Churches main cause of land issues in Vidar & Basamuk

Madang province is now embarking on some of the major economic projects in the country. These projects include the Ramu Nickel Mine, Yandera Gold Mine, the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ), Carbon Trade Pilot project at Middle-Ramu, Ramu Oil Palm and a long history of logging activities.

With these major economic project, there is one cross-cutting issue - Landownership and customary landowners. For now I would like to touch on two major projects thriving on lands acquired by religious organizations under a 99 year lease arrangement.

The land area at Vidar which was acquired by the Catholic Church in the 1800's from the locals from Kananam, went through several transactions after the 99 years lease lapsed. The Catholic church gave the land over to the government of PNG (not sure whether some money were exchanged in the transaction), then the government sold it to RD Tuna, and RD Tuna sold about a quarter of that Vidar landmass back to the government who is now embarking on the PMIZ project.

In a similar situation, the Lutheran Church also acquired the land at Basamuk from the locals under a 99 years lease. After the lease lapsed, the land went to the government and now the Ramu Nickel Mine developer CMCC who has set up the production plant site for the nickel.

Customary Landownership issues surrounding these two projects remains an unsolved issue. Both the Catholic and the Lutheran Churches entered the 99 years lease agreements with primitives and illiterate leaders who never went to school and do not understand the consequences of the agreements.

The Lutheran and the Catholic church also brought in people from the hinterlands to work on the plantations at Vidar and Basamuk. Now the 4th and 5th generations are also claiming landownership of the plantations and are challenging the customary landowners in participating as traditional landowners in the two projects.

The land titles commission is yet to deliberate on these landownership issues, but it is very clear the Catholic and the Lutheran churches are very quiet on the issue when in fact they are the main causes of the problems.

Lawyer, Govt clash on mine

Post Courier
News Monday 23rd August, 2010

Lawyer, Govt clash on mine

MINING Minister John Pundari and landowners’ lawyer Tiffany Nonggorr have clashed over the proposed deep sea tailings placement issue with the Ramu nickel mine in Madang.

The case took a new twist over the weekend when lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Tiffany Nongorr was alleged by a ministerial staffer to have threatened to prolong the court case against the mine for more than two years.

In a statement from Mining Minister John Pundari’s office, it was alleged that Mrs Nongorr called the second secretary to the Minister, Simeon Wai, on his mobile last Friday and said that she had scientific data to help her prolong the court imposed moratorium on construction of the DSTP.

Her remarks were in relation to an article in the Post-Courier on August 20 titled: “Pundari backs Ramu after meeting locals.” The Pundari office statement claimed she had said she had spies at the Mineral Resources Authority who she collaboratedwith to get government information concerning the DSTP and Ramu nickel project.

But Mrs Nongorr yesterday denied any threat to prolong the case and said she told Mr Wai that when the Minister was appointed a couple of weeks ago, he immediately announced he would “fix” the Ramu nickel matter.“The next day I rang his second secretary and said that the plaintiffs wanted to brief him on their issues to assist him fix the matter,” Mrs Nongorr said.

“The second secretary said he would pass the message onto the Minister. They never contacted me again.” Mrs Nongorr said that on Friday the Minister was reported in the paper as saying no-one had come to the Government and showed the consequences of DSTP and the alternatives.

“I rang the second secretary and told him that I was very annoyed that the Minister had issued such a statement, as my clients had offered to brief him and he had ignored them. I said to him that the best way forward was for a negotiated solution in the best interests of the people, the Government and the miner. I said to him that if there was no early settlement then the case could go on for at least a year or more because whoever won the trial, there would likely be an appeal. And if that was the case, no one would benefit.”

Mr Pundari when told by Mr Wai about Mrs Nongorr’s outburst challenged the lawyer to disclose the identities of her “collaborators’’ at MRA or other government agencies.

“As far as I’m concerned, all public servants that are involved in the Ramu project are committed and dedicated to achieving the best outcome for all parties. If there are rogue elements within the Government team, they are doing so for their own interest and not serving the state’s and people’s interest,” he said.
Mrs Nongorr said she has had discussions and meetings with the lawyers for MRA and they believed a negotiated outcome was better for everyone.

Copyright©2009, Post-Courier Online.

