Sigirap market and its low prices

By MELANIE VARI

Welcome to Sigirap Market! A place where fresh, greasy talapia and banana chips are on the menu for hungry travellers commuting along the Magi Highway.

Not forgetting those who huddle around there 24 hours a day talking village, district, provincial and national politics.
The initial reaction to this Tok Pisin word (sigirap) being used at a Central Province market sends one into a state of shock, and then, as it sinks in, it leaves this rather irritable thought that people are using this market for evil activities.

The word ‘sigirap’ carries quite a few connotations, so one can understand why first time hearers react in this manner; and therefore, I shan’t make any definitions here. I discovered this awkwardly named market some weeks back, and since then, I’ve travelled back and forth to buy fresh garden produce and wild game caught in the grasslands and freshwater swamps nearby.

Located a few miles out of Kwikila township, which is the central business and government district for three Rigo LLGs, people here sell the largest and greasiest fish for just K2 or K3 a piece; and the taste of Rigo bananas is unbeatable. I reckon it beats the taste of the makau and saksak (sago) sold at Maprik, Bereina or Lese. 

Wallaby meat is sold for as low as K10, and bunches of betelnut are ‘given away’ at prices which most city people wouldn’t believe, being so used to buying it at higher prices from our highland wantoks, who are actually resellers for the Kairukus and Keremas. I bought a bunch of buais for just K5 and had to take several pictures of it to remind myself that it wasn’t just an illusion. 

One can buy a delicious hand of the famous Rigo banana for 50 toea and a pile of galips for K1. 

The list goes on: eggplants, capsicums, chillies, ginger, pitpit, kaukau - all organic, fresh and totally clean.

Back to awkward names, the locals here have a knack for coming up with all sorts of names, so the market is not the only exception with a unique name – one several miles down the highway is called Bend Down Market! There’s even a Sisia (‘dog’, in a local vernacular) Market. My mates and I had a field day coming up with all sorts of definitions and phrases in English and Tok Pisin.