PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Landowners: 'Enough is enough!'

BY CAM WALKER

Landowners from mining-affected regions in Papua New Guinea met on August 6 and declared their opposition to public funding for new mining projects.

"Decades of mining have left a legacy of environmental degradation, and uprooted the social fabric of many communities in PNG, while the revenues have not been equally redistributed", said Matilda Koma from the PNG Environmental Watch Group. "Human rights violations, alcoholism, prostitution and AIDS are on the rise at mine sites around the country."

Many similar views were expressed at a historic gathering on Motupore Island, where landowners of mining-affected areas and potential new mines met to share experiences and formulate strategies to deal with the impact of mining projects. A common message from participants was that their clans are committed to defend their land and customary rights.

Participants noted that mining operations, from Ok Tedi to Bougainville, have had similar disruptive environmental, social and economic effects, in some cases leading to violent conflicts.

"Landowners are in a unique position in PNG. They own 97% of the land, according to the PNG constitution. It is the landowners that have the power to veto projects", said Damien Ase, from the PNG Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR/FoE PNG). "They have sent a clear message to both investors and public financiers, like the World Bank and the Australian Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), that enough is enough."

Kate Walsh, from Australia-based Aid/Watch, noted that apart from the direct involvement of Australian companies in PNG, "Australian taxpayers money, through EFIC, has financed a swathe of controversial projects in PNG". Unfortunately, the Australian government continues to support destructive projects such as large-scale mining operations.

Janneke Bruil, from Friends of the Earth International, added: "Support for the mining sector is in direct contradiction with the World Bank's claim to alleviate poverty. It must not finance any new mining operations nor continue to promote further weakening of national mining laws. It is time to recognise people's right to self-determination."

From Green Left Weekly, August 13, 2003.

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From GLW issue 549