Chainsaw Training in Papua New

2011

Felled with a Stihl MS 660 4 tankfulls and 1 and 3/4 hrs later

Introduction

Mgc was asked to go and train chainsaw operators in Papua New Guinea in Sep 2011 during

the making of a new Liquified Gas Pipeline from the highlands of Papua New Guinea to the main city Port Moresby. The project is ongoing and is due to be finished in Summer 2014.

The operators were sourced from the local tribes along the route. Proposed tree felling is for 300Km.

PNG LNG is an integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities

in the Southern Highlands and Western Provinces of Papua New Guinea, including liquefaction and storage facilities (located northwest of Port Moresby on the Gulf of Papua) with capacity of 6.6 million tons per year. There are over 700 kilometres (450 miles) of

pipelines connecting the facilities.

The investment for the initial phase of the Project, excluding shipping costs, is estimated at US$15 billion. Over the life of the Project, it is expected that over nine trillion cubic feet of

gas will be produced and sold.

PNG LNG will provide a long-term supply of Liquefied Natural Gas to four major LNG customers in the Asia region including: Chinese Petroleum Corporation, Taiwan; Osaka Gas Company Limited; The Tokyo Electric Power Company Inc.; and Unipec Asia Company

Limited, a subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec).

The Project will progress in a series of development phases with the first LNG deliveries scheduled to begin in 2014.

Part of the pipeline runs through natural forest and part offshore. Due to the sensitivity of the

project and the environmental impact on the land certain stringement elements have been put in to place to insure that minimum impact is done to the environment. A corridor of 30metres

for the pipeline was required to be cut through the forest. This includes space to lay the pipe and to have a small access road to run beside it after the project is finished.

Due to the strict guidelines laid down due to the environmental requirements a lot of forest clearance was to be done by hand. Specially the larger trees where directional felling became

important. It was also important to minimise the damage to the footprint in the forest so all the material when being felled was to be kept strictly in the corridor of the (right of way) the

width of the clearing was to be 30metres from side to side.

Due to the contractor not having any skilled tree felling contactors the proposal was to contract local people thus to aid the local economy and to train them in the use of chainsaws. Due to the contractor being a specialist in the civil engineering field, there was a large void in

the skilled use of trainers to train the communities. To cut a long story short the contractor did not use skilled trainers and very quickly had a couple of bad accidents on the tree felling

teams. which caused the Client Exxon Mobile to halt the operation until professional trainers could be found to work with the community members. (see map below) in the end 9,000 people are being employed in the project.

MGC role

This came to light when a colleague passed on an email from a French company who were looking

for suitable trainers for Chainsaw to go out and work in Papua New Guinea. MGC were invited to

participate in the project and Mark Brewer of MGC went out on a 10 week consultancy. The only

condition of the consultancy was that every day was to be worked so 70 days of work 12 hours a day

without a rest and 10 days for travelling to and from site.

The Journey

The journey started on a Wednesday with a flight to Brisbane stopping at Singapore this flight took

20 hrs in total. Then over night in Brisbane to sort out the visas for Papua New Guinea and then a

flight out the next morning to Port Moresby which took 3 hrs. Then into the offices of the French

company to sign on for induction and then another night in Port Moresby. After this another flight

out to the interior in a small twin propped aeroplane (twin Otter) out to two more small airstrips

finally landing at Camp 2. I stay the night there ready for my final flight to another camp 3 Gobe

Camp where I was to be based for the remainder of my visit.

large camp in the middle of the forest (see plate 1)

The Project Team Breakdown

Project Management

Constuction Management

H&S Team

Enviromental Team

Security

Health

Each of these form teams and under these teams are more expats who work as satelite crews in the

other camps and under them are the other local people who are generally are sourced from the

local area.

