ramu to be cleared!!!, page-2

Agree,

Looks like a goer - SP Should then take off


Marine monitoring equipment to be finally deployed at Ramu mine
The oceanic conditions around the site where the Ramu nickel mine in Papua New Guinea plans to pump millions of tons of toxic mine tailings is finally being subjected to intensive scientific study ? several years after the PNG government approved the dumping and just a few weeks before the National court is due to announce its decision on an application by local landholders to permanently prevent the dumping.

The Post Courier newspaper is reporting that marine environmental monitoring equipment will be deployed this week off the coast of Basamuk Bay in Madang Province, location of the processing plant for the Ramu nickel mine.
Deployment of the monitoring equipment is being done by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

The equipment will be used to research the incidence of ocean upwelling in relation to the marine waste dumping plans of the Ramu Mine. Mining Minister John Pundari said in a statement that the aim of the research was to make significant scientific measurements to ensure that the physical oceanography surrounding the tailings pipeline was fully understood.
?This will guarantee that the proposed deep sea tailings placement at Ramu is managed effectively,? Mr Pundari said.

He confirmed that four moorings containing a number of instruments that will continuously measure temperature, salinity and ocean currents, have been deployed. 
The moorings will be recovered every three months over a period of 12 months and the data obtained will be analysed by SAMS.

A final report will be made in conjunction with the meteorological and satellite data on the physical ocean conditions that are operating during 2011 and 2012 at Basamuk.
The first recovery of the moorings is scheduled for October and will include the participation of officers of the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) who will be trained by SAMS in the deployment, retrieval and operation of the monitoring instruments.

Part of the training will include data analysis and interpretation for these officers at the Scottish Marine Institute of in Scotland.
?I am pleased to announce on behalf of the Government that as part of this contract, all the state of the art oceanographic monitoring equipment provided will now be owned and operated by PNG through the relevant agencies to monitor and regulate the mining industry,? Mr Pundari said.

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Filed under Environmental impact, Human rights, Mining, Papua New Guinea
Tagged as Chinese mining, Environmental damage, Highlands Pacific, MCC, Papua New Guinea, Ramu nickel mine, Submarine Tailings Disposal
JULY 4, 2011
Exxon pipeline leaks oil into US river
Matthew Brown, AP

Teams of federal and state workers have fanned out along Montana?s Yellowstone River to gauge the environmental damage from a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline that spewed crude into the famous waterway.

An Environmental Protection Agency representative said on Sunday only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of gallons of spilled oil is likely to be recovered.

Agency on-scene coordinator Steve Way said fast flows along the flooding river are spreading the oil, making it harder to capture, but that also could reduce damage to wildlife and cropland along the river.

A 40-km slick of oil had reached as far west as Hysham on Saturday night. An estimated 1000 barrels spilled on Saturday before the flow was stopped.

Yellowstone County disaster coordinator Duane Winslow says dozens more ExxonMobil clean-up workers began to arrive in Montana on Sunday morning.

The break near Billings in south-central Montana fouled the riverbank and forced municipalities on Saturday to close intakes.

The river has no dams on its way to its confluence with the Missouri River just across the Montana border in North Dakota.

Winslow said the plume was dissipating as it moved downstream. ?We?re just kind of waiting for it to move on down while Exxon is trying to figure out how to corral this monster,? he said.

?The timing couldn?t be worse,? said Steve Knecht, chief of operations for Montana Disaster and Emergency Services. He said the plume was measured at 40km near Pompeys Pillar National Monument.

?With the Yellowstone running at flood stage and all the debris, it makes it dang tough to get out there to do anything.?

Brent Peters, the fire chief for the city of Laurel, about 20km west of Billings, said the rupture in the 30.5-cm diameter pipe occurred late on Friday about 1.6km south of Laurel.

About 140 people in the Laurel area were evacuated early on Saturday on concerns about possible explosions and overpowering fumes. They were allowed to return about 4am after fumes had decreased.

Winslow said hundreds of residents downstream were told to evacuate in the early morning hours.

