Friday, September 20, 2013

Elders weep for sacred mountain



By JOHNNY POIYA

THE fathers of the Kombulga-Minimbi tribes of Dei District wailed and shed tears on Monday when a sacred mountain in their area was bulldozed for the construction of the Muglamp-Eng road.
Local tribes in Moga and surrounding villages in the district in Western Highlands Province consider Mt Dapna as a sacred place.
It was named after Dapna Olga, a ‘Papa Graun’ in the area who has strong ties with nature. Nobody knew Olga’s origin. He was a total stranger who lived on the mountain for ages.
A midget, he was feared and respected beyond the boundaries of the district.
He passed away last year and was buried on the mountain.
The road development which saw the mountain side, Olga’s home, torn down by excavators, and the recall of the 1950s when their fathers worked for over a year with wood and stone tools to simply cut a narrow road through from Kraldi to Moga, moved the fathers to a mixture of tears of joy and heartbreak.
Local MP Wesley Nukundi, who funded the road project and is well versed with the history of the mountain, gathered the elders together and hosted a feast on the mountain.
Only a handful of those present could recall and tell of the days and nights it took them to build a narrow road, using stone axes and sticks, on the mountain top. The others were long gone.
With the widening of the mountain pass, the road access is now open for development to flow through to Moga, Eng and the villages beyond.
“This is an historical moment for the elders of the tribes. We are not only opening up the road network for other government services to to flow through, but have chosen to go along with modern changes. It’s a bit sad when such a historical mountain is being cut through, but we have to move on with the rest of the world,” Mr Nukundi said.
The MP made available K5 million for road development between Muglamp and Eng. Tribal leader Solomon Kondo Yei said it marked an achievement which no elderly person in the area thought was possible. No such attempt was made in the past.
“We feared and respected Dapna Olga and his mountain. Now that both are gone, we put all our blessings and respect on Mr Nukundi who is bringing changes and showing us the way to go forward in the modern world,” Mr Yei, who was a boy when his forefathers used wooden spades to build the colonial road in the area, said.
Another local leader and Mr Nukundi’s public relations officer, Supa Rando, said all tribes in the area accepted the road project and the elders sealed it with the approval that there would be no compensation payment for any properties damaged. He said this has paved way for the contractor to work very swiftly without any disturbance from the locals.
“Our forefathers feared and respected Dapna Olga. It’s the same with Nunkundi now but at a different and positive level,” Mr Rando said.

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