Divisive elements emerge in PNG university protest

Transcript

The University of Papua New Guinea says students are divided about continuing their protest which could cause the academic year to cancelled.

The students, whose boycott of classes is in its third week, are calling for the Prime Minister to step down and face corruption allegations.

The University's director of public relations, James Robins told Ben Robinson that police were called onto the campus after the students committed a number of crimes.

JAMES ROBINS: Break and enters into offices, we've had the theft of property, the use of weapons to threaten staff and students. In particular one of our pro vice-chancellors was held up with bush knives and his vehicle taken off him. The assault of university support staff who do our cleaning, grounds and parks and gardens, the intimidation of students who wish to continue their studies and also the barricading of public thoroughfares.

BEN ROBINSON: You think there is division among students about their action?

JR: There is extreme division. Many of the students have vacated the Waigani campus. Those who don't want to become involved in it, and just wish to continue their studies. And many of the - shall we say - perpetrators of wanting to continue the boycott, they've now resorted to face-painting and the chanting of slogans at various times during the day and night. And it's intimidation of those students who do want to come to class. The academic staff and also non-academic staff at the university have come to work. As of Monday, they have been intimidated quite considerably since that time. Many of the girls in particular. It's in some ways not only verbal but it's the non-verbal intimidation of the following, I know where you live and I know where you are-kind of thing. We now are in a situation where the acaademic senate on the 6th of May, they made a block of resolutions, and two of them still stand. If the students absent themselves for more than two weeks from their enrolled programmes, Their academic programmes for semester one become untenable. And the other one is in relation to taking the necessary actions to ensure that classes do continue and that the rights of students to continue classes and the rights of students and staff are both protected. The other one, which of course was from the same group, was the police presence at the university. The police are in no way on the campus to suppress the students' democratic right to express themselves.

BR: The danger of the academic semester being cancelled, is that going to become a reality?

JR: The academic senate standing committee will meet before the end of this week and they will assess the situation, and at the end of this week they will be the ones who instruct the university management and administration as to what the next course of action will be. But in the meantime, I've walked amongst the students and there's so many of them saying: for God's sake we just want to go back to classes. We've now got so many parents, who are kind of ringing us and coming and making comments. You know, just a couple from this morning and the guy said it's my wish for my son to graduate at the end of the year; now my son's education is being jeopardised, there's nothing left for us in the remote community where I come from, so we won't have a life. Another one said you know, what are the plans for my son? How will you change Papua New Guinea if you've got no education, son? Will the student leaders pay for your re-enrollment fees?

BR: Are you in dialogue with the student leaders?

JR: yesterday, they were requested to a meeting with the administration and also the police, and they refused to come to that meeting.

BR: Do you know why?

JR: Because the police have prevented them from going on to the streets and protesting, they haven't satisfied the 14 day request to the metropolitan superintendent, Ben Turi. They haven't given him fourteen days for starters and he has just refused them to go out into the street. What they did yesterday, they then quietly went out and they attempted to encourage activists and the public to now come on to the campus because they are not allowed to go out there, as it would be illegal. So they've now tried to get everybody to come on campus: all of the non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and perform it that way.

BR: What's wrong with these non-student activists getting involved, do you see a difficulty there?

JR: To come on to the campus you must have an invitation.

BR: Even an invitation from the student body wouldn't suffice?

JR:They have no rights to invite people on to the campus for activities which would not be associated with academic studies and the continuation of academic studies.

BR: Do you agree that there is a danger that these groups coming on to the campus are encouraging civil insurrection?

JR: Let's not call it civil insurrection. Let me just say this, Ben: There are people who are on campus at the moment with the student groups who are maintaining actively that boycott. They are not students. Some of them are ex-students, and the one thing that you must remember is those people - I've got obviously political contacts outside - it matters nothing to them. They are not the ones studying for a degree, they are not the ones who will lose out. You've got people who've got a vested interest in the issues at hand, as many of the people in the country have, but they're utilising the student body to their advantage.