ExxonMobil said it was sending a team to help with clean-up, and that state and federal authorities had been alerted to the spill. The ExxonMobil Pipeline Company ?deeply regrets this release?, it said.

Crews were putting out absorbent material along stretches of the river in Billings and near Laurel, but there were no attempts at capturing oil farther out in the river. In some areas oil flowed underneath booms and continued downstream.

The smell of oil permeated the air for kilometres downstream and through the city of Billings.

?Right now, the Yellowstone River is at flood stage,? Peters said. ?The bank isn?t stable enough for anybody to get close.?

The cause of the rupture in the pipe carrying crude oil from Belfry, Montana, to the company?s refinery in Billings wasn?t known. Peters and Malek said speculation involved high water that might have gouged out the riverbed and exposed the pipe, which was possibly hit by debris.

?I haven?t seen it this high for at least 15 years,? Peters said.

Jeb Montgomery of ExxonMobil said the pipe was buried 1.8m below the riverbed.

Laurel, which has about 6500 residents, is known for a huge Fourth of July fireworks display put on by the fire department. Peters said the town can swell to as many as 50,000 people for the event.

He said the fire department plans to hold the event on Monday.

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JULY 4, 2011
Pacific seabed could be resource laden
Radio Australia News

A new study suggests massive deposits of hi-tech minerals might be found in the mud on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

The findings could mean challenges to China?s monopoly over the so-called rare-earth metals, which are used for electric cars, flat-screen TVs, wind turbines and MP3 players.

China has one third of the world?s rare-earth reserves while another third are in former Soviet republics, the United States and Australia.

Research published in the journal Nature Geoscience by Japanese geologists suggests rich deposits of rare-earth minerals in samples taken from the central east and central north of the Pacific.

While lab tests showed the deposits could be removed by simply rinsing the mud with diluted acids, it is not known if the technology exists to recover the mud at depths of four to five kilometres below the surface of the ocean.

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Tagged as deep sea mining
JULY 4, 2011
Communities concerned about Watut river compensation
Newcrest Mining and Harmony Gold, operators of the Hidden Valley mine in Papua New Guinea, have anounced the rates to be used in calculating compensation payments for gardens destroyed by sedimentation and acidification of the Watut river.

The compensation will be calculated at K 10,000 per hectare, which local communities think is far too low. The rate equates to just K1 (or about $0.40) per square meter. This ignores the value of any gardens crops which might have been lost and ignores proper valuation standards such as those used by the Valuer General.

Local people living along the Watut river are also concerned about excessive delays in making the compensation payments. In May this year, Executives of the community organization, the Union of Watut River Communities met with Mining Minister John Pundari in Port Moresby. At the meeting Hidden Valley?s General Manager, David Wissink, agreed that all outstanding garden payments would be made within seven days but that promise has still not been met and it is now July

The Union of Watut River Communities has vowed not to sign any Statutory Declaration Forms which are being forced on people by the mining company and want to see their garden valuations being properly administered.

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Tagged as Environmental damage, Harmony Gold, Hidden Valley, Human rights, John Pundari, Landholders, Newcrest Mining, Papua New Guinea, Watut river
JULY 3, 2011
Australian nickel mining destroying West Papua paradise
By Tom Allard*

ABOUT once a month, a ship from Townsville makes the long journey to Raja Ampat, a seascape of astonishing beauty and diversity inthe far western reaches of Indonesian New Guinea.

Here, where the westerly currents of the Pacific Ocean flow into the Indian Ocean, hundreds of improbable domed limestone pinnacles rise from the sea, encircling placid, turquoise lagoons. And if the 612 islands and countless shoals and reefs of Raja Ampat take the breath away, they only hint at the treasures below.

This remote part of West Papua province is the hub of the world?s marine biodiversity, home to 75 per cent of its coral, as well as 1500 fish species, including huge manta rays, epaulette sharks that walk on the sea floor with their fins, turtles and an array of weird and wonderful fish.

