Since the 1990s, Independence celebrations have become little more than commemorations of a day when school children raise the flag bearing the gold Kumul and Southern Cross and sing the noble words of an anthem in a foreign language.

Independence Day has come to mean little for a people far removed from the rest of Papua New Guinea.

As the country’s capital, Port Moresby, grows, evidenced by new four lane highways and tall concrete buildings, Yalumet has remained the same since the 1970s.

“The airstrips were built with manpower, crowbars, spades and digging sticks,” said EMTV cameraman, Maisen Hungito, who brought back telling images of the state of affairs of the old government station and its people.

Airstrips were an initiative of the colonial government and this one had been driven by chief Engam Dumulok who envisioned it would bring positive change in the lives of his people.

In 1927, when the first missionary arrived in Yalumet, Dumulok was a seven-year-old boy who saw for the first time the things that would become part of his adult life.

Dumulok never had a formal education but was a highly skilled and intuitive organiser and leader. In 1968, he was appointed by a kiap (patrol officer) as a representative of his people.

He led the work parties that built Yalumet airstrip. Later some of those skills and knowledge were passed on to other clans who built the neighbouring Kabwum, Satuak and Sapmanga airstrips.

In 1975, Engam Dumulok led the independence celebrations in Yalumet as the Prince of Wales witnessed the lowering of the Australian flag in distant Port Moresby. Years later, he would be honoured by the Queen for his services to his community.

The airstrips built by Dumulok’s work parties became a lifeline for a people hopeful of continuing development. Schools thrived and services trickled down from far off Waigani. Messages were passed through letters sent by plane or two-way radio.

But, by the 1990s, third level airline services began to disappear and the second biggest operator, Talair, abruptly ended its operations after four decades in PNG. Over the next 20 years, flights into Yalumet and nearby airstrips became irregular and the delivery of government services declined.

Teachers from other provinces, who previously lived and taught in remote areas like Yalumet, did not want to continue working in these remote locations.

In 2008, Engam Dumulok passed away at 88, having lived through a period that saw the arrival of missionaries, the exit of the colonial power and the arrival of the computer age.

The potential of new development that Dumulok foresaw in the 1960s waned after his death.

Early this month, the only airline still servicing Yalumet and surrounding areas, North Coast Aviation, announced it was cutting back operations due to a shortage of fuel for its older piston-engine aircraft, vital for rural flights.

The fuel shortage coupled with high import and maintenance costs seem likely to contribute to the further regression of Yaluet’s economic and social development.

On 16 September 2017, a couple of months after a new government takes office, the people of Yalumet will again gather to see their children raise the Papua New Guinea flag and sing the national anthem in the language of the former colonial power.

One can safely bet that their living conditions will have seen little change, unless there is a demonstration of political will strong enough to bring about a transition for the better.