The camps are a mix of 35 different nationalitlies in my camp I am the only Englishman in the camp

all the rest are a mix of countries from indonesia to central Asia, Europe, North America, Central

America and South America not forgetting the Australias and New Zealand. English is the national

language of PNG so English is the working language for the project. The Construction company is

French owned so all managerial positions are French staff. 3 camps will be built all to the same size

as plate 1

The Camp

(Plate 1) One of 3 camps

I began to realise the scale of this operation and the money involved was staggering. I was shown to

a room in a converted shipping container. Virtually everything is a converted shipping container

(plate 2) The Accommodation

where I was provide with everything towels cloths socks malarial pills ppe and the rest. The food

arrangements. I still was not at my destination yet as I had to undergo my company induction and

safety briefing and also a defensive driving course with a test at the end of it. The defensive driving

test was carried out the next morning at 5.30am in the morning. First time ever I have had a test at

5.30 in the morning.

Next morning I was ready to be shipped of again in the helicopter to my final site where we were

responsible to clear about a small strip of 6 kms for a spur pipeline of the main pipeline.

I was told the working day started at 5.30am and ended at 5.45pm. Meal times were 4.00am to

5.00am in the morning and then evening meal at 6.00pm when the working day finished. Lunch was

eaten in the forest at midday. when I arrived the next day at the final camp Gobe Camp I had been

travelling for 6 days so it was nice finally to be able to unpack my bags once and for all.

It was interesting to see the infrastructure that had to be put in for these camps. Fences, Roads,

Communications, Eating facilities, Security, Airstrips, Helicopter pads, workshops, Water purification

plants, Hospitals, clothing stores, Offices, Equipment parks. Vehicle parks as far as the eye could see.

(see plate4)

Lorries, Vehicles and Machinery park (one of 4 camps)Plate 4

Everything as far as waste was concerned was recycled. It was just like being back at home with the

local council recycling. nothing was thrown away. A very strict regime of care was taken in relation

to Environmental impact even down to using spill pads to fill the chainsaws up with. All the old oil

was disposed of and taken away for conversion into other by products. All the rubbish was

incinerated and what could not be burnt was packed ready for removal away from site.

Logistical Issues

When I arrived we were in the middle of the rainy season so everything was very wet. It continued

to rain for another 4 weeks consistently which started causing major problems for the projects. The

main project road had been under water to a depth of more than 2 metres for more than 5weeks

which started causing major logistical problems for us who were in the next camp and could not

receive anything in form of supply at all. So food was being flown in by helicopter and aeroplane

helicopter carrying 700kg and the Twin Otter carrying 1200kg. Still it was only enough to just supply

our camp with 400people. The amounts are impressive when you see everything is carried in

containers. Even heavy lift Chinooks were working bringing in high value and urgent equipme nt

payloads 6 to 7 tons. If you can imagine a Komatso PC 300 thirty ton machine as a capacity for diesel

fuel of a tank of 500litres and this only lasts for 2 days. Then on site multiply this by 50 - 100

machines plus a fleet of lorries more plant. You are looking at many, many tons of diesel being

consumed by the machines everyday these have to be replenished which means all this diesel has to

be brought in from the coast. That is a lot of diesel. This is one example not forgetting spares, food,

accommodation, cleaning , office and so it goes on. One fill up for our machine of 500litres lasts me

for my vehicle 6 weeks it last him 2 days. So you are looking at more than a million litres being used

every few days to think my vehicle only takes 80 litres and this last most of the week. A large cost.

The rainfall caused such a large problem as the dry season which was expected arrived about 2

months late. For one week all machines were at a standstill until diesel could be brought in. The

main worry was the generators for the camp which supplied living conditions electric cooking etc.

These came very close to running out of diesel. In the end we had a few dry days where some

supplies were able to come through diesel being the first.

