Porgera Alliance

Category: Uncategorized

  • Porgera Landowners petition PNG Government with Ultimatum regarding Barrick’s intention to sell Porgera Mine

    MOA landowner protest
    Photo from previous landowner dispute over Barrick's violation to the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

    Today, Porgera Landowners petitioned the PNG Government with an ultimatum in response to Barrick’s announcement that it intends to sell off its stake in the Porgera Mine. According to the petition, the government has until Feb 25, 2015 to respond to the landowners request that the government deal with unresolved issues at the mine before allowing its sale.

    These issues are outlined as follows:

    1. SML Resettlement The relocation issues not being fully addressed by the Developers and the State in the due processes since 24 years of mine life as of 1989 to 2015 this year.

    2. Landowner Resettlement Issues The major resettlement issues not being addressed even though the matter was raised at different avenues. The major resettlement program is still pending with Barrick being the key player.

    3. Disposal of Tailings The PJV”™s continuous discharging of mine waste into the main riverine system especially at Anawe waste dump site and Anjolek creek are causing a serious damages to the environment, improving plants and permanent loss of traditional customary land starting from the mine site then flows into the main Kaiya and Pogema River Systems respectively. Its then proceeds down to the main Porgera River and on to Fly River system resulting in causing tension cracks with high flooding of the debrides with mixture of sands, gravels and toxic chemicals reactions are taking place. Then it also causes with huge landslides along the either sides of the riverbanks. Reference ““ Parama Association of Lower Porgera is now taking legal actions and seeking Human Rights International assistance against the PJV-Barrick Gold Ltd and Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

    4. Human Rights Currently the SML Landowners are now living within the vicinity of the special mining lease areas are seriously affected as due to air and dust pollution causing from the hauling of mine Ore body and toxic fume or steams that evaporates through the milling chimney that goes up into the air. And it really affects the human lives when drinking of rain water catchment from the tanks and other air pollutions within the PJV relocation homes and other surrounding areas of SML Porgera mine. Also a number of local landowners and domestic animals being carried away by the high flooding river currents while penning of alluvial gold along the main Kaiya and Porgera River System; a traditional or customary land owned by the Tieni, Tuanda and Kewai landowners. Reference ““ Porgera Landowners Association is dealing these matters at the high level of both government authorities and other international community”™s support and assistance.

    5. Porgera Agreement After more than 24 years of mine life there was no tangible developments were taking sharp into the relocation areas such as electricity connection into the relocation houses, access road links into the relocation villages. Also there is no proper Aid-post or Health centers and any form of educational services such as elementary to primary schools within the relocation areas of SML Porgera mine. Reference ““ The Porgera Landowners association has raised these praising issues and graveness at the various avenues during the 24 years of mining life. Thus, no formal review was done between the STATE, DEVELOPER (Barrick Gold Ltd) and Porgera Landowners Association for and on behalf of the silent majority with an estimate population of ten thousand (10 000) plus people of SML Landowners of Porgera mine.

    6. Mine Lease Issues Papua New Guinea is a land owned by the traditional landowners oppose to state ownership. We the traditional landowners own the land through inhabitants from generation to generations. The mine lease Barrick will expire in (2019) that is after three years”™ time, but, we still have the issues of permanent damages to our land and environmental damages caused due to mining operations.

    7. Socio-economic Issues The socio-economic liabilities including outstanding obligations and claims for sustainability are at stake.

    With these underlying issues which has been prolong for well over 24 years of mine life, the PJV Barrick Gold went ahead and sold out its 95% share from Porgera mine without the landowners concerns as we are the part shareholder of 2.5% and another 2.5% belongs to the Enga Provincial Government. Also the State and the Barrick Gold Ltd are well aware that we the people of SML area of Porgera mine are wholly own this customary land territories of the current mining operations are taking place. The State and the Barrick Gold Ltd had deliberately removed our rights and freedoms as part of ignorance and selling out of 95% stake to an unknown mining company. Under that circumstance we the landowners are very much frustrated and anger over the manner in which the PJV/Barrick Gold Ltd the immediate manager of the Porgera mining operation had deliberately by-passing the landowners from further negotiation on Barrick take-over. Also PJV/Barrick had left behind all the above pressing issues yet to be addressed and just wanted to sneak out. With these terms and conditions, we have no choice but to declare the mine operation to be CLOSED for indefinite period if no positive responses are coming forthwith.

  • Billions lost due to weak mining policies

    Source: Solomon Time

    Papua New Guinea has been losing billions of kina in mineral resources due to lack of strong policies and capacity to properly monitor and regulate the industry.

