road between Tabubil and Kiunga, another recently opened to the Ok Tedi River, in compensation for the mine destruction. Eventually, this road should also lead to Indonesia. For the rest… no school, no communal center, even the road that crosses the only shopping artery of Kiunga is full of nests. It's like the same kind of outfits held by Asians as everywhere in the country, the people don't look richer than elsewhere, and there's no one. no sign of special training to provide skilled work to the inhabitants of the region. Most of the employees, whether from the mine or from around the world, come either from abroad or from other provinces in the country. So where is the money going? Most of it returns directly to traditional landowners as cash. And bad languages say they're content with it and swallow it in beer… which is probably true. But for those who do not have the chance to be compensated, i. e. all those who do not live directly on the shores of the river or the polluted rivers, they continue their lives more or less traditionally. Hunting, culture of the saga, fishing and palm houses remain their daily lives. A daily upheaval only by the appearance of the roads, the villages come to enjoy these communication axes by settling nearby. And life flows so far, without much improvement, despite the dollars that circulate every year on the Fly River in the form of copper… yet, for ornithologists, Kiunga is a forced crossing to observe birds at Papua low elevations, including many species of cradle birds. This is thanks to the presence of Samuel Kepuknai, a true bird specialist, who, guided by his passion, has opened many points of observation in the region.