Year: 2020
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: RESETTLEMENT, MYTHS AND MEMORIALISATION Shifting to SaihoAdministration plans for resettling the displaced Orokaiva advanced during March-April following what appeared to have been the last of the large explosive eruptions on 5 March.This did not mean that the area of total devastation would be redeveloped-far from it.Neither the administration nor the Anglican Church favoured the rebuilding of either Higaturu Government Station or Sangara Mission in what had been demonstrated very clearly as sites that were too hazardous for reoccupation.Many of the surviving refugees felt similarly.Development of new villages and support facilities along the Waseta-Popondetta road was favoured by the administration, although they were aware that they could be accused of taking advantage of the disaster to promulgate a government policy that had been favoured for years.Small settlements or hamlets of less than a hundred people distributed over a wide area may have allowed ready access of the Orokaiva to nearby traditional lands, and separated them from enemies, but in the context of improved postwar community development and the efficient provision of health, educational, agricultural and administrative services, larger centres were needed.A further advantage of developing villages and facilities along the Waseta-Popondetta road was that the road itself could continue to be a 'lifeline' in the event of future volcanic eruptions.
Source: ANU Press eBooks
DOI: 10.22459/rm.2020.08
Author: R. Wally Johnson
Institution: Australian National University
Language: English
Subfield: Transportation
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3015107868