A Toyota Hilux Deep wading

Social Issues

The project are is covering about 7000 km and encompasses 33,000 people k. There are 11 different

languages spoken in project area. The security threat is very high and constant strikes and defiance

for the company are shown understandably. The cultural shock for some of these people from living

in the rainforest to being given a job and money and modern cloths is quite a challenge. The mobile

phone has become the new craze of this country and everybody has one even down to somebody

who lives in the forest who will go to somewhere to have it charged. There are numerous tribal

clasher which cause additional problems and some tribes have not spoken to each other for years if

they live on either side of the river and the other lives the other side. In the country there are a

known 750 languages plus. Courtesy is very important here good morning etc being vital say basic

politeness is a must and is considered an insult if not received once a good morning has been said. It

is said that the change in character can be immediate and dangerous. The last company member to

speak to one of the communities in a way that was not polite ended up in hospital with multiple

machete wounds.

The women are given away by their Father who decides who they will marry it generally comes

down to how many pigs they have. Pigs in PNG are a very important animal and this dictates the

wealth of the family. Giving the women away is called ''Brideprice''. Normally a number between 10

and 15 pigs would be given for one women. Each pig fetching a price of about £250. So roughly

£3,000 for a women to marry. There is no limit to how many wife's the men may have and most

have at least 2 or 3 wife's. Also the famous Kina shell still plays a large part in the Brideprice and 10

to 20 of these shells would be given to the Bride which she would wear round her head during the

marriage ceremony.

This project for the people has created very high expectations with all the communities although not

all communities will be involved equally which is a difficult balance to get right. The expectations are

for Cash, Jobs, community projects and other benefits. This often results in Immigration,

disappointment, Resettlement and pay-back eventually to those who have not benefitted. So very

difficult issues that have to be resolved. When these expectations have not been met problems

have resulted in manifestations as Blockades of whole camps where no one can leave for days, Hi

Jacking of equipment, Threats, assaults, sexual assaults included. One of these incidents included a

truck rolling over and killing the operator. The whole family then arrived and wanted to be

reimbursed financially. The culture however is fight first then talk.

Health

Health here is a challenging issue due to the conditions being so difficult. Malaria is taken very

seriously (Plasmodium Malaria) we were given one hours power point presentation on things like

this for example:-

A - Awareness

B - Bites

C - Pills

D - Diagnosis

A special malarial diagnoses and curative kit is given to everybody leaving the project are with

special notes to give to you local doctor. This includes giving oneself a blood test to see if you have

contracted the disease if you have there is also a treatment to start straight away. Prevention

includes the form of pills no skin uncovered at any time in otherwise long trousers and long sleeve

shirts with malarial pills and spray to use at all times.

Malaria kills about 40 million people a year more than all the countries problems with people dying

for one reason or another put together in the world including all conflicts as well. There about 3,000

species of mosquito of which 450 of Anopheles mosquito give malaria to people.

Aids is another big issue and it is not known currently now many people are suffering from Aids in

PNG. The project gives out free protection due to the numbers of men working in and around the

camps.

Leeches are also a problem with them being picked up on a very regular basic. There is a type of

leech that crawls up the body t climb into the eye and is very difficult to deal with. Already we have

all had this type of leech picked off our faces for us. They are very small and you cannot really feel

them on your face. They used crawl up my legs.

Dengue fever is endemic in PNG and causes severe illness and can lead to death. Its is caused by a

special species of mosquito that carries the virus. Between 50 and 100 million people are killed each

year from contracting Dengue Fever. There is no real cure for it.

No alcohol is allowed in the camps and no drugs. There is a thriving black market due to the large

number of personnel being employed by the company. Law enforcement is nonexistent so if you are

stopped on the road by a blockade you have to sit and wait it out while the CLO (local community

representatives) they go and discuss the issues they represent the company and we wait until they

have sorted a financial deal out then we can continue to work.

Plate 5

Aids in Png is very serious and ranks as number three in the world for people dying of the disease.

Dangerous Animals

There are host of dangerous animals in the rainforest to contend with. Crocodiles being particularly

dangerous in the lowlands and swampy areas where they are actively aggressive in attacking people.

Leaches are common and at the end of each day a close inspection of the body needs to take place

to make sure you have no additional quests visiting.

Snakes are common in the rainforest and some of the most dangerous in the world are found in PNG.

They are a very real and present threat working in the Forest and Great care needs to be taken.

