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Business
Wednesday 09th March, 2011


Panguna mine will re-open soon: Momis

By MOHAMMAD BASHIR

Bougainville President John Momis said his talks with Bougainville Copper has started a dialogue which would eventually lead to the re-opening of the Panguna Mine.
The mine was closed in 1988 after it became the spark which ignited a decade long civil war but President Momis said there was now a consensus on Bougainville in favour of a large scale mining.
He said this while speaking to ABC?s Jemima Garrett during his week long trip to Australia.
President Momis told his many audiences that the key to success for the Bougainville Peace Agreement was finding economic opportunities for his people.
Mr Momis was willing to consider any major development but at this stage the re-opening of the Panguna copper mine is the only project likely to be able to start operating in time to provide the autonomous region with an economic base before a referendum on independence which is due to take place between 2015 and 2020.
President Momis met Bougainville Copper (BCL) Chairman Peter Taylor in Sydney as well where he reportedly had a enlightening talk, exchanging of ideas and a good intellectual encounter.
?I am satisfied. We did not discuss issues in detail but I am satisfied that we have established a process, a form of dialogue that we can maintain as we both consult our constituents and work on ways and means of consolidating the mutual trust and translate that trust into concrete economic benefits,? he said.
President Momis said a new mine agreement would look very different from the old colonial era agreement that was the cause of so many problems.
?If we want to re-open the mine, we have to have a total commitment to resolve the differences we had and we have to do it commercially.
?On our side we have to recognise BCL?s legal rights, the (Papua New Guinea) National Government?s legal rights and on the part of BCL, they have to recognise that landowners and the people of Bougainville in general must have a more equitable distribution of benefits ? in terms of employment and actual benefits and perhaps even look at giving the people through their government some measure of equity,? he said.
President Momis also said there had been a sea-change in public opinion on Bougainville but he knows that negotiating a new mining agreement will still be a difficult task.
?There are some armed individuals in South Bougainville but it?s a minute proportion of the total population. Everybody wants development, stability, peace and I am saying now that the slogan should be changed from ?peace through peaceful means? to peace through socio-economic means. That means empowering people by involving them in socio-economic programs,? he added.
President Momis said the opponents of mining have a right to express their views, have a right to express their fears but ?I believe we can responsibly and effectively deal with this culture of fear, this syndrome of fear, by educating people.?
He said the landowners have more or less agreed to form an umbrella organisation to give them one voice and they will be in negotiations with the National Government and developer.
?We would like to get them started this year. We are in the process of getting some professional technical advice and we will start talking with Bougainville Copper and the National Government so that we can start the process.
?Because it will take sometime before the mine operates,? President Momis said.