Omati and Kamusi. Residents of Omati travel to Kikori as well as other villages within the Ikobi, Mouwase and Barikewa language areas.
Trails
Some people living in the Kaser area travel on foot to Kikori, as well as to other villages in the Kaser area. Ikobi speakers travel to the Barikewa village of Kaiam and to other Ikobi villages by foot, although
it was reported in Sorobo that they no longer walk to other villages now that there are roads. Mouwase speakers in Kibeni can walk to Kikori in one day, and they also walk to Ikobi villages and to other
Mouwase villages. Barikewa speakers in Kaiam walk to Kikori or to Samberigi, where they can find public transportation to other major cities such as Mendi, Mt. Hagen or Goroka. Omati residents can
reportedly walk to the Mouwase villages of Kibeni and Gibidai in about two hours.
Air travel
Although Kaser people do not travel by air on a regular basis, it was reported throughout the Kaser area that many people have flown, mostly to Port Moresby or Goroka, but also to Kerema, Daru or Madang.
Most people use the airstrip in Kikori, but people from the Ikobi villages of Kuri and Komaio also have access to airstrips in Haiwaro in the Fasu language area and Kamusi. A flight to Port Moresby costs at
least one thousand kina.
4.1.3 Economics
According to Landweer 2006:209, language communities that do not need to use a second language to meet their perceived economic needs typically have higher language vitality than those that are
dependent on an economic base outside the language area. The presence of logging and oil companies in the Kaser area has great potential to render Kaser people dependent on outside sources to meet their
economic needs. Currently, however, the Kaser people appear to be able to meet most economic needs using their own languages within the Kaser area. Relatively few people are actually working for the
logging and oil companies, and the presence of trade stores and markets within the Kaser area allows many people to purchase basic supplies without going to Kikori.
There are two logging companies in the Kaser area: RH Rimbunan Hijau and TFI. In addition, there is an Australian-owned oil company called Oil Search Limited and another oil project known as LNG.
Within the Ikobi language area, it was reported that TFI has assisted local people with school fees and medical expenses, and that Oil Search Limited has provided water tanks and school materials. TFI also
built a classroom in the Mouwase village of Gibidai.
At least fifteen Ikobi people, six Mouwase people and four Barikewa people have jobs with the logging and oil companies. These people use Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu or English while they are at work,
although it was reported in Kuri that they use Ikobi when speaking with other Ikobi speakers. However, they use their own languages when they return to their villages during time off from work.
Within the Ikobi language area, there are six trade stores in Kuri and two in Baina. There is one trade store in the Barikewa village of Kaiam and a store at the logging camp near Omati. People in the
area also have the opportunity to buy and sell garden produce at a large market near Omati, a weekly market near the oil camp in Gobe, and a market in Komaio village.
4.1.4 Summary of contact with other languages
