Robbery in Goroka

Goroka is slightly bigger as Kundiawa. It is the capital of Eastern Higlands, the province next to Simbu. I have already done the two hours PMV drive several times. Goroka has more stores, banks and offers other necessities as well. The highland highway is beautiful and picturesque. The road goes over several passes, where it is considerably colder and often cloudy. Along the road there are several markets, waiting for PMV drivers to stop. The people sell flour balls, buai (of course), drinks, cigarettes, coffee candies, saucages of pig meat, some sweet potato and sugar fruit.

Usually, Goroka is a very pleasant town. And I can walk around more anonymous, compared to the little town of Kundiawa. However, today I witnessed a robbery. A woman, mid forty, quite heavy, was crossing the main road to Lae. On her shoulders a little kid, a year of two. On her back a bilum*. She just came from the market. Suddenly, a young man with long hair cut the handle of the bilum with his bushknife. He turned around and smashed his big knife several times on the street. Bang, bang, bang: he warned bystanders not to approach. Then he ran of, jumped over the crash barrier and disappeared in the market.

The woman meanwhile was in shock. She had not moved a single step. Actually, it looked like the robber had stopped everyone, so that he could take the bilum and walk away freely. After he left the scene, people started moving again. Then, the crowd gathered around the victim. And at once she realised what just had happened. She panicked and told her growing audience that she kept 1500 kina in her bilum. That is about 350 euro’s, a lot of money in PNG. It’s a good lesson for me too. Take care of my bilum!



* bilum = traditional woven colourful bags, widely used throughout PNG, especially by women to carry food from the gardens to their home or the market.