A HIKER is concerned about the impact that quarrying activities have had on a cave in As Matuis, which contains artifacts from World War II.
Bill Harwood, a local teacher, said that he was hiking in As Matuis on March 8 when he discovered that a local quarrying company had dug out part of the trail he intended to use that day.
Harwood’s destination was a system of caves that served as shelters for Japanese military forces during the war. He said that excavation activities in the surrounding area have erased the old trail he once used to reach one of the caves.
“I used to hike right through [there] and now it’s pretty difficult. I can still get by, but it used to be that you could walk easily. There was a trail,” Harwood said.
On Wednesday, Variety went with Harwood to the site and saw that the impact of the quarrying extended to a few yards outside the mouth of two of the caves in the area. A barbed wire boundary, which Harwood said was not present during his last visit months ago, was erected a short distance from the mouth of the cave.
Variety spotted two pieces of unexploded ordnance in the jungle, along the part of the trail that had not been affected by quarrying activities.
Inside the cave, there were bullets and other artifacts.
There were also staff of the Historic Preservation Office in the area.
Lufo Babauta, an HPO specialist, said he must review the site’s major siting permit to see if the quarrying company is complying with the regulations.
“There is a boundary zone,” Babauta said, referring to the activities allowed near the cliff. “We’re going to pull out the file and if it passed the boundary zone that’s the time it will be a problem for us.”
He said HPO will conduct a survey at the site to determine if the quarrying activities are within the designated boundaries. If the quarrying company is found to have violated its permit, HPO will issue a stop-work order, he added.
“That’s a historical site we don’t want to damage,” Babauta said. “We protect those things.”
Harwood compared the digging activity to what had occurred in Nauru.
“The whole island, they started digging it away and there’s nothing left,” he said, referring to phosphate mining in Nauru. “It was so sad when we went there. They invested all over the Pacific and I don’t know if they have anything left. The island is just defunct. It would be so sad if we did something crazy like that. I went to Pagan and they were investigating digging up the volcano and I don’t think they went for it. But again, you start digging, I don’t know how far does it go. We’re looking for ways … to make money here. I understand we need that, but just be careful.”
Bill Harwood, second from left, leads HPO staff to the trail he used to hike to get to a system of caves in As Matuis.
After showing Variety the caves that were affected by quarrying activities, Bill Harwood walks down to the trail.
This is the vantage point inside one of the caves.
Some of the bullets inside the cave.
More artifacts.
