Moli Pakoro, 33, of Malo Island is the only worker from Vanuatu driving a giant crusher at Ok Tedi Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He is married to a ‘meri’ from the giant Melanesian country and has four children.
![]() |
Entrance to Ok Tedi Gold Mine. Photo: Ok Tedi page |
At 18, Pakoro became a seasonal worker under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme in New Zealand. “I supported my wife to graduate from university in PNG,” he recalled.
Asked what his first sight of something in PNG that he had never seen before in public, he replied, “Guns because here in Vanuatu, we don’t see anyone with guns in public.
“But on my first arrival at Jackson Airport, I was not afraid because I was there to meet my girlfriend and her family.”
They had been apart on different countries for a while.
“We had not seen each other for two years so on my arrival I searched the huge colourful crowd for her while she also searched for me,” Pakoro said.
“I turned my head and there she was standing next to me without even knowing that I was next to her. I placed the palm of my hands over her eyes. She knew it was me. We took a plane then landed at an airstrip and took a bus and travelled for a whole day to arrive in her village!
“I trialed for heavy duty and I chose to drive a crusher and did my three months training in Cairns, Australia. I came back and drove a crusher at Ok Tedi Gold Mine.
“I enjoy working on the machine. A giant boulder is loaded on the crusher but it is smashed without any problem into sand. It is deposited into a kind of strainer and with water, gold is separated from waste matter.
“I touched and held gold in my hand. It is heavy. Sometimes it is found from panning in a river.
“At times we go down to my wife’s bubu’s place at Sepik and panned for gold in the river there, pack the grains of gold in small Panadol-like containers and sell the gold at Jayapura in West Papua, on the border of Indonesia.
“In PNG, you can drive through Wewak, Vanimo and Jayapura. You can pay approximately VT10, 000-VT15, 000 by bus and drive through”.
Asked to talk about the minimum wage of Papua New Guineans, Pakoro said, “In PNG, the standard of education is higher than Vanuatu and as the second best salary paying country in the Pacific below Australia, their people are better educated than us here in Vanuatu too.
“For instance, my small ‘tawi’ went as far as Year 6 in Santo but on their return to PNG, he started at year four to meet their standard”.
Pakoro said this explains why in PNG, their people own huge shops and super markets and expand even as far as the United States. This is because they are very well educated to compete in the market place. Their academic education is the key to their economic success.
“Look at my own case. I dropped off at Year 9 at Santo. If you enjoy a cook’s recipe, don’t keep going back to eat at the same restaurant but learn how to cook the same recipe yourself,” he said.
“I have assisted a little girl that my wife and I had adopted and we cared for her until she entered university. She is completing her law course next year to graduate with her Law Degree.
“What a satisfactory feeling knowing that you have contributed to this success story for her to graduate to enter the professional workforce.”
His advice to young Ni-Vanuatu like him is to study to climb up the ladder of success
“I decided I wanted to drive a heavy duty vehicle and travelled to learn how to drive it,” he said. “The pay is good and I studied in Cairns in Australia and came home with my qualification to control this machine. Good pay. No problem.
“Now at 33, I have yet to touch kava or cigarette or ‘lif tabak’. I take beer just to socialise and that’s it. Kava is selfish because after drinking your kava, you return home and eat of the food that your wife and children have eaten. Your family do not drink kava and you spend a lot of money on your kava and that is selfish.
“We all go overseas to work to earn money for our families so please let us earn to save and not spend.
“Know how and when to communicate with your supervisor about any challenges that you or your team face. You must show your concern to stand for your colleagues’ rights”.
His advice to Vanuatu seasonal workers in New Zealand and Australia is for them to save their earnings to invest it by going into business in the national Capital or Provincial Capitals to create employment opportunities for their families and or ‘wantoks’ towards reducing the number of young people leaving to do seasonal works overseas.
“My father-in-law is involved in agriculture so I asked if we could set him up in agriculture and he agreed. I invested in my first 200 hectares of land and went into cocoa farming, pawpaw farming and poultry farming,” he concluded.
news@dailypost.vu
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has held a major internal meeting on the Island of New Guinea to reaffirm the Resolutions of the 2023 Congress.
Approved by ULMWP President Benny Wenda and Prime Minister (PM) Edison Waromi, 12 Cabinet Ministers and seven Regional Executives have been reaffirmed in their existing roles.
With this move, the ULMWP is building capacity on the ground and confirming its status as a government-in-waiting.
President Wenda said the ULMWP is the legitimate representative of West Papuans and is ready to represent West Papua at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).
The first ULMWP Congress was held in November 2023 in Jayapura, West Papua.
Attended by over 5,000 West Papuans from all factions and all seven customary regions, the Congress attendees elected Mr. Benny Wenda as ULMWP President and Mr. Edison Waromi as Prime Minister.
The final Congress Resolutions reaffirmed the ULMWP’s existing 2020 Constitution, internal structure, and threefold roadmap of a) MSG full membership b) a UN Human Rights visit to West Papua c) a Self-Determination Referendum.