    Enga Governor and host to the world class Porgera Gold Mine, Peter Ipatas in his keynote address to stakeholders during the Mineral Policy and Legislation Division”™s regional consultation program in Mt Hagen yesterday said developers were exploiting the mineral sector without any good benefits going back to the country and its people. (more…)

  • New Harvard Report released detailing human rights abuses at Porgera Mine Site

    In October & November 2009, the Canadian House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs & Intl. Development held hearings on “Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability”.  The following statements were made regarding issues including allegations of killings, rape & other security problems involving personnel at the Porgera Joint Venture in Papua New Guinea, as well as the Porgera mine’s environmental impacts.  (Barrick Gold holds a large majority stake of the Porgera Joint Venture.)

    – Catherine Coumans, Research Coordinator & Asia Pacific Program, MiningWatch Canada
    – Tyler Giannini, Intl. Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law School [USA]
    – Sarah Knuckey, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York Univ. School of Law [USA]

    Barrick issued a response to these and other allegations made about its operations and impacts at the hearings, available here.

    The statements above by Tyler Giannini and Sarah Knuckey were accompanied by a lengthy written report, which was submitted to the Committee in hard copy at the time of the testimony, and made available in PDF format in July 2010:
    – Table of contents & list of appendices
    – Executive summary & body of report
    – Appendix A
    – Appendix B-1
    – Appendix B-2
    – Appendix B-3
    – Appendix B-4
    – Appendix C

    Barrick response to the report [PDF] – 23 July 2010

  • Porgera Special Mining Lease (SML) Landowners Association Statement on Amnesty International Report

    Porgera SML Landowners Association (PLOA) is a duly incorporated organization under the laws of Papua New Guinea (PNG) by seven (7) major indigenous land owning clans represented by 25 Agent Committees from where the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) Barrick gold mine is located in the central highlands of PNG.

    PLOA takes the first opportunity to welcome the Amnesty International (AI) report that tells the truth about police violence and forced evictions occurred during a Papua New Guinea police deployment in what has been purported to restore law and order in Porgera Enga Province Papua New Guinea between April and June 2009.

    The PLOA at every stage of the mines operation demanded through PJV Barrick and the PNG government for resettlements of over 5000 plus indigenous landowners out of the SML area. However, the calls for resettlement have fallen into deaf hears over times and the landowners have been forced to live inside the SML like squatters on our own land on manmade islands in the highlands of PNG.

    PJV Barrick purports to claim that the company is “committed to protecting human rights and operating in alignment with the voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.” The PLOA unequivocally dismisses the proclamation. Previous case records of PJV Barrick tells a totally different story that in 2008, the Norway Government Global Pension Fund, one of the largest global pension funds in Europe divested 230 million Canadian Dollars  from Barrick Gold International and delisted from its investment portfolio as a result of de-charging life tailings into Porgera-Lagaip Strickland river system harming the environment. In 2007 PJV Barrick admitted through the Ottawa Citizen News paper in Canada that 8 people were killed at the Porgera mine site for somewhat unfound reasons. The PNG government is fully aware about the human rights abuses and the matter has been reported with the United Nations Special Rapporator on Human Rights and the Canadian government which is still an ongoing matter for justice.

    PLOA dismisses the simple reasoning of deterioration law and order as the justified excuse to deploy police. It”™s quite easy to make shallow assertion that the complexity of social and law and other challenges in Porgera. These complexities are makings of cash for land deals under pretext of development to extract gold that has turned upside down life of thousand indigenous people that where once in peace.

    PJV Barrick in various statements released dated February 2, 2010 had aggressively defended the deployment of police acting like the government of the independent state of Papua New Guinea which undermines and contradicts the proclamation that”committed to protecting human rights and operating in alignment with Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. In contrast, a multi international company acting like a state desires a lot more than just for the interest of public safety. To put it into context, the whole hidden motive behind the police deployment was to systematically force evict all the villages within the SML area to make way to extend the mines operation. In fact PJV Barrick has announced late 2009 that the mine life has been extended by another 20 years. Therein that the pretext of deteriorating law and order is just a smoked screen.

    Re-calling back, the news about force eviction at the Porgera mine site was first broke at the Barrick Shareholders meeting in Toronto on 29th April, 2009 and AI took the news and made a bold move to conduct an independent investigation.

    Whereas, the report just tells what when wrong and it”™s not motivated by political and financial reasons for local benefits. It”™s about force destruction of humanity in one of the least developed corners of PNG under PJV Barrick and police state, and globally it”™s a international concern and issue.

    Therefore, PLOA calls on the Government of Papua New Guinea, Government of Canada and PJV Barrick to urgently take ownership and responsibility to adequately address the recommendations outlined in the AI report.

    Mark T. Ekepa

    Chairman

    Porgera SML Landowners Association

  • Appeals to United Nations Special Rapporteurs regarding human rights abuses near Barrick Gold”™s Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) mine in Papua New Guinea

    December 2, 2007: Letter to Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions


    May 8, 2009: Urgent Appeal to UN Special Rapporteurs re: human rights abuses near Barrick Gold”™s Porgera Joint Venture mine

    submitted by Mining Watch Canada