QC delivers weather forecast in Court

The National Court in Madang heard the motions today (19.08.2010) for the Ramu Nickel Mine DSTP matter. The QC representing the MCC argued that, the National Court should allow MCC to construct the DSTP pipeline because the wet season is approaching and will cause further delays on the Ramu Nickel Project that is costing the developer millions. The QC had no credible source of weather forecast or  Meteorology reports to show the court. He based his argument on an engineering argument that, the rainy season would affect the construction of the DSTP pipeline.   

The Plaintiffs lawyer Ray Williams (who appeared on behalf of Tiffany Nonggorr) questioned the validity of the argument in the absence of any credible weather forecast report. Mr. Williams asked the court “where is the weather forecast from the National Weather Service Bureau that states that it’s going to be a rainy season?” ….“what would you expect, we are in the tropics and it rains now and a sunny day tomorrow….Welcome to PNG, the land of the unexpected” he added. Even the judge consented that, it rains anytime in PNG and with his experience in living in West New Britain, with a big smile, he said,” when the northern part is having a fine day, the southern part rains, so how do you know that it’s going to be a wet season?”.

The whole court room was filled with giggles as the audience could not stop laughing at the QC’s argument on the wet season and some of them had to be told to leave the court room immediately.

I followed the Plaintiffs' lawyer outside and asked him why he said “Welcome to PNG, the land of the unexpected”? He replied that, the argument of the rainy season was not an intelligent argument and therefore did not deserved an intelligent reply.

The decision will be given next Tuesday the 24^th of August 2010.

Landowners from 4 project areas Joined Forces

Papua New Guinea is on the pinnacle of major resources boom in the country and the government is doing its best to create an investment friendly environment at the same time customary landowner issues are reaching boiling point all around the major resource development and proposed project sites.

Landowner issues ranging from, consultation processes, agreements, landownership, participation, environmental plans and permits, social mapping and spin off businesses are some of the issues are raised from the major resource development projects in PNG.

Landowners from the major project areas in PNG have been fighting in isolation to address their concerns since the first resource development project in the country was developed. However, for the first time in the history of PNG, four (4) major project sites and project impacted areas came together to join forces to address their issues.

In a joint press conference held at the Aku Lodge conference room on the 20th of July 2010, representatives from the Watut River Union (Morobe), the riverine communities union organizing around the impacts on the Watut river system by the Hidden valley mine, Raicoast Anti-DSTP group (Madang) who are opposing the plans for the dumping of the Ramu Nickel mine waste into the Basamuk Bay , representatives from the clans from the LNG project (Hela) who did not signed the benefit sharing agreement, Unitech students from the new Hela province, New Ireland Resource Watch, the people's movement of the New Ireland Province who oppose the deep seabed mining, the Bismarck Solomons Sea Indigenous People's Council (BSSIPC) also opposing deep seabed mining and the Madang People's forum (MPF)collectively want the government to respond to their major concerns respectively, review all these projects and repeal the new environmental act.

The group made a strong call to Somare to step down and NA to be removed from the government, because they claim the current NA/Somare government is not representing the interest of the people and seen to be driven by foreign investors. If there is going to be a change in government, the group made it clear also that, these demands need top be looked into immediately. The press conference was done a day before the adjournment of the parliament to November. However the group was very clear that if the government does not change or if the new government will not look into their demands, then the people will take it upon themselves to clean up the mess.

This group is also calling on all other landowners from other project areas in PNG to come together and work together because, the government is serving foreign interests.

Rumor: K3million offered to Plaintiffs on negoitiation table

Amidst all the controversies surrounding the Ramu Nickel Mine with the court cases and campaigns against DSTP running parallel to each other, there are already new developments.

There are rumors that, the PNG Government, CMCC and a MRA Lawyer currently negotiating with the Plaintiffs to withdraw the court case to allow the mine to progress. An amount of K3million is said to be offered to the Plaintiffs plus other benefits such as contracts for them to withdraw the court case.

Several Landowners from Raicoast are now lodging at the Madang Lodge while the negotiations are going on.

By the way, is it legal for the defendants to negotiate with the plaintiffs directly, when the matter is in the courts?

Another Desperate Attempt to Prop-up Ramu Nickel

The people of Raicoast have made history by causing the high level government officials to visit them twice within 4 weeks.

