Transcript
JOHN MOMIS: I have been told that the prime minister did say that he was giving the shares that is the 17 percent to the landowners and the people of Bougainville. Now exactly what that means we are not sure. We would like to get some clarification from the national government and we would certainly hope that that is given to the ABG. The ABG would then ensure that the stake-holders like the ex-combatants would be looked after.
DON WISEMAN: You are not talking about redistributing these shares to landowners once the ABG has them, or are you?
JM: The Bougainville mining law has a provision for landowners to be given shares. We have no discretion, it is the mining law that stipulates that the ABG would look after the land owners in terms of giving them shares.
DW: Would that then though mean that the ABG as an entity would no longer have a controlling interest in the mine?
JM: The mining law does say we would give land owners 5 percent, I think we would still have the controlling interest, I think.
DW: Have you been on the phone to Peter O'Neil's office to seek clarification?
JM: We are in the process of doing that now yes. I will tell you why we are insisting that the shares be given to the ABG. It is because we don't want to do anything that might disturb or might cause some disruption in the peace process. We had a very successful peace process in the sense that we didn't have to use guns to confront ex-combatants. You know it was done through negotiations and everybody is sticking to the peace process and it is very important that the way we deal with those shares. Would give the ABG a real say in the operation of the mine, would be consistent with the principals of the peace agreement arguing over who gets what and so on and so forth because it is already determined in the peace, sorry in the mining agreement. In the mining law of the ABG. You know we have an autonomous government right and people would not look with too much pleasure if it is perceived that the national government was interfering with the affairs of an autonomous government. We do have our own mining law, we have a parliament that makes laws. You know with respect to the powers given to us. And these laws are quite independent of the national laws.
DW: I think in his speech to parliament, I think Mr O'Neill was stressing how vital it was to ensure that the peace in Bougainville was maintained, and that the people of Bougainville were looked after. Is this move by the national government, is that enough to relax the ABG in terms of, you were talking about legal action against the likes of Rio Tinto and I think also the national government over what had happened after Rio Tinto walked away. Are you still going to pursue Rio Tinto?
JM: Oh definitely. Definitely. Rio Tinto walked away after causing so much environmental damage, social disruption, detrimental effects on the people's health and so on and so forth. So yeah, we are going to pursue in international bodies, including taking them to court, if we can find the resources to assist us, because they just walked away. The weak excuse they gave was they operated under the law of Papua New Guinea. So it's not just a legal thing - and the law was perceived as totally unjust and unethical anyway in the first place - so yeah we're going to pursue legal action against Rio for the damages they caused after making so much money while the people of Bougainville and the landowners were given pittance. But let me finish off by saying, we thank the prime minister for his decision and I am saying I hope he's divesting the 17% to the ABG and in turn the ABG will certainly, under our law, look after the landowners in terms of giving them an equity in the company.