An internal ULMWP meeting was held on the Island of New Guinea in April 2024, and was attended by the majority of the Executive and Cabinet. All Cabinet Ministers were invited.
![]() |
President Benny Wenda (centre) formalises Government-in-waiting in PNG. By Len Garae |
The existing ULMWP roadmap, constitution, and Green State Vision were all reaffirmed.
President Wenda confirmed the current 12 Cabinet Ministers and seven Regional Executives were all also reaffirmed in their existing roles.
They are as follows:
West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL
P.O. Box 1571, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu, Ph: +678 5616733, Mb: +678 5540090 E-mail: ayamiseba@yahoo.com.au, awulkeweng@yahoo.com
_____________________________________________________________________________
20th June 2010.
A Motion on Foreign Policy regarding West Papua
had been passed in the Vanuatu Parliament.
1. Sponsor and pass a motion in national Parliament officially declaring that Vanuatu’s foreign policy is to support the achievement of the independence of West Papua;
2. Sponsor a resolution at the 2010 Melanesian Spearhead Group’s Leaders Summit that the independence movement in West Papua be given Observer Status at the MSG;
3. Sponsor a resolution at the 2010 Pacific Island Forum Leaders Summit that the independence movement in West Papua be given Observer Status at the Forum;
4. Sponsor resolutions to the Melanesian Spearhead Group’s Leaders Summit, the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Summit and the United Nations calling for fact-finding missions be sent by each of these bodies to West Papua to investigate alleged violations of the human rights of it’s Melanesian populations;
5. Become the official state sponsor of the case of West Papua in the International Court of Justice seeking a judgment on the legality of the 1969 “Act of Free Choice”;
6. Sponsor a resolution in the United Nations to put West Papua back on the United Nations’ list of Non-Self-Governing Territories;
7. Create a West Papua Desk in the Department of Foreign Affairs with a budget sufficient to facilitate the Government’s international advocacy efforts in support of West Papua’s independence;
8. Ratify the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, to provide Vanuatu with an avenue for additional support to the people of West Papua.
In his address, responding to the bipartisan support for the Motion the Prime Minister, Hon. Edward Natape MP promised that he will sponsor the issue of West Papua to MSG and PIF-meetings. He will propose that the independent movement of West Papua be granted Observer Status with these two regional bodies. The Honorable Prime Minister also stated that his government will proceed to apply for West Papua to be relisted with the UN Decolonization Committee in order for the Territory to be given the due process of Decolonization.
Representatives from the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, Dr. John Otto Ondawame (Vice Chairman) and Mr. Andy Ayamiseba (Vanuatu Mission) were very grateful to the government, the opposition and the people of Vanuatu for this very historic undertaking on the issue calling a clear foreign policy of the Government of Vanuatu in supporting the independence of West Papua. We also express our special thank goes to all members of the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association for their endless support in the past seven years urging the Government of Vanuatu to declare its clear foreign policy on independence of West Papua, which calls were ended with a successful story nduring the Extra Ordinary Parliamentary session on 19th June 2010 in Port Vila.
Mr Manele said past Prime Minister’s elections have been met with the act of violence and destruction which had affected our economy and livelihoods.
However, he said today Solomon Islands must show the world that “we are better than that”.
“We must respect and uphold the democratic process of electing our Prime Minister and set an example for our children and their children,” Mr Manele said.
Mr Manele won as Prime Minister with 31 votes and his contender the Honourable Member of Parliament for Auki Langalanga Matthew Wale 18 votes. A total of 49 votes were cast during the Prime Minister’s Election this morning with one absent.
The Prime Minister elect said Solomon Islands is still on the recovery path after the COVID-19 global pandemic and the 2021 riots.
He said the recent report by the Central Bank on the state of our economy is concerning and calls for a more focus and aggressive approach.
“It is not an easy task, but we will be reaching out to all relevant stakeholders as we progress on our road to recovery,” the Prime Minister elect said.
Mr Manele also outlined the immediate tasks of the Government for National Unity and Transformation. These include the appointment of the members of Cabinet, Members of Parliament oath of allegiance and the election of the speaker and deputy speaker.
The Prime Minister elected added that his Government for National Unity and Transformation has already begun work on its policy and 100 days program which will be unveiled soon.
“There are also a number of legislations that are ready to come before parliament. These include the value added tax bill, space economic zone bill, mineral resources bill, forestry bill and others.
“Cabinet will meet and decide on the priority legislations and policy programs for 2024 which include whether we need to revised the 2024 Budget or not,” Mr Manele said.
Mr Manele is the Honourable Member of Parliament for Hograno Kia Havulei and the first MP from Isabel Province to be elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands.
“This is indeed a historic moment for my people of Isabel Province to have one of their sons as a Prime Minister of Solomon Islands.
“I will discharge my duties diligently and with integrity. I will at all times put the interest of the people and country above all other interests,” the Prime Minister elect said.