The first was when the deputy prime minister, Madang governor and other government officials who went down to Bongu Village to receive the petition signed by 7000 people of Raicoast opposing DSTP. Today (10th of June 2010)the prime minister Sir Michael Somare, flew to Madang to discuss with the landowners. For the PM and his deputy attend to the same issue within 4 weeks means something.

The PM spoke about how he taught in various districts in Madang during the colonial days as a teacher and that he always wanted the best for Madang and the people of PNG. His talk was basically to draw sympathizers to support the project.
On the other hand, governor Amet appealed to the party that took the injunction to withdraw the court cases and bring the matter to the discussion table and allow the mine to proceed.

This is seen as another desperate attempt to prop-up support for the Ramu Nickel Project. But the people of Raicoast are NOT stupid or ignorant anymore.

Raicoast don't need Ramu Nico

The newly elected Raicoast MP, Mr. Joe Gau defended fervently that, the Ramu Nickel Mine project is needed for the much needed services for his constituency. He claimed that without the mine, it will be practically impossible for him to deliver tangible services to his electorate and blames NGOs and outsiders for sabotaging the progress of the mine.  

Mr. Gau, the Raicoast people have been denied for service delivery mainly due to issues surrounding the vacancies of its national MP post due to various reasons. The last thing the people of Raicoast want to hear is their MP confused about who is responsible for service delivery and development in their electorate. Mr. Gau fails to understand that the prime objective of the Chinese Metallurgical Construction Company (CMCC) is to extract the Nickel and make profit and it is NOT their business to serve the people of Raicoast. All service and development deliveries is the responsibility of the government of which Mr. Gau is part of.    

First of all, Mr. Gau don't lie to the Raicoast people that, you need the money from the mine to deliver services and development. How will you get the money when in fact the government gave CMCC 10 years tax holiday? Mr. Gau there will not be any tax for the next 10 years, and who knows whether you will still remain in power after the 10 years lapsed.

Secondly, Mr. Gau, the political party and the government which you are a member of cannot lie to the people of Raicoast. What about the K40 million stole by senior a NA MP and minister and banked in a private bank account in Singapore? What about he K780 million stolen by lawyers, accountants, MPs and public servants unveiled by the finance inquiry? These monies should have been used for the delivery of the much needed service and development in Raicoast and other areas in PNG as well.

Thirdly, Mr. Gau, with the experiences of the mining industry in PNG with OK Tedi, Bougainville Copper, Porgera, Missima and Lihir where is the evidence of development and service delivery of these mines? There is absolutely nothing to show and don't lie to the people of Raicoast that the Ramu Nico project will deliver.

Mr Gau, Raicoast does not need the rich wealth to develop, it needs a leadership with the richness in wisdom to lead and you show that you already lack this requirement. And don't tell the people of Raicoast, they need China to develop-Raicoast does not need any CMCC or mining to develop.

Raicoast Leaders Gate Crashed at Governor's Office and Demanded Response to Petition

The Raicoast leaders gate crashed at the Madang Governor's office yesterday (1st of June 2010) and demanded Governor Amet to give them a feedback since the 21 days of their petition lapsed on the 30th of May 2010.

The petition organizer and anti-DSTP campaigner, George Ireng apologized for gate crashing, however, he said that, the 7000 people from Raicoast who signed the petition are waiting a response and the 21 days has lapsed the previous day and the people are kept in suspense and want to know whats happening.  

Madang Governor, Sir Arnold Amet said, he is not moved by the petition and will not be threatened to respond within any time frame, however, he said he honored the petition and will respond in due course.

He promised the landowners to respond in two days to the second demand in the petition which asked for an independent study to verify the impacts. He said he will have to get in touch with the deputy prime minister to make an undertaking to ensure the independent study is carried out. 

Mr. Amet also said that he ha been in touch with  scientists from Madang and PNG who are qualified to engage them in the desk review of the Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) Report (also referred to as the Lutheran Church Report), the various government reports and the SAMS (Scottish Association of Marine Science) report. Mr. Amet said he is still reading the MPI Report and needs more credible scientific advice before he makes a decision.


The SAMS report is supposed to be the independent study which was commissioned by the government, however, the government has not moved on getting the report finalized and published. The Bongu petition was done in the light of the absence of the SAMS report, however, on the day of the presentation of the petition to the government, Mr. Ireng received a copy of the report which the deputy prime minister, Mr. Puka Temu said was still a draft. Mr, Temu said that he will ensure the final payment of K100, 000 is paid to SAMS within two weeks so that the report can be finalized and released. That has not happened, however the government decided to change the Environmental Act instead two days before the Bongu petition lapsed. .