Various precaution should be taken such as making a lot of noise and wearing snake gaiters.

1. Papuan Taipan (Oxyuranus Scutellatus) 3.4 metres in length the most venomous in PNG.

2. New Guinea Death Adder Less than 1 metre (Acanthophis spp) Exceptionally well

camouflaged in leaf litter in Rainforest, causes paralysis

3. Small-eyed Snake (Micropechis Ikaheka) 2.1 metres causes bleeding , paralysis and muscle

damage leading to kidney failure

4. Papuan Blacksnake (Pseudechis Papuanus) 2.3 metres causes paralysis

5. Common Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis) 2.5 metres extremely dangerous snake victims

are likely to collapse and die within minutes

The Pipeline

The process of laying the pipeline is complicated and expensive. Logistics alone are impressive

bearing in mind each pipe weighs 12 tons and is 36 ft long 32 inches wide. One lorry can only take 2

pipes. The machines to lift them weigh eighty tons alone. Then you have to lots of other stages and

processes that are listed as follows. (see plate 5)

Stages of Onshore pipeline Construction

1. Pipes manufactured abroad.

2. Pipes brought to PNG by ship(nearly half a million tons of pipes brought ashore so far)

3. River transport then brings them up the estuary or as close to the site as possible.

4. Agreement with Landowner met and financial remuneration paid

5. Airstrips need to be laid

6. Roads need to be made

7. The Survey team surveys the forest to find the best route though not only for the pipe but

also the environment.

8. Then the Tree Felling starts clearing a 30 metres wide strip for a access road and a to lay the

pipe over land it will be underground (2 metres deep)

9. Then the land is graded so the land is not so difficult to lay the pipe

10. If rock is encountered then that has to be blasted which need s more specialists for blasting

11. Then the pipe is ''strung out'' laid out in a line to lay

12. Then if it needs bending a special machine bends it all 12 tons of it.

13. then once its bent its then welded. this is an automatic machine that welds in a circle around

the circumference. This is then checked if faults are found then those have to be welded by

hand.

14. Then the pipe is coated where the welds have been made. Then it is cleaned inside by

machine.

15. If its swampy conditions then concrete coated pipes are used adding more weight to the

pipe.

16. If rivers are to be negotiated the pipes are drilled under the water courses (through solid

bedrock)

17. Then a trench is dug for the pipe to be put into

18. Then the pipe is lowered in by large pipe laying machines called side booms

19. The trench is back filled

20. Then the ground is reinstated. The conditions are such that vegetation is so quick to grow

21. The access road is left for maintenance and emergencies.

Safety

Safety is taken very seriously now that a number of accidents have happened and fatalities have

occurred Exxon mobile have now introduced a number of security factors to make sure that this

does not happen again. This has meant that any dangerous task Exxon mobile have sent over

specialist Safety officers to monitor the various dangerous activities. The tree felling side has a safety

officer from Exxon. Also a supervisor and safety officer from the French company plus the Chainsaw

trainer who is to oversee the operators using the chainsaws.

Strict guide line are laid down in the form of method statements, procedures, best practise and Risk

Assessments that are called JSA (Job Safety Analysis). These run very much along the same lines as

the ones we use in the UK.

Also feedback forms were issued to complete on safety and PPE awareness see below these were

written in Pigeon English the national language of Papua New Guinea

Before the day started we would have a safety meeting to determine every bodies responsibilities

concerning the work. Followed by a tool box talk about a point of safety for that day. The safety

officer would then give a talk on safety followed by the Doctor. An ambulance was on site with a

Doctor all of the time just in case due to the high risk. Anti serum was kept back at base camp for

snake bits.

