Landowners of the Panguna Special Mining Lease area are not pleased with the current negotiations by the Government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
In a statement, the landowners claim they are being left out in the current negotiations.
The Panguna Osikayang Coalition, a civil society group representing the people who are directly impacted by the mine, are calling for a fair representation in consultations with the developers.
This week, the group demanded the ABG Government including developer Bougainville Copper Limited and partner, Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited to immediately halt all activities directly or indirectly concerning the mine, “these includes all ABG led community awareness programs that involve the planned dissemination of information relating to agreements and activities that indigenous resource owners were NOT involved in, are not ‘a party to’.”
Six key reasons were highlighted as references to cease activities concerning the reopening of the mine.
The reasons include:
• Unresolved Panguna Legacy issues
• Lessons learnt from the first BCL agreement and the need to be inclusive
• Lack of inclusive and equitable participation, and representation
• Lack of transparency and accountability
• Process and Governance Gaps and
• Legal and Rights Considerations
The group emphasised the need for the ABG Government and the developer and its partners to have an open dialogue and be transparent with negotiations and agreements.
The Panguna Osikayang Coalition explained in the statement that their concerns stem from a wider community based stakeholder engagement and consultation meeting in Panguna, put together by a Technical Working Group comprising of concerned citizens of the impact communities.
Meanwhile, the ABG Government through the Media Office, says it remains committed to ensuring that landowners are empowered as key stakeholders in development.
The ABG community engagement program is already underway, and concerns raised by various interest groups will be addressed through this community engagement and dialogue.