Mr. Ireng, raised the question about the new amendment to the Environmental Act and what is the governors position. He said it was a direct insult to the people from Raicoast who in good faith followed the right procedures to raise the concern and the government goes to the back of the people and amend the law. Mr. Amet said he is not clear with the new legislative changes and will require time to read and understand it before saying anything. He reminded the landowners that, as the former judge, he doesn't jump quickly into conclusion. That has always been his line of excuses- Is he telling his constituency the truth?

Is Governor Amet telling the truth? Is he not one of the best legal brains in the NA camp and therefore provides legal opinions to the party caucus? Is he really negligent to have no say at all when he is in the government and the amendments  highlighted  the landowners from Ramu Nickel halting the progress of the project?....Let the people of Madang decide!!!!

States lawyer instructed in court by Ramu Nico.

The Madang Court Room was packed to capacity today as the Raicoast landowners' lawyer-Tiffany Nonggorr made submissions against the States Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) with reference to the approval of the environmental permit for DSTP being grossly flawed.

At the opening of the session, it was confusing to identify who the state lawyer was. However, it appeared at the end that, the same QC-Brisbane based barrister, Ian Malloy who had been appearing on behalf of the Ramu Nico Ltd appeared today as the states counsel.

In M alloy's defense, he never stated anything to do with the  prejudice against the state or the DEC, nevertheless, he was raising issues relating to the prejudice against Ramu Nico when in fact, they (Ramu Nico) was not a party to the case today. Furthermore, there was a Chinese gentlemen, who was sitting right at the back of the QC and was seen to be giving instructions to the states counsel.

Well that brings alot of questions:
1. Who is paying for the states counsel?
2. Who is instructing the states counsel?
3. Who is the state, is it Ramu Nico?

The landowners counsel concluded in her response to the defense that it was an issue of good governance, and the government should be by the people and for the people. Nevertheless state has failed its primary responsibility to serve the people.

CMCC mobilized Tigabu and his supporters to try to intimidate lawyer

The Chinese state owned Chinese Metallurgical Construction Company (CMCC) the developer of the Ramu Nickel and Cobalt mining project in the Madang Province of PNG, mobilized David Tigabu (the KBK Landowner Association Chairman) and his supporters to try to intimidate the Lawyer representing the landowners of Raicoast who took the injunction against the Deep Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) for another hearing yesterday (7th of May 2010).

The mob that gathered outside the Madang court house were drunken males who look more like people who live in settlements in the Bundi settlement in Madang. They had their fleshy looking banner up (obviously sponsored by CMCC) and were rowdy and abusive.

The funny thing was there was no landowner from Raicoast present in that gathering.   The DSTP is a Raicoast thing, because it has the high potential to affect the marine ecosystem that support the livelihoods of the coastal communities. The point is DSTP will not affect Krumbukari.It seems that CMCC has also missed the point here by mobilizing a wrong group of people and even worse getting them drunk because they don't have the guts to confront in soberness.

Nevertheless, George Ireng and his Raicoast leaders have made new grounds in their campaign against DSTP because, the governor of Madang, the deputy prime minister, the minister for environment and conservation and the managing director of MRA and MRDC will go to Bongu village to receive the petition from the Raicoast people on the 10th of May 2010. Its the people's power in action!

Raicoast communities signed petition against Deep Sea Tailings Disposal

 The Raicoast communities (both inland and coastal) met on the 14th of April 2010 and signed a petition to the Governor of the Madang province of Papua New Guinea opposing the governments approval of the deep sea tailings disposal (placement) by the Chinese Ramu Nickel and Cobalt  mine. The community forum which was held at the Bongu village convened on same golden day  when their lawyer Tiffany Nonggorr was in court receiving the judgment for the injunction that was ruled in the landowners favour.  Here is the link to a video posted on youtube.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq8-apBMy28

The deep sea tailings disposal plan if allowed to go ahead will have both the Chinese Ramu Nickel and Cobalt mine and the Marengo's Yandra mine disposing massive amounts of mine waste into the sea of the coast of Raicoast. There is a high probability of negative impacts these waste will have on the marine ecosystem and the livelihoods of the coastal communities.