Normally each chainsaw operator would have 2 spotters who act for everybodies safety. Specially

for people who might walk into the danger area bearing in mind the danger area is at least 300

metres. Then a Chainsaw trainer who would supervise the operation to make sure this was done

safely and the tree was going to fall in the correct direction. ( See drawing)

PPE

All PPE was worn in accordance with best practise. Chainsaw boots, Chainsaw summer lightweight

trousers and a Helmet with Ear defenders, Ear muffs and a visor. Safety glasses were worn when

possible as some of the trees sap and sawdust caused nasty eye infections and irritations. One of the

trees actually if you came into contact with its leaves would leave severe burns to the skin. The local

would punish the children when they were naughty by brushing this across the face or buttocks of

the child. No chainsaw gloves were worn due to the heat and loss of grip that the leather

Equipment

The chainsaws that are being used are three models all Stihl, some spare parts are from Brazil but

the majority of them coming from Germany. The models are 260 with a 15'' bar for little trees, 381

(Brazilian Made) with a 20'' bar for mediums and 660 and 078's (Brazilian Made) for larger trees with

30'' and 36'' bars respectively. The 078 and 381 models not seen in the UK market 078 being in the

chassis of the 880 but with a bored out 660 engine. The quality of the petrol is poor and many saws

have seized due to having no control over the mix and lots of water moisture in the petrol. The

petrol seems to come mixed so up till now there has been no control over the mix. Recently we have

been able to secure more 2 stroke mix so we are doubling up on the mixture now making it 50:1 we

assume .

The trees habit are with very large buttresses with the centre of the tree (some species) being

virtually nonexistent. All the tension is held in the (legs) buttresses and even cutting a small amount

can lead to jammed saws due to excessive compression being found in the legs if the tree has a slight

lean. Sizes and heights vary enormously but most large trees are around 40 - 50 metres high. Some

of the trees are very difficult to see which way they are inclined and when they fall if they fall into

other trees a domino effect can happen which makes felling very dangerous. The fatality died when

a 3rd tree hit him virtually at 180 degrees to the felling direction and 200metres away. So safety

distances have to be increased to at least 3 tree lengths. I felled a tree the other day. I made the

directional cut into the front for about 10'' deep and heard noises and the whole tree fell over with

roots and all. That was a first for me.

The following equipment was used by each Chainsaw operator on the worksite :

1. Chainsaws

2. Machetes

3. A whistle in case of accident

4. The following equipment shall be at each work site:

5. Fire extinguisher

6. Wedges (if required)

7. Fuel cans

8. Radios

9. Maintenance equipment

10. First Aid kits

11. Wedges

Each chainsaw operator was graded and the grades fell into two categories: plate

Grade 1

For the most experienced and competent tree fellers only this category is allowed to sell large trees Grade 2

This grade was given to be operators with reasonable competency, they shall be confident in felling most types of trees and are able to cross cut without being supervised all of the time. Craft training This will be given to novices with little or no experience and need training. These workers shall not be allowed to fell Trees until training is complete.

(see plate 6)

Notice the extensive buttress roots coming out (legs) supporting all the trees weight.

Chainsaw MS 660 30'' guide bar (plate 7)

Procedure for Felling and Role of Trainer

Tree felling Coordinator

Reports to the Construction

Manager

Shall be an expert in the techniques used for felling trees of

a similar type to those

encountered in PNG.

All activities related to this

Procedure.

Implementation of this

procedure.

Advising on techniques and

safety precautions.

Assisting with training of

chainsaw operators.

Ensuring that the safety officer are competent to mark out

the work areas.

Monitoring and assessing workers competency, including assigning grades to operators.

Implementation of HSE rules and regulations applicable to the

operations described in this

Procedure

Shall ensure that the Environmental Pre-construction survey has been carried out and

area in question has been

approved for Tree felling.

The procedure was to be working with a 360 30 ton machine that had forestry specifications. This

machine was to push over the smallest trees in the forest and to make the area safe. The felling crew

were in front felling all medium and large trees and crosscutting them into 12 to 14metres lengths

for bridging materials. Then the machine followed pushing the small trees over and after them the

crosscutters followed cross cutting any trees that the excavator had pushed over.

