Ramu Landownders: “We are not going to let this mine proceed”

Concerns over the economic, environmental and social impacts of the Ramu Nickel mine, which first surfaced in late 1999 and were seen as a major factor in the project’s inability to secure financing for over 5 years have brought landowners from across Madang together to express their concerns in a statement of opposition to the mine.

An advertisement signed by hundreds of individuals and families within the impact zone for the project ran in the major national daily newspaper, the Post Courier and in the tok pidgin language newspaper, the Wantok in recent weeks, and stated:

“We the landowners of the Rai Coast and Lower Ramu strongly oppose the Ramu Nickel Mine because of its predicted impact on our land, environment and sustainable livelihoods.”
The PNG papers have also received letters from school children from the region concerned about the project:

‘We don’t want resources to be affected by mining, such as the contamination of water and the destruction of life in the river. Our growing population today and tomorrow depends on the river. The chemicals from the mines will destroy much of our marine life as well as our lives.  How would we preserve our resources and environment for our future lives?’  July 27th 2005

MPI spoke to clan leaders, who confirmed their position:
“We don’t want disposal into our sea, and we do not want the pipeline on our land. When our river gets flooded it could break the pipeline and then this waste will destroy our land, our land is our life. If that pipeline bursts then that is our graveyard.  We come to sell our garden products in  Madang, we can make around 100K a day to sell our produce, our vegetables and our chickens in town, and if our land is polluted our economy will be destroyed. If the company comes we will retaliate on our own terms, we will not let the pipe come onto our land.” Clan leader from Erima village

Some of the strongest opposition has arisen from the proposal to utilize submarine tailings disposal, an increasingly controversial technique that has seen Newmont directors facing criminal prosecution for its use in Indonesia, and has lead to the World’s largest mining company, BHP Billiton developing a policy against the use of the practice. It is unclear from public disclosure whether the companies and PNG have finalised the agreements. Public reports suggest that the Chinese company has yet to sign binding agreements to develop the project, but is still seeking to secure bank loans to fulfil their side of the agreement which includes a commitment to finance 100% of the capital costs of the mine’s development.

The growing landowner opposition, together with controversy over environmental impacts, and questions over the economic feasibility of the project and the unproven nature of the technology needed to process the lateritic nickel deposit has made it difficult for Highlands Pacific to secure a partner or financier amongst the international financial markets and the major nickel mining companies.   Whether or not these issues will inhibit the ability of the Chinese company to secure financing for the project is unknown.

Ramu Nickel advertisement

For more information, please contact:

Techa Beaumont
Executive Director

Workphone: +61 2 9557 9019
Mobile: +61 (0) 409 318 406

Created: 26 Sep 2005 | Last updated: 27 Oct 2005

This page: http://www.mpi.org.au/ regions/pacific/png/ramu_landowners/

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