To support the Raicoast communities, you can also sign a petition online:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/basamukbay/

Landowners win case against the Chinese Mine in Madang

The landowners’ case against the Chinese State owners Mining Company (CMCC) plans for deep sea tailings placements (disposal) was ruled in their favour at the Madnag National Court on Wednesday (15.04.2010).

CMCC got the approval from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) to discharge 100million tons of tailings annually into the Basamuk Bay, despite the fact that they had a weak scientific backing.

The landowners from Basamuk and neighboring villages challenged the tailings disposal plan in the court of law through their lawyer, Tiffany Nonggorr. The victory on Wednesday means the injunction on the CMCC to pursue that disposal stands, till sometimes in May where it gets to the courts again if the defendants want another go at the courts.

This is a significant win for the landowners because it’s not easy to challenge the foreign state owned company, and the government. It has been said that PNG is the land of the unexpected, however, we do expect two possible turn out in the whole case. The Chinese mining company and the PNG government may push for a change of judge if they decide to get back to court or short cut the process by getting the parliament to change the law to make it legal for them to dump into the sea. Both options are corrupt and will tamper with the spirit of true justice.

Meanwhile, Greg Anderson, Executive Director of the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (PNGCMP) expressed concern over the Ramu project legal battle (The National, Monday April 12 2010). Mr. Anderson said that, “the whole mining and petroleum industry is monitoring this case closely and the outcome of the hearing is critical to the future investment environment of the country”. This is a very cheap shot at the country. The simple fact is CMCC and the government of PNG have to prove to the satisfaction of the court of justice that the disposal will not have a significant impact on the Basamuk marine eco-system.

How much money was spent by CMCC is not the issue here, because the Basamuk and Raicoast, coastal areas communities depend on the sea for their livelihoods. And if Mr. Anderson claims that Ramu nickel mining company is to be a world class mine, than it has to be proven by its high degree of compliance, and that means, no political satisfaction, but the hard scientific evidence. In fact the landowners are challenging the CMCC and the government with hard scientific evidence.

Our Environment is Connected to our Life

As I watched the "Uprooted" a documentary about the communities affected by the Ramu Nickel Mine in the Madang Province of Papua New Guinea, Michael Kasuk's statement about the connection of the environment and people caught my attention.  This is a community leader from Ramu very articulate in making the connection the government and many educated Papua New Guineans cannot.

"We are concerned about our environment - our bush, land and river is connected to our life" says Mr. Kasuk. Unfortunately, the Government of PNG does not see these important connections when deliberating on major development projects like mining, logging and industrial agriculture. It's main focus is on economic development without much consideration on the social and ecological aspects.

The communities within major project development areas have little to show in terms of social improvements and ecological sustainability. The rate of environmental destruction is as if we are leaving tomorrow for another planet. There is no sense of responsibility.

There is a lot of experiences both in PNG and around the world for the Government to learn from and make wise decisions. However, the trend now is easy access for foreign multinational  companies to exploit our resources without any social and ecological responsibility or accountability.

Major Development Projects Affecting Ramu River

On Saturday the 20th of February 2010, I took a trip to Sepu village at Usino located on the bank of the Ramu River below the Ramu Nickel-Cobalt Mine. The Sepu village had 3 houses washed downstream as a result of the flooding which is continuing because of the continuing wet period.

Ward Councilor Peter Kema from Sepu village, said the magnitude of the flooding is severer than the previous floods, something they have never seen and experienced before. The flood has destroyed the food gardens and the river communities are experiencing a chronic shortage of food.

Sepu village is one of the many villages of the riverine communities along the 4th largest river in PNG which is currently under so much stress from sedimentation buildup.

The Ramu River runs through the Ramu Valley and is located between the Finister and Bismarck Ranges and feeds from tributaries from the two ranges. The natural forces of nature and human activities along the Ramu River and the two ranges are contributing to the impacts on the Ramu River System.

However, there are a number of major development activities around the head-streams of the Ramu River and along the Ramu Valley which cannot be isolated from the ongoing stress of the Ramu River System and its compounding impacts on the livelihoods of the Ramu River communities.

Appropriate scientific research and baseline data of the Ramu River System needs to be undertaken over a sufficient period of time to established adequate facts. However, the number of developments upstream involved a significant forest clearance, thus aggravating intensive runoffs and erosion. Forest cover plays an important role in stopping runoffs and erosion.