Yet the vessel that makes the regular trip to and from Townsville does not bring tourists or divers. There are no scientists on board to study this marine wonderland. Rather, it is in Raja Ampat to take a consignment of tens of thousands of tonnes of the red clay soil, rich in nickel and cobalt, and destined for the Yabulu refinery owned by one of Australia?s richest men, Clive Palmer.

According to conservationists and marine scientists, this mining activity and the prospect of further exploitation puts one of the world?s most precious ecosystems under threat.

Raja Ampat?s significance to the world is immense. It is the heart of the famed Coral Triangle, and the strong currents that rush between its islands help seed much of the 1.6 billion hectares of reefs and marine life that spread from the Philippines down to the Solomon Islands.

?I?m appalled by what?s going on,? says Dr Charlie Veron, a former chief scientist from the Australian Institute of Marine Science who has surveyed the region on many occasions. ?If you had a rainforest with the most diverse range of species in the world and people started mining there without doing any kind of proper environmental impact study, there would quite rightly be outrage. Well, that?s what?s happening here.?

The impact on local communities has also been devastating. What were once close-knit villages are now divided as competing mining companies offer financial inducements to residents for support. And, in a sadly familiar tale for the Papua region, where separatist sentiments linger, the benefits of exploiting its resources are largely flowing outside the region. Derisory royalties go to landowners, and minuscule salaries are being paid to locals who gain employment.

Deep fjord-like bays cut into the hinterland of mountainous islands, framed by vertiginous jungle-clad cliffs that drop steeply into the water. There are oceanic atolls, shallow bays with fine white-sand beaches, snaking rivers and mangrove swamps.

The vessels sent to collect the nickel and cobalt for Clive Palmer?s Queensland Nickel dock at Manuran Island, where the mining has continued unabated despite a decree by West Papua Governor Abraham Atururi banning all mining activity in Raja Ampat.

?The mining started in 2006. There were protests, but the military and police came and they stopped them,? says Yohanis Goram, from Yayasan Nazaret, a local NGO that opposes mining.

The operator of the mine, PT Anugerah Surya Pratama (PT ASP), has promised environmental safeguards but, according to one local from nearby Rauki village, they are ineffective. ?When it rains the sea turns red, sometimes yellow,? says the village elder in a phone interview. ?The runoff is supposed to go into a hole but it comes out [into the sea].?

Yosias Kein hails from Kapidiri, an island near Manuran that claims customary ownership. ?The mining waste damaged the coastal areas and covered up the coral reefs. Besides, it is difficult for people to get fish now. Fishermen in Kabare village, also in Rauki village, saw the waste went down into the seas near Manuran. Now they have to go fishing a bit further to the east or to the west.?

The strip mining for nickel leaves the landscape barren, and the steep cliffs of Raja Ampat?s islands mean heavy rainfall overwhelms the drainage systems and sends the soil into the water.

The impact is twofold and nasty for coral, says Charlie Veron. ?Sedimentation sinks onto the coral and smothers it. But worse is ?clay fraction?, where very fine particles are suspended in the water, blocking the sunlight.?

Photos taken from Manuran show murky water and dead coral after heavy rains.

PT ASP is a Jakarta-based mining company, and also owns PT Anugerah Surya Indotama (PT ASI), another mining outfit that operates on Kawe Island in Raja Ampat, despite a court order to desist due to a conflict over mining rights with a West Papua-based company. The ownership of the companies remains a mystery, although West Papua is rife with speculation that senior politicians and military figures have a stake.

The speculation is easy to understand, as the Jakarta company seems to have extraordinary pull at the highest levels of government in both Jakarta and Raja Ampat. When rival mining company PT Kawei Sejahtera Mining (PT KSM), owned by local man Daniel Daat, began loading its first shipload of nickel in 2008 at Kawe, three gunships and an aeroplane were sent to stop the consignment after PT ASI, which also claims a mining licence for Kawe, complained. Daat was thrown into prison.

The mines at Manuran and Kawe are guarded by military and police who locals say are on the company payroll. And, while 15 other mining companies have been pushed out of Raja Ampat since the Governor?s decree, PT ASP and PT ASI have remained.

