Hon. John Pundari, Minister for Environment & Conservation, Papua New Guinea
By SONIA KENU
MINISTER
for Environment and Conservation John Pundari yesterday broke his silence on
the Ok Tedi mining pollution issue, describing it as a “curse” on the Fly River people of Western. He says
he plans a visit to all impacted areas along the Ok Tedi and Fly River areas and intends to take
along a contingent of international and national media to see for themselves
the scale of damage.
“The mine has been operating in the country
for some 27 years, and while it has made a significant contribution to the
development of our country, it has also brought a curse upon the people of
Western in terms of the enormous environmental damage caused to the Fly River system,” Pundari said.
“The
Ok Tedi mine has been using the riverine disposal of waste rock and mine
tailings and has caused considerable environmental degradation. “This has had a
major impact on the lives and livelihood of the Fly River people. “The benefits to
the people in the impacted area, in my view, are far less than the impact the
operation of the mining has done to the health of the environment. “The damaged
environment will remain long after the mine has shut down and continue to
affect the lives and health of our people for many generations.”
Pundari
said Ok Tedi mine had been operating under the Mining (Ok Tedi Agreement) Act
of 1978, followed by various supplementary agreements, which were amended over
the years until the recent one in 2001 -- the Mining (Ok Tedi Mine
Continuation) Agreement Act 2001.
“These
agreements give indemnity against prosecution to BHP, the original developer of
the mine,” he said. “Excluding the mine from regulations under the Environment
Act has prevented my department from taking an active role in its management.”
Pundari
said BHP walked away from the mine and left PNG to deal with the damage caused
to the environment, which would remain long after the mine was closed and would
become a burden to the government. “Our people of the Fly River and Western have suffered
in silence for a very long time in their own God-given land from activities of
the mine and the wastes generated in it,” he said. “I, as the minister
responsible for the environmental matters, and our government, would not be
able to fix the wrong done by these large multi-national corporations to our
environment and our people.
“It
hurts me greatly to hear the cry of our people in the Fly River area about the
irrepressible damage done to the environment and their lives.
“It
even hurts me to go and talk about the kind of benefit the Ok Tedi mine has
brought in, when their suffering outweighs the benefit the mine brings in.”