Excavator crossing a bridge it has made out of trees span 14 metres (30 tons crossing there was no

bottom to this water very deep)

When the large trees were being felled only the trainer and the chainsaw operator were to be in

close proximity to the tree. Often large Aluminium wedges were used on conventional felling cuts or

leaning tree cuts were used on leaning trees. More often than not the medium sized trees needed

the wedges and the large trees had a bias on them so leaning tree cuts were carried out.

(plate 8)

This particular tree (see plate 8) was hollow inside. A cut was made into the left buttress about 12

inches and the saw jammed solid. It was difficult to get out but another saw and some wedges and

eventually it came out the little buttress in front of the tree was also cut off. As soon as the little

buttress was cut off noises were heard and escape was made, where upon the tree fell over of its

own accord so no more than 14 inches of lateral wood had been cut off and the tree fell on its own.

The tree was a minimum of 14 ft from buttress to buttress.

Escape routes were paid particular attention to and cleared very carefully due to the numerous trip

hazards that were found around the trees and the inherent behaviour of some of the trees. Most of

the trees had large sometimes very large vines growing up them known as Lianas in S America these

lianas are very dangerous as they can be connected to the next door tree or a number of trees

sometimes numbering up to 7 or 8 when the tree is felled these lianas can pull whole trees over or

the tops out of neighbouring trees causing large material to be falling over a very large area. This

can make the operation very dangerous. Escape routes sometimes have to be at least 10 metres plus

sometimes due to the surrounding. area being covered in falling debris. Inevitably some trees are

interconnected so felling cuts have to be put into the connected trees before the main tree is felled

otherwise the main tree falling will cause the connected tree to snap and explode causing more

danger to the faller so it's safer to put in a half cut so when the large trees goes over it takes the

smaller one with it safely. This practise in Europe is strictly prohibited and regarded as dangerous.

There are a lot of different techniques that are necessary to make the felling operation safer.

Holding the saws left handed sometimes is the only way to use them due to the height sometimes

you have to cut at when you are felling the tree. We had no access to wrap around handles which

are used in North America which make this practise safer and easier to use the saw.

Felling a fig tree ( no conventional cuts here when the tree fell over it took all the root ball as well)

Unfortunately accidents did happen to the equipment, this was the result of too much cutting into

rotten hinge wood with a leaning tree The hinge wood collapsed onto the saw crushing it. The tree

was rotten so very unstable and difficult to fell. (Nobody hurt in the process).

The whole area was limestone so sometimes very difficult to work in and due to the good drainage

of the are you would sometimes come across sink holes well concealed under the foliage. These

could vary in size from a couple of metres deep to 5 km deep which a colleague told me he had seen.

What is it like working and being in the Tropical Rainforest.

I always imagine if you find a swimming pool of water in the morning first thing and go and jump in

fully clothed in all your chainsaw ppe chainsaw trousers, top, helmet, gloves. Then walk into the

rainforest this is what it is like. Not one part of you remains dry everything is wet and dirty you

remain like this all day. As you walk to site this might be a few hundred metres or up to a few

kilometres you are always watching you footing. Everywhere there are trip hazards to try and trip

you up. Even small vines that wend their way across the ground to find your foot and wrap

themselves around it. I am sure they were not there yesterday. However normally you do not beat

the system and find yourself prostrate on the ground at least once before you reach the job in the

morning. You have to be very careful if you do fall over to let the machete go as this in itself then can

become very dangerous also you do not injure yourself as the brush cutters go through and cut all

the small trees before the tree fellers and they use machetes they cut at an angle and above the

ground about 70cm which turns into a very nasty spear which if you fall on you will impale yourself .

Carrying the saw conventionally by your side is dispensed with within a few feet and it goes

comfortably onto your shoulder.

You must constantly be vigilant for dangers in the form of many things, snakes, hazards, crocodiles

etc. When you sit down you become to realise that there is a whole li fe around you that is moving.

Ants everywhere and everything in the forest bites or stings bees, scorpions, Snakes leaches and so it

goes on. so this is an added hazard you have to be extra careful of. Also very wary of working in the

morning keeping a close eye out for snakes.