At the very least, the two companies appear to have a cavalier approach to doing business in Raja Ampat. Police documents obtained by The Saturday Age reveal the companies allegedly bribed the bupati, or regency head, of Raja Ampat, Marcus Wanma, to gain mining licences. Wanma was paid $36,000 to issue the mining licences in 2004, and a further $23,270 for ?entertainment? purposes, the documents say, citing police interviews with 16 witnesses, including Wanma?s staff and Yos Hendri, director of PT ASI and PT ASP.

The documents record that about 670 million Indonesian rupiah (about $122,000 on currency valuations at the time) was paid in 2004 to Wanma for nine mining licences, and only 197million rupiah was deposited in the regency?s bank accounts. ?The rest of the 500 million [rupiah] was used for the personal interest of [official] Oktovanius Mayor and Marcus Wanma,? the documents say.

Wanma, in the end, escaped prosecution and remains the regency head. He has been incapacitated with a serious illness and is believed to be in Singapore recuperating. He was unavailable for interview, and Raja Ampat officials declined to comment.

Whether the licences were corruptly obtained or not, the fees paid for them are desultory.

The open-cut mining undertaken on Manuran is cheap and low tech. After clearing the vegetation, workers simply dig up the soil, haul it into trucks and take it to the docks, where it is sent to processing facilities where pure nickel, used in stainless steel, is extracted. The mine?s wharf is nothing more than a tethered barge with no cranes. Costs for the company consist of little more than maintaining about 40 trucks and heavy-moving equipment and the simple wharf.

According to villagers and employees, most of the mine?s labourers earn between $170 and $200 a month. Customary landowners also receive a royalty, but an investigation by The Saturday Age reveals that it is tiny.

Soleman Kein, an elder from Kapidiri, says a new deal was negotiated last year increasing landowners? share of the mine?s income from 1000 rupiah (11?) a tonne to 1500 rupiah.

An industry expert with knowledge of Raja Ampat?s high-grade nickel laterite ore says PT ASP would be getting between $US40 ($A37) and $US100 a tonne, depending on the fluctuating world prices. The average price would be about $US60 a tonne, he says.

A single 50,000-tonne shipload of nickel laterite ore earns the miner, based on average price of $US60 a tonne, $US3 million. The mine at Manuran Island typically does two shiploads a month. If a tonne of nickel laterite sells for about $US60, the locals are getting less than a 0.3 per cent share.

?These companies want a lot of money for not much effort,? says one veteran miner with two decades of experience in Papua. ?They pay as little attention as they can to environmental standards and take the money and get out ? The amount the locals get is pitiful.?

Yos Hendri, a director of both PT ASI and PTASP, pulled out of an interview at the last minute and declined to respond to detailed emailed questions. But according to one source , the local government gets another 3000 rupiah a tonne, while a further 2000 rupiah a tonne is devoted to infrastructure.

All up, the source says about $200,000 has been spent on local villagers in royalties and infrastructure since 2007. In the meantime, the company has earned well over $150 million from sales, although between 4 and 5 per cent of that revenue should flow back to the central government?s coffers.

To be sure, some of the villagers are happy with the arrangement. Soleman Kein is delighted with his new house, paid for from the infrastructure fund. ?My house used to be made of sago leaves; now the company has renovated it, our walls now are made of bricks, we have a roof made of zinc and the interior part of the house is beautifully painted,? he says.

But villagers from Rauki say only 10 of 76 homes promised in 2009 have been built. And disputes rage between clans over who gets the money.

?Conflicts emerge because certain groups of families claim ownership of Manuran Island while others reject their claims,? says Yosias Kein. ?Sometimes, there have been physical conflicts, sometimes an exchange of arguments. The problem is the company does make some payments but the amount is not equal.?

The squabbles have torn apart what were once tight-knit communities. The simmering discontent is ?like a volcano?, says one Rauki native, that ?will erupt one day?.

?Corporations are the ones that get the profits,? says Abner Korwa, a social worker from the Belantara charity, who has closely tracked the mining. ?Once the deposit is exhausted, the big corporation leaves and we will be left alone with the massively damaged environment.?

