Doumori is a village located at the mouth of the Fly River, the second biggest river in Papua New Guinea. The activity of gold and copper mining of Ok Tedi has caused natural disaster all along the river and surrounding area. The water is poisoned and very dangerous to drink. Locals have to rely on rainfalls for the source of drinking water. The sedimentation has caused extreme shallowing of Fly River, produced new islands and vast sand banks at the bottom of the river. The overflow of water made the villages flooded frequently–for the Doumori’s case, flood happens once a month and lasts for six days each time. And worse, the abnormally shallow riverbed has caused tidal wave (people call it as “tsunami”) two times per day, when the high tide flows from the sea to the river.
Doumori, Fly River, Papua New Guinea, 2014