Transcript
An Australian mining company is coming in for increased criticism over the way in which it gained a business licence to conduct its prospecting at Nende. Pacific Bauxite's emergence on the scene has also been linked to the recent change in the executive of Temotu's provincial government. A paralegal officer and concerned landowner, Ruddy Oti, has been collecting affadavits signed by landowners who feel they were misled by the company when it sought to get landowner consent. He says that earlier there were some individual landowners who had been approached by the company who gave their consent.
"But the process in which their consent was acquired was not proper. After Ocean Watch did some awareness in Nende, there was some sense of realisation among these landowners who had previously given their concern, then they eventually agreed to have their consent revoked."
Landowner concerns also continue over logging operations on Temotu's Vanikoro Island, run by a Malaysian company, Galego Logging. Galego's local partner is Vanikoro Lumber Limited whose chief executive is Temotu's deputy premier, Ezekiel Tamoa. He says resource extractive developments in the province are landowner-driven initiatives, even though a few locals have reservations about the impacts.
"Well it's normal for this kind of operation. This normally happens, but overall I think most of the landowners are ok with these developments. They stand to benefit from it."
Ezekiel Tamoa disputes claims that in Vainkoro there have been no benefits from the logging, saying an airstrip and roads are being developed. However Ruddy Oti says on the ground in Temotu there is a momentum among people rallying support against logging and mining. A Nende local, Titus Godfrey, says when the developers come to Temotu they tend not to follow the full process for gaining consent, knowing some local people are interested in quick gains.
"I mean people gave their signature because the guy who came, he came in December, when he came in at Lata they said if you want to survey our places to do the drilling you can pay two hundred dollars or something like that."
It's a theme echoed by Father Colton Medobu, an Anglican priest in Noole village.
"The situation like here is people wait for opportunities of money: money, money, money... And when people talk about these things, people resort to advances of big money. That's why these people get caught up and use this as the basis for working with the people. And sometimes it extends to bribing people without explaining and people without being sure of what they're asked to do."
He says that local people want development and are not strictly against resource extractive operators. But he says there has to be proper consultation and a proper strategy to avoid potential displacement and negative health and environmental consequences from these developments