Queensland Nickel has a sustainable development policy that strives for ?minimising our impact on the environment? and commits to ?pursue honest relationships? with communities.

The company declined to be interviewed or respond to emailed questions. ?We don?t comment on the business of our suppliers,? says Mark Kelly, Queensland Nickel?s external relations specialist. Clive Palmer?s publicist, Steve Connolly, also declined to comment.

Korwa says companies such as QN should not shirk responsibility for the behaviour of their suppliers, given that they make considerable profits from the arrangement. ?They don?t have to invest too much in Raja Ampat. They don?t have to be troubled by mining concessions, the way business is done here,? he says. ?But they can still get the nickel?.

Oxfam Australia, which runs a mining ombudsman, says there is a clear obligation for companies such as QN thatprocess raw minerals to be held accountable for their suppliers.

?Australian companies need to make sure that they are only buying minerals from other companies that respect workers? rights, community rights and the environment. If there?s a good reason to believe that a supplier is causing harm, the company should undertake a thorough assessment,? says Oxfam Australia executive director Andrew Hewett. ?If any issues are found, the company should, in the first instance, work with the supplier to try to rectify the problem. If this doesn?t work, the company should reconsider its business relationship with the supplier.?

QN should be well aware of the issues in Raja Ampat. It bought the Yabulu refinery from BHP Billiton in 2009 when the mining giant pulled out of Raja Ampat, selling its mining rights for the region?s Gag Island amid concern about the ecological and social impacts of mining.

The simmering discontent is not restricted to the villages around Manuran, but is ripping apart other villages whose people have been the custodians of Raja Ampat?s wonders for centuries. For them Raja Ampat ? literally Four Kings ? was created by eggs that descended from heaven to rest in the water.

The dispute at Kawe Island is particularly poisonous. It arises because QN?s supplier holds a licence issued by Wanma that, it argues, supersedes one issued by the governor of West Papua to PT KSM, the company run by the unfortunate Daat, who, besides being a businessman and a politician, hails from Raja Ampat?s Maya people.

Korinus Ayelo is the village chief of Selpele, which has customary ownership of Kawe, and supports Daat?s PT KSM. But rival company PT ASI engineered the highly contested elevation of another chief, Benyamin Arempele, who endorsed its rights to mine.

Repeated legal cases have found in favour of Daat but PT ASI continues todevelop its mine and conduct exploration. ?They are still working today, guarded by the police,? says Ayelo, adding that villagers who were previously close now don?t talk to each other. ?There?s a distance between our hearts,? he explains. ?The people are uneasy. PT ASI uses the military. There are TNI [armed forces] everywhere. People must face the presence of TNI every day.?

Daat says high-level political and military support from Jakarta is behind PTASI?s continued operations. ?It is impossible to get such support for nothing. I believe the profits from Manuran Island are shared by several parties, parties that support this company,? he says. ?I won this case at the District Court, at the Provincial Court and at the Supreme Court. How great is the Indonesian law system? They are still in Kawe doing exploitation despite the courts? rulings.?

Regardless of which company has the legitimate mining rights at Kawe, there are many villagers and conservationists who want mining stopped outright at Kawe, and in the whole of Raja Ampat.

Kawe is a place of huge environmental significance, close to the stunning Wayag archipelago of karst limestone pinnacles and host to 20 world-class diving sites as well as green and hawksbill turtle breeding sites and shark pupping grounds.

Photos obtained by The Saturday Age show that earlier mining activity at Kawe led to the heavy red soils being flushed into the sea, covering the reefs, a problem that will only get worse once full operations resume.

?We are very concerned about the potential for sedimentation and metal deposits to be transported by Kawe?s strong currents and moved up to Wayag and down to Aljui Bay,? says Mark Erdmann, senior adviser to Conservation International?s marine program in Indonesia.

Raja Ampat is theoretically protected by seven marine parks and a shark conservation zone, but while enforcement against illegal fishing is actively conducted, land-based threats such as mining on nearby islands continue unabated.

