[ARSCLIST] Papua New Guinea history slipping away

[Al Quaglieri <al@xxxxxxxxx>]

This from a Papua New Guinea newspaper:

http://www.thenational.com.pg/063006/nation7.htm

PNG's historical records vanishing

By PETER KORUGL
HISTORICAL and rare records about Papua New Guinea's diverse 
traditions and events dating back to the 1930s are disappearing.
This is because archives and public libraries have closed or are on 
the verge of closing due to lack of funds, maintenance and modern equipment.
According to reports from the Office of Libraries and Archives, 
records and materials including books were slowing deteriorating 
because of poor care.
The National Archives and Public Records Services runs two archives, 
the main one in Port Moresby and a branch in Lae, which has no 
records of deals, transactions and activities involving governments 
and their agencies dating back to 1990.
The building housing the archive was built in the 1950s and is deteriorating.
"We need at least K10,000 to do up the whole place and fix the air 
condition. The humidity and heat are affecting papers. We also need 
computers to store all our records.
"The papers are becoming brittle and breaking up," Lendy Som, officer 
in charge of the Lae archive, said.
According to the National Library Services, the 26 public libraries 
built in all provinces and some districts in the early 1960s were all 
not operating.
Provincial governments had failed to adequately fund and maintain 
libraries, resulting in only 11 libraries operating.
Those that have closed are Lorengau, Vanimo, Wewak, Arawa, Bulolo, 
Popondetta, Samarai, Misima, Daru, Kerema, Kainantu, Mount Hagen, 
Wabag, Kwikila and Lae.
The large volumes or recorded oral tradition are also disappearing as 
the National Broadcasting Corporation does not have the proper 
equipment to play the recordings.
The 19 radio stations were started in the early 1970s and the 
recording of legends, myths, interviews, events, traditional songs 
and string band music date back some 35 years. The large volumes of 
records stored in the stations' sound libraries were slowly 
deteriorating because the tapes and equipment were old and outdated.
"It's a huge volume of recordings that NBC has now when you take into 
account all the materials that are kept in all the sound libraries of 
provincial radio stations. These records are national assets and they 
could be lost forever when proper care is not provided.
"I am seeking extra funds from the Morobe provincial government to 
upgrade and refurbish the sound library with Radio Morobe," Henry 
Tamarua, director of Radio Morobe, said.


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