The morning is a coolest time of the day and the best time for work anytime after midday then the

sun is overhead it starts to punish you and every effort to move becomes tiring and needing a refill

of water for your thirst which never seems to get quenched. The insects never give you a rest and

anything that is able to bite or sting will however small. Ants crawl up your legs then onto you back

when you are using a chainsaw just when you are using it they find your neck and start to sting and

bite you. If you unfortunately do not notice the Ants next that tends to be on every square inch of

every tree then they all crawl over and you then go through a torture of stings until one of your

colleagues can come and remove them all. They always seem to head for your neck and face

knowing that the back of your neck is always a difficult place to protect. The jungle formula insect

repellent that I bought in a famous branded chemist back in the UK told me that I had guaranteed at

least 10 hrs protection from insects. It seemed to me that 10 mins was optimistic. I never used it

again and the top came off in my bag and all the contents spilled out and ruined everything in the

pocket. Maybe I should have used it as it got its own back on me.

You are constantly drinking at least 5 to 6 litres of water a day as you are working you are sweating

so losing a lot of salt and liquids so very important to not become dehydrated which is easy to do as

you are unaware you are losing so much fluid. You have to carry everything you need for the day this

includes food.

However is can be a fascinating place early in the morning when the cloud base is still at the tops of

the trees and the life is waking up in the forest there are lots of strange noises which you never see

where they come from. A truly crisp clear bright light when the sun is out with lots of life

everywhere waking up to a new day. Lovely butterflies of every conceivable colour and shape bright

violent bright blue. Orange with black strikes some butterflies would come and land on you and

drink of you without any fear. You occasionally see a beautiful bird.. high up in the trees trying to

make out its vivid colours is it a bird of paradise PNG,s national bird or some other rare bird. What a

shame I have no binoculars. Some animals you see as well far up in the trees such as the tree

Kangaroo which is on the world's endangered list.

The forest to many here is a friend if you know how to use it. lots of building materials, bed making

materials. Materials to use for construction. Large sources of food such as fish in the rivers animals

in the forest. Types of green leaves you can eat raw (the new shoots tasting very good) A certain

type of Ant which tasted delicious very fruity. Bright bark pattens on trees that came straight from

the Dulux painting colour chart. Colours so unbelievable that they seem somebody has come in the

night and used a paint brush to apply the colour. Flowers that shout out come and look at me bright

crimson red. Fruits on trees that are bright blue. All these colours you thing why did I not see these

before. Lots of materials used for constructing things. Rope making materials coming from

underneath a certain trees bark. Some bark from one of the special trees the locals would use for a

cure for malaria and also for chest complaints. I tried some and it tasted just like and extra strong

mint.

I once had a very good sleep during my lunch break having made my bed I went to sleep and dreamt

at the end of the break that I was being eaten by a big snake. I asked my crew about the dream and

they suggested that I had slept on a snakes territory which seemed to make a lot of sense (who

knows).

A deadly snake one of the lads unknowingly had all his lunch break with, only after did he notice the

snake asleep. It's camouflage was so good I could not see it for a while only once it moved could I

pick it out (New Guinea Death Adder) Highly venomous.

There were some light moments to laugh about (butterflies taking a drink)

During the wet times when everything is very wet after days of continual rain then the forest does

become more dangerous and extra vigilance needs to be given due to trees just falling over due to

the roots being so waterlogged and unstable. A couple of times we had thi s where trees landed a

few metres from my colleagues which slightly unnerved them. Branches would also be shed by trees

for no reason at all so much care was needed. I always felt it was my friend although it does require

respect. It always amazed me how comfortable the locals seemed everything was useful to them

which I leant after a while and was able to start building quite good mattresses and beds during my

lunch break.

All the mod cons water supplies, bed and roof what more do you need!;

Si

(Plate 9) A large root ball

But it's important to remember why I was there technology marches on. (the pipe ready to be laid in)

Only another 100 miles to go the easy bit's been done. Now to heights of 7,000 ft where the wells

will be put in.

Maybe another day

Mark Brewer

MGC

Nov 2013