Porgera Mine is destroying land

Published by MAC on 2004-11-10

A traditional Kewai landowner who works at Papua New Guinea's huge Porgera gold mine has accused Canada's Placer Dome of a "divide and rule" policy and reneging on earlier agreements.

Mine destroying land

The National (Papua New Guinea) Letter to the Editor

10 November 2004

I am writing this open letter to the management of the giant Porgera gold mine, national leaders and local leaders. When you fly over the mine, you will notice that the waste dumped into the Kaiya river by the mine has caused a lot of damage to the land on both sides of the river banks.

The worst affected have been the Kewai tribes people. These people, like their forefathers, are subsistence farmers. Hopefully, their children and grand- children will have suitable land available but with the way things are, I very much doubt there will be.

I am a young man from Kewai and I have lived here all my life and hope to pass my land onto my children. Even though I am employed by the mine, I still rely on my land for food.

I like gardening and my wife has passed down traditional gardening methods and the different names of vegetables, flowers and so on to my children. Having land and making gardens is not only about having enough food to eat.

It's part of our culture and way of life. We identify ourselves by our land and have emotional and historical ties with our land.

Without my own land, I am nothing. My land is my anchor to my people and tradition. This land keeps us together as a tribe and as a family. The damage has been so great that some families have lost more than 40 per cent of their best gardening land.

The mining company (PJV) has allegedly paid very little compensation. What they pay is enough to last a few months and then it's gone. PJV won't help my people by giving contracts. So much for the business developments and opportunities they are always preaching about. Most contracts allegedly go to the same people that already have one or two wantoks as PJV employees.

This is one area that PJV must look into. We are the people being most affected but get little benefits.

The North Anawe people signed agreements with PJV when their land was used for a dump. So why can't we, the Kewai people, be shown the same respect and courtesy by one of the biggest mines in the world and definitely the biggest in PNG. We do not get royalties which was promised many years ago for waste dumped into our river.

We are not asking for millions, just enough to ensure that the quality of life that we now enjoy can be sustained.

The practice that PJV allegedly has in secretly dealing with individuals must stop. Sometimes, PJV allegedly pays the wrong person and then says that the rightful owner should take that other person to court. This raises tension and animosity in the villages.

PJV allegedly has a secret policy of "divide and rule". This has been going on for more than 15 years. PJV must realise that when the mine first started, the landowners who signed the agreement then, were all uneducated. They were also led to believe that untold wealth and riches would be theirs.

They now have realised that they were being fooled. The people who told these lies are now living in Port Moresby. They hold positions that give them access to money that belongs to the people of Porgera.

They have made themselves rich by stealing from the people. They know who they are and should resign immediately. The good Lord will reward you one of these days for stealing from uneducated people.

Landless landowner,
Porgera, Enga province