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Social & Environmental Concern over Irresponsible Mining Interests.

Worry before, not after

Worrying about environmental damage caused by mining activities now is very sad and foolish. Diligent consideration should be done in the first place.  We expect our Members of Parliament to exercise their prior best judgement in line with what the people want or oppose as well as consideration for the long term effects measured against benefits. Consultation with landowners, including parts of rivers and the sea, is very important. Sadly consultation now is lacking and opposition to undesired development is hardly taken into consideration. It is brushed aside in the name of money and development as could be glimpsed from this summary of post (posted July 18 2011)  under the caption "Mining The Deep: All About $ For the Government":

The PNG Mine Watch blog posts some unfortunate news today about mining the hydrothermal vents of the PNG coast at the Solwara 1 site.
Papua New Guinea’s Mining Minister, John Pundari told Nautilus chief executive officer Steve Roger that the PNG government was fully committed to supporting the project as indicated through its decision to acquire a 30% stake in the world’s first deep sea mining project.“It is my intention to make an announcement on the fulfillment of the government’s commitment in the next few weeks”
Of course it’s not hard to get the mining permits you need from the government when the government gets to take 30% of the profits. (http://deepseanews.com/2011/07/mining-the-deep-all-about-for-the-government/)

Yesterday, 28 August 2014, The front page of The National which continued in page 3 carried an article by Malum Nalu on the condemnation of environmental damage in the Fly River in Western Province. The MPs now are condemning the damage and I wonder if the damage occurred by itself so as to condemn the damage alone. What caused the damage and who is responsible? Those should receive the condemnation and the damage accorded the status of environmental disaster that resulted from our poor judgement in the first place. The condemnation was by Minister for Environment and Conservation John Pundari.

As far as experimental seabed mining is concerned, there is strong opposition from concerned people because it is en experimental exercise that has never been done anywhere in the world. The machinery are going to be tested for the first time.  The Bismark Archipelago will become the laboratory - the guinea pig.  It is lacking in conformity to Corporate Social Responsibility in the sense that it should not be carried out in a country  (Papua New Guinea) that is not technologically advanced. In the event of a disaster it is unprepared to look after itself.

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