My River is Poisoned

My River is Poisoned! : My depiction of a member of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. In 1989 Panguna landowners on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea ordered the Australian mining company BCL, to pay what many considered a ridiculous demand of 10 billion dollars for compensation to cover damage done to the surrounding environment, in particular the Jaba River. The company steadfastly refused to meet demands and out of the blue came the raggle-taggle Bougainville Revolutionary Army which at first no one took too seriously. As 1990 and a new decade approached, it was found that the before unheard-of rebel group was indeed a force to be reckoned with, very much so as they perpetrated typical Rambo-type clandestine exploits to bring the mining operation to a close. As such, my 10-year stay on that beautiful island came to an end, and we relocated here to Perth.