Transcript
STEVE LAYTON: I suppose in many ways we have been rather fortunate. I can't say we saw this coming but we have been preparing ourselves for this type of event. So we have been working very closely with some of the mining and resource companies who want us to do the same sort of work really. So we have been changing our approach so we are quite busy in the islands at the moment we have been doing work for people like Ramu Sugar. So mining companies that have a social obligation find it very difficult to actually get people to do this. This sort of work, particularly people in country. So we've changed our approach a little bit which has put us in a slightly better position but certainly not a perfect position, that's for sure.
DON WISEMAN: This movement by the big multinationals, is this a new development generally in PNG?
SL: No I don't think so. I think there's always been opportunities there, but a lot of NGOs are very reluctant to work with resource companies, so a mining company for example. You know, they see that as somehow like working with the devil I suppose. But it's not like that. Resource companies have a social obligation, they want to fullfil it if they can, so it's just a different approach really and what it's meant for us is that we've got quite a lot of work now in this area and we've been approached by mining companies quite recently. In fact, three or four days ago I had an approach from Hidden Valley, they want to do some water and sanitation work and they are part of another company that got to hear about us. So we are, I suppose, in a lot better position than many of the other NGOs in PNG. I think certainly it's going to be a large percentage of what money is available for development in PNG.
DW: Do you think this is the way aid will go increasingly and away from money coming in from donor governments?
SL: You know, a lot of international donors are kind of pulling out or they're concentrating on their own organisations rather than supporting smaller, local organisations, that's becoming clear. And there is this quite large pool of money in the resource sector that I don't think we've really tapped into before. So as long as we're not going out there waving the flag of the company, we're just going out there and giving these community development projects. I think it means better projects for the resource owners - the landowners.
DW: It's somewhat ironic in a lot of ways isn't it. We've got the governments concentrating on fairly showy economic development-type things, but we've got the companies prepared to put money into important social activities.
SL: And I think it's always been there in many ways. Obviously landowners and resource owners want some benefits from these mining companies or these large agricultural companies - they want some benefits. In the past they would be jumping up and down because they haven't got those benefits and the resource companies honestly, I think, have found it quite difficult to provide appropriate benefits. It's OK just going in there and building a nice fancy glossy building but that's generally not what people want. So using local resources like ourselves and other NGOs is a compromise that makes sense.
