Matanga - Your Trusted Selayari News Source

[Selayar]

MATANGA is your trusted Anglish news source for various Selayari happenings

Established in 1923, we're an independent news network, free of interferences from any parties, including the government

We're here to bring you a bold and honest news contents

Edited April 16, 2019 by Selayar (see edit history)

[Selayar]

SATURDAY, April 13th 2019

Floods crippled major cities along ʻArasa riverbanks

A widely-circulated picture of a man floating on a raft in downtown Terata (12/04)

MATANGA, Terata –Thousands of kilometres square of land area were reportedly flooded last night (12/04), due to the sudden overflow of ʻArasa river. Two major cities along the riverbanks are also inundated along with hundreds of thousands of hectares of soon-to-be harvested rice fields.

 

The kingdom of Reya, where most of the river flows, bore the brunt of the floods. Terata, the capital of Reya, are among the victims of the flash floods. Economy activities were halted, with most of the city transportation crippled due to the inundation of almost all neighbourhoods in the city. Vaʻana, a major city further upriver, fared much better due to its higher elevation.

 

The floods took no one by surprise, yet some were still unprepared. Heavy downpour in Wusanga mountains throughout the week prompted the Federal Disaster Mitigation Agency (TVWA) to issue alert for people living along the riverbank of ʻArasa river, the longest and largest river in Selayar in terms of volume discharge. The river is also infamous for causing the deadliest natural disaster in the history of Selayar, the 1938 ʻArasa River Floods, which took almost two hundred thousand of lives and still floods occasionally during monsoon.

 

People had been evacuating to higher grounds away from the river from Wednesday this week (10/04), though some had started returning by Friday.

 

Prime Minister Huti Manaranga stated that relief is on the way, and had declared state of emergency in Reya. He also apologised for the government's inaction that led to the disaster. Previously, the nation had been flood-free for six years.

 

Maps of areas affected by the floods

Evacuation camps are being set up on the dry area around the inundated area, and police along with military have been deployed to help to evacuate citizens that are still stuck in the inundated area.

 

This year's summer monsoon has seen an anomalously high downpour in the south and the west, and the Bureau of Climatology and Meteorology (RTM) had forewarned dangers of floods and landslides. Experts alike warned that this might not be the only flood disaster this year, as other rivers have seen a high amount of discharge lately.

Edited April 13, 2019 by Selayar (see edit history)

[Selayar]

MONDAY, April 29th 2019

'Puzzling', New archaeological throws doubt on the fate of previous inhabitants of Selayar

Close-up of the newly-discovered Boreaurelian pottery with its distinctive pattern

MATANGA, Terata –Archaeologist today announced a surprising discovery after a period of research and discussion that followed a National Archaeological Expedition on December 2017 to the famous Tanana Archeological Site, 143km southeast of Wanaperaʻa, the nation's capital. Tanana is the oldest dated site of human habitation in Selayar, spanning a time period from the Upper Pleistocene to the late second millenia BCE.

      Previous findings have yielded strong indications toward a wave of migration around 5000 years ago, that is widely believed to be the ancestors of all human in Selayar. This wave of migration is marked with its distinctive pottery pattern, which is unknown in the preceding time period, along with signs of domesticated cereals and animals remnants. This group of people, dubbed Boreaurelian (North Aurelian), however, is not the first human to inhabit Selayar. The fate of this palaeo-Selayari, the previous inhabitants of Selayar, remains elusive toward archaeologists for a long time. Most accepted theory pointed toward the complete replacement of palaeo-Selayari with the more advanced Boreaurelian people, though initial DNA projects contradict the current theory.

      Today's announcement throws further doubt to the current widely-accepted theory, with the findings of the Boreaurelian potteries along with human bones associated with a Palaeo-Selayari in an ancient grave. This is a surprising discovery since this is the first time bones associated with Palaeo-Selayari dated after 5000 years ago in Tanana, indicating its survival well beyond after the migration of Boreaurelian. Currently accepted dating of the bones is around 4000 years ago to 2000 years ago, though it might be challenged in the future.

      It is unknown the implications the discovery for the prehistory of Selayar, and it will certainly be a controversy among archaeologist for some time in the near future, as it is usual following a major archaeological discovery in the past. This will, however, marked a further advance of the archaeology field in Selayar, which has been lacking in the past.

[Selayar]

TUESDAY, July 23rd 2019

King welcomes second grandson

First portrait of King's second grandson, taken from Princess Maturara's Wittier post

MATANGA, Wanaveraʻa –His Majesty King Manu Wesa II and Her Majesty Queen Tangatamara today welcomed the newest member of the royal family, the King's second grandson.

Their Majesties's daughter, Crown Princess Maturara, delivered her first child on Monday night (22/07) in Royal Hospital of Wanaveraʻa.

Queen Tangatamara shared the happy news and a portrait of the young prince on her official Wittier.

"Welcome to the world, my second grandson! May Rangamaiva (god of prosperity) bless your souls!" she posted on Wittier.

The portrait attached on Queen's Wittier post caught the attention of Selayari and received more than 10,000 likes less than one hour after Queen posted it.

Selayari also conveyed their congratulations to Their Majesties, mainly on Wittier where the Queen is most active on social media.