“BHP and government have made it a rubbish dump”
As the government of Bougainville and Rio Tinto call for a possible re-opening of the Panguna mine, political leaders in Papua New Guinea are, in stark contrast, now demanding closure of the Ok Tedi mine within two years. This is the one project in the region bearing closest historical similarity to Panguna. In a statement last week, