140 6 If a man is caught in adultery, then he must pay the court a fine of K50.00.
7 If a man does not follow the ruling of the Village Court, then he will pay an additional K50.00. 8 If a man works for you e.g., in your cocoa planting, you must pay him K10.00 a week.
9 If a man carries weapons e.g., bow and arrows when angry, then he must pay a fine of K15.00. 10 If a judge does not work justice fairly, then he must pay the court K15.00.
11 If a man’s pig destroys a garden, then the owner will pay the owner of the garden K20.00. 12 If a man leaves his wife, or a woman leaves her husband, then the offender will pay the court K200.00.
13 If a couple marry and are both members of the same clan, then they will pay the court K200.00. 14 If a man hits his wife, then he must pay the court K10.00.
15 If a man carries too many passengers in his truck, then he must pay a fine of K100.00. 16 If a man causes destruction to another person’s house, then he must pay the court K30.00.
17 If a man molests a woman, then he must pay the court K60.00. 18 If a man has more than one wife, then he must care for each one of them adequately.
19 If a person suspects and falsely accuses a marriage partner of unfaithfulness ? roruoru, then K40.00
must be paid to the court. 20 If a man “cuts betel nut” in order to “spoil” another man’s life, then he must pay K300.00 [see section
8.4.2 on Sorcery]. 21 If a woman “spoils” an Upe initiate in any way, then she must pay the court K100.00.
22 If a man has no toilet facilities, but uses another man’s outhouse, then he must pay the court K10.00. 23 If a man owns a cocoa fermentary, but does not pay the initial required registration fee of K100.00, then he
must pay K150.00. In 1977, we observed two cases where fines were made. One man was fined K200.00 for marrying within
his clan. This was done to make others afraid uriri pie of doing the same thing and break gasi the clan. A young school girl in Form 2 disliked school and returned home to the village. She was fined K40.00 for
running away. Because she had no money to pay the fine, she was made to work cutting grass for two weeks.
11.5 Individuals’ Ways to Earn Money
One might wonder where the money comes from to pay the fines set above. Aside from cash crops that bring in the major portion of Rotokas earnings, there are other occupations by which individuals earn a
substantial amount of money through the year. Here is a partial list: 1 Carpenter - building homes or government buildings,
2 furniture builder - employing rattan or planks, 3 copra or cocoa plantation worker, including plantation store keeper, clerk, etc.
4 storekeeper for local business man or group, 5 laborer for local cocoa growers - individuals or groups,
6 maker of artifacts for tourist trade [see Chapter 14], 7 carver of axe handles for local sale prices at one time were 40 toea, 50 toea and 60 toea per handle,
8 sale of poultry and pigs, 9 sale of hunting dogs,
10 laborer at the copper mine, 11 carrier of supplies for tourists visiting the volcano, caves,
12 vegetable grower for local sale and for sale to suppliers of stores in ArawaPanguna area. 13 transport truck driver for local businessman or group. In June of 1977, a driver normally received K3 for
handling a bag of cocoa and K5.50hour for hauling cocoa, firewood, etc. Considering the cost of vegetables now, it is interesting to compare prices during the late 1960’s: potatoes
5 centslb., cabbage 4 centslb., tomatoes, beans and greens 3 centslb., sweet potato and fruit 1 centlb., oranges 13 centsdozen.
At that time the standard wage for a man carrying a 40-pound load during an eight-hour day was 70 centsday or 10 centshour. A man would hardly be satisfied with 10 cents an hour for hard labor today.
There has also been the occasion when a group of men would work together to earn money for a village project or for the Village Fund. At one time in the early 1970s, a group of men from Togarao would be able to
earn K4.OOday 4 at that time for the project. Ruruvu men charged K5.00day for the same amount of work and time.
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11.6 Business Groups
We have mentioned business groups several times. These groups are usually based upon clan membership or small family units. In fact, the Tok Pisin word bisnis means “clan.” Large cooperatives have been attempted,
but without success. One such cooperative, the Wakunai Marketing Society, bought and sold cocoa and artifacts. Unfortunately, the finances were mishandled and the cooperative failed.
Listed below are several of the business groups to be found in the area around the Wakunai River valley no attempt was made to document business groups from the other two dialect areas:
Uvusiva Business Group from Ovuveo, Suriketo, and Kakata clans
The chairman is Ki. There are twenty-two members—each owns shares worth K30share. Amos T., the Secretary, received training for the position in a Management Course presented at Arawa. Va., Ki.’s son, is the
Assistant Secretary. Ri. is the Chairman of Church Work. It is his responsibility to remind the young people that God’s blessings and help are sought in the business transactions. The group has been gazetted and
licensed. It buys and sells cocoa, vegetables, and fruit.
The Christian Progress Society
The chairman is Ra. and the income is based upon a large cocoa planting owned by this man. He also has a store as part of the business. Not much is known about this group, as his mountain hamlet is some distance
from Togarao.
Toi Kae Pie Business Group
The translation of the name means “carry the slit gong”—an allusion to cooperation. The emphasis is on sharing the responsibilities of the group. In order to build and stock a large store in Togarao village [pictured
below], K10.000 was raised by the sale of shares. Two men of Togarao village are the main leaders of the business. One’s son received training in financial management at Wakunai and has responsibilities in the store.
The group also operates a fermentary.
Individual owner’s trade store – 1971
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Toi Kae Pie cooperative trade store under construction Koora Aao Business Group
This group is located in the little hamlet of Uriora below Togarao village. For several years, it has operated a cocoa fermentary, a store at Uriora, and a fermentary at the hamlet of Kavorivi. The business is run by Ki.
and his brothers.
Vuko Business Group
A business group with a store and cocoa plantings is located in the hamlet of Vukovukora above Togarao. Joseph R. has been mainly responsible for this group.
Most of the business groups have at least one vehicle. In July of 1980, the vehicles listed below were in service on the Wakunai River valley road:
2 Toyota 4-wheel drive trucks Toi Kae Pie Business group
1 Toyota “
“ “ Reitai
owner 1 Toyota
“ “
“ Vuko Business group
1 Toyota “
“ “
Rasoriri; but not running 1 Toyota
“ “
“ Ruruvu village
1 tractor Ruruvu village
1 Toyota “
“ “ Village
Government 2 Ford tractors
Togarao village? In 1980, the price of tractors was K12,000 and the price of trucks was K8,000 dieselK7,000 petrol.
The Christian Youth Fellowship group also had a business raising poultry. A meeting was held on March 17, 1981, to discuss the purposes of the project, income, and expenses. Three agricultural officers were present
as advisors. The purpose of the project was to train young people in business methods, to help them gain “self- reliance”, and provide income for the group.
According to plans, the setting up of the project would cost K285.30 and the income about 95 chickens sold K4.50chicken was estimated at K427.50. A profit of K142.20 was expected. The project was started,
but within a year it had failed. We do not know the reason why. The original outline of the project is presented in appendix E.
More will be said about the functioning of business groups, transport, income, etc. in the section dealing with cash crops.
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12 Development Projects—Buildings, Roads, and Airfields
12.1 Factors Prompting Changes in Development