Indonesia?s government has recognised the extraordinary habitats in Raja Ampat. It put the region on the ?tentative list? to become, like Australia?s Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO world heritage area in 2005. But the application has stalled due to inaction by the government, many suspect because it wants to exploit the area?s natural resources through mining and logging.

In a deeply worrying development forconservationists, nickel and oil exploration restarted this year after the local government issued new exploration permits

?There is tremendous wealth in the natural environment from fishing, pearling and tourism,? says Erdmann, citing a State University of Papua survey that found the long-term benefits from theseeco-friendly economic activities outweighed the short-term gains from mining.

?Mining and this precious, pristine eco-system can?t co-exist in the long term.?

*Sydney Morning Herald

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Tagged as Clive Palmer, Environmental damage, MCC
JULY 2, 2011
Rio Tinto ?must come clean about Bougainville war?
Senator Scott Ludlam

Rio Tinto must reveal the full extent of its involvement in the Bougainville war in the wake of revelations Papua New Guinea?s Prime Minister has given evidence under oath on the decisive role of the company?s subsidiary in the conflict.

The Australian Government must also explain its own role in the war, and what it knew about the role of Rio Tinto subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited in the conflict that claimed 15,000 lives.

?The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Michael Somare, while Leader of the Opposition in 2001, stated in a sworn affidavit that BCL was the driving force behind the military action in Bougainville, and the blockade of the island, to re-open the copper mine. His view has been backed by the former head of PNG defence Major General Jerry Singirok. In light of these revelations, as BCL?s parent company, Rio Tinto must come clean on Bougainville?.

Prime Minister Somare?s evidence is part of an on-going class action in the US against Rio Tinto which began in 2001, brought by victims of the conflict.

?Mr Somare has said under oath that Rio Tinto demanded the blockade of Bougainville and military action, and that BCL provided helicopters, transport, fuel, barracks and pilots for the PNG Government?s war against the Bougainville rebels. If this is found to be true, will Rio Tinto compensate the victims of this war? And what was the involvement of our own Government in this??

The Bougainville copper mine provided the PNG Government with about 20 percent of its revenue, giving the company enormous power, while the Bougainville locals? gain from the mine was a derisory amount of income and a ruined environment. This exploitation lead to local resistance and the PNG government responded with a brutal crack-down.

?This war drove half the population of Bougainville from their homes. By 1995, 64,000 people were in refugee camps. Ten per cent of the population died. The Australian Government was supplying weapons and training to the PNG army while the PNG government vowed to kill anyone who broke a blockade on the island, a blockade that kept out medical supplies. This was a horrendous, bloody war on our own doorstep. It?s time for the whole truth behind it to be known.?

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Filed under Corruption, Environmental impact, Human rights, Mining, Papua New Guinea
Tagged as Bougainville, Environmental damage, Human rights, Landholders, Michael Somare, Panguna, Papua New Guinea
JULY 2, 2011
Danaya unhappy with resumption of Ok Tedi mining operations
WESTERN governor Dr Bob Danaya is disappointed that the government did not consult his provincial administration about the resumption of operations at the Ok Tedi Mine.
This follows the visit by Mining Minister John Pundari and Environment and Conservation Minister Benny Allen last week to the pyrite spillage site along the pipeline to the Bige dredge site.
No comments could be obtained from the two ministers yesterday.

Danaya said he first became suspicious when the Western leaders were not part of the delegation.
He said North Fly MP Boka Kondra only got on the charter flight after he had ?argued? with them at the airport.

Danaya said he was disappointed that the government allowed the mine operations to resume without consulting the Fly River provincial government.
?Is it all about money-making at the expense of the environmental damage?? he said.

?Where is justice and when will justice be done to the people of Western?
The government continues to use a flawed piece of legislation using the indemnity clause in the Restated Ninth Supplemental Agreement to continue to operate the mine.
The indemnity clause states that no legal action must be taken against Ok Tedi mine for any environmental damage caused by the mine operations.
This is inhuman and suppresses the rights of the people affected by the mine.??