The New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL) recently took over the Ramu Sugar Ltd under a new commercial arrangement of expanding its oil palm business. Forest clearance along the Ramu valley at Dumpu last year, the Kainantu Gold Open Cut Mine in the Eastern Highlands Province (on the Bismarck Range),the river is a major tributary of the Ramu, the Ramu Nickel and Cobalt Mine (major clearance in the construction phase)and the Yandera Mine (Major clearance in the construction phase)all involved major involved forest clearance. Along the Middle-Ramu area, there is ongoing logging activities along the main tributaries of the Ramu.

These developments cannot be excused from impacting the Ramu River System, in terms of the recent floods and the sedimentation buildup. Once these mines go in to full scale operations, than the impacts will be added on to the current impacts. The bottom line is that, lives of people and their livelihoods are at stake.

The livelihoods of the Ramu River communities have not been taken into consideration by the government and the project developers. Over 250,000 people live and depend on the Ramu River System from the Upper Ramu to the Middle-Ramu right down to Bogia(Lower-Ramu). Therefore the potential diabolic consequences can not be undermined by the project developer and the Government of PNG.

Communities at the Lower part of the Ramu have formed a Group called, Ramu River Conservation and Management Authority (RRCMA). RRCMA main objective is to save the Ramu River from the potential destruction from the Ramu Nickel Mine and other major development projects upstream. RRCMA has been raising awareness along the Ramu River from Marangis to Sepu and show no intention of giving up even when the government is not supporting them. RRCMA was successful in get a monitoring station set-up in one of the villages along the Ramu River and have filed a case against the Ramu Nickel Mine (Chinese Meteorological Construction Company-CMCC) and the Mining Resource Authority (MRA) the government body that manages the mining industry (whose legality is also in question because it is controlled by the industry).

The RRCMA gets it! They do not want to end up like the Fly River, Strictland River and the Angabanga River communities who are affected by Ok Tedi, Porgera and Tolukama mining.

Ramu Mine Under Valued

Ramu mine worth billions

The value of Ramu Ni-Co project quoted in The National newspaper is misleading. It also holds the largest Sino-Australian nickel and cobalt project worth $US1.7 billion (K4.6 billion)” from the article entitled “PNG on a verge of a Boom”.

For brevity, Ramu laterite deposit contains 1.44 million tons of nickel and 0.143 million tons of cobalt within a reserve of 143mt at 1.01 per cent Ni and 0.1 per cent Co. At today’s buoyant prices of $US9/lb for nickel and $US20/lb for cobalt, the in-situ value of contained nickel and cobalt in the Ramu project stands at about $US28 billion and $US6 billion.
So the actual value of Ramu nickel cobalt project is $US34 billion or K92 billion at today’s prices. This excludes exploration dollars already spent on the project. This mine will produce in excess of 31,000 tonnes of Ni and 3300 tons Co annually for a period of 20 years (with the potential for up to 30 years). The worth of metals produced annually may exceed $US750 million subject to fluctuating metal prices and production capacity. This is somewhat equivalent to well over K2 billion per annum at today’s exchange rate and metal price.

Sadly, 85 per cent of the ownership of the Ramu mineral resource was sold to MCC, the Chinese state owned enterprise for a mere 5 per cent ($US1.7 billion) of the total value of this mega resource. So the $US1.7 billion is the construction and initial operating costs.So how much is left for PNG or Papua New Guineans? Barely 10 per cent (because HPL is a public listed company) in the bones as usual through the following entities: -
* 8.56 per cent Highlands Pacific Limited
* 3.94 per cent MRDC
* 2.5per cent landowners

To set the record straight, the present value of Ramu mine is worth about $US34 billion (K92 billion) and not $US1.7 billion (K4.6 billion) at today’s price but unfortunately very little if not none will be reflected in long-term tangible development of Papua New Guinea. Indeed it is another example of broad daylight rape and exploitation of Papua New Guinea. PNG government and its entities must act radically and swiftly in changing the current trends in order to maximise realisation of the natural resources for Papua New Guinea. Sadly, PNG government is continuously selling multi-billion-dollar resources cheaply, for next to peanuts because it seems to lack comprehension and in-depth analytical skills compounded by greed and ignorance.

Kaul Gena, Ph.D
Senior lecturer
Western Australian School of Mines