Watchdog calls PNG mine 'hellish' and calls for resettlement

Transcript

Local people living around a massive gold mine in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province are still waiting to be resettled after residing for years in conditions described as hellish.

The mining town of Porgera is currently under a state of emergency with extra police and military personnel on the ground to stop illegal mining and lawlessness.

Amelia Langford reports.

A mining watchdog has a range of concerns about the Barrick Gold-owned mine including environmental, health, and human rights violations. MiningWatch Canada's Catherine Coumans says people have been asking to be fully resettled for years and it is time the Canadian miner complied rather than moving people, on a so-called need to move basis.

CATHERINE COUMANS: It is really hard to imagine how gruesome this place is. It is like a hellish place. There is waste everywhere, there's constant operation of the mine, there's blasting, houses are being shaken by the blasting, the waste is corroding away the sides of the mountains and so there's actually whole houses and a whole school that disappeared into the waste.

She says local people resort to illegal mining to make ends meet.

CATHERINE COUMANS: People have lost their traditional way of living and maintaining themselves and what has happened to replace that is that women will go into the waste dumps and pan for gold literally in the waste of the mine and young men will go into the pit.

She also says Barrick security staff have been implicated in various abuses, including pack rape and assaults. Ms Coumans attended Barrick's Annual General Meeting this week but says no mention was made of the situation at Porgera mine. A local human rights group from Enga says the government and the miner must resettle the landowners. A representative of the Akali Tange Association, Jethro Tulin, says a state of emergency may help stop illegal mining in the short-term but will not address long-standing issues.

JETHRO TULIN: It is good that the government has put up a state of emergency but for the case of the Porgera mine itself and people going into the pit it is a short-term but it is not good for the long run.

Jethro Tulin says says the miner has had more than enough time to work on a solution although he doesn't want to see the mine shut down as it generates income for the local economy. The Chairman of the Porgera Landowners' Association, Mark Tony Ekepa, echoes Mr Tullin's calls for resettlement and says the growing problem of illegal mining is very dangerous.

MARK TONY EKEPA: There are so many illegal miners. Back in 2009 there were only 300 plus illegal miners but now it has increased, doubled up, to 600 [and] right now, more than that will be expected to enter the pit.

AMELIA LANGFORD: And the security personnel could not control the situation?

MARK TONY EKEPA: No, they are outnumbered by the illegal miners who are entering the pit.

Barrick says it did not request the state of emergency, rather the government made the decision in response to increasing law and order issues in Porgera District.

In a statement, it denies the mine is in crisis mode.

BARRICK STATEMENT: Barrick, along with other community members from the District, has been raising its concerns about the rise of lawlessness in the District for some time. In our case we have been talking about the impact of things like illegal mining, property theft and trespass on parts of the Porgera mine, and an increase in the incidence of violent assaults and the confrontation of mine employees by those illegally coming on to the mine. The mine is continuing to operate normally and is peaceful.

Barrick says there is an ongoing resettlement programme at the mine but that current problems with lawlessness in the area are predominately happening outside of the mine.