?This is cultural genocide for my people. Ok Tedi mine with its major shareholders BHP (PNGSDP) which now holds 62% and the State holding 30% are hell-bent on making money at the expense of the lives of the people and their environment?.

Danaya said he could not understand the logic behind the ministers? approval for the Ok Tedi mine to resume operations.

?I need to know whether the leaking pipes have been replaced to improve that bad piece of engineering in pipeline structure. There is no guarantee that the existing and new pipes would survive.?

He said it was possible that the pipeline could have been damaged because it ran so close to the road which was used by heavy vehicles.
He said the pyrite leakage had damaged the environment killing fish and other marine life which the people depended on.
?No amount of compensation will rectify the current environmental catastrophe,?? he said.
Danaya said the time had come for the government and Ok Tedi mine to address the environmental issues instead of sweeping it under the carpet as it had been doing for years.

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Filed under Environmental impact, Papua New Guinea, Mining
Tagged as Environmental damage, Papua New Guinea, Ok Tedi
JUNE 30, 2011
Lack of govt consultation on Ok Tedi irks Danaya
Post Courier

Papua New Guinea?s Western Province Governor, Dr Bob Danaya, is furious and has expressed concern that there was no consultation by the National Government with his government for the troubled Ok Tedi mine to resume operations.

Dr Danaya said this following the visit by the Minister for Mining, John Pundari, and Minister of Environment and Conservation, Benny Allen, to Tabubil to see firsthand the pyrite spillage site along the pipeline to Bige dredge site.

He asked why Western Province leaders were not included as part of the delegation to accompany the two ministers. He claimed that North Fly MP Boka Kondra was only allowed to join the ministers after he argued at the airport and eventually got on the charter.

Dr Danaya expressed disgust at the National Government for allowing mine operations to resume without any consultation with the Fly River Provincial Government. 
?Is it all about money making at the expense of environmental damage? Where is justice and when will justice be done to the people of Western Province? The Government continues to use a flawed piece of legislation using the indemnity clause in the Restated Ninth Supplemental Agreement to continue to operate the mine,? Dr Danaya said.

He said the indemnity clause states clearly that no legal action must be against OK Tedi mine for any environmental damage caused by the mine operations is inhuman and suppresses the rights of the people affected by the mine. 
He demanded to know whether the leaking pipes have been replaced to improve what he claimed a ?bad piece of engineering? in pipeline structure because there is no guarantee that the existing and new pipes would leak or not.

?No amount of compensation will rectify the current environmental catastrophe. 
?Ok Tedi with the Mining Department have always used divide and rule tactics to cause conflict among the people,? the governor said.
The Governor demanded an explanation from the two ministers when he returns from the province next week.

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Filed under Environmental impact, Human rights, Mining, Papua New Guinea
Tagged as Environmental damage, Human rights, John Pundari, Landholders, Ok Tedi, Papua New Guinea
JUNE 30, 2011
Marengo?s plan for marine dumping in PNG rejected
By Little Green Palai

LANDOWNERS in the Astrolabe Bay in Madang, Papua New Guinea are rejecting Marengo?s plan to dump mine wastes in their sea.

They made this stand known last week during a meeting with Marengo officials in Ileg, a village on the Astrolabe Bay. The Marengo official were in the communities of Ileg and Bongu to gauge their views of the company dumping mine wastes in their sea. The people told them, ?we are not stupid. We can see what is happening with the Ramu Nickel Project.?

The company officials also told the local people that they plan to build their processing site in the area.

The people said they have been lied to so many times in the Ramu Nickel project they do not want this repeated with the Marengo Mine.

Marengo officials will be back at Ileg for further meetings with the local people next week.

The Astrolabe is in the Raicoast district of Madang and is adjacent to the Basamuk where Ramu Nickel mine?s processing site is.

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Tagged as Environmental damage, Submarine Tailings Disposal, Human rights, Marengo mining, Yandera, Highlands Pacific, MCC, Ramu nickel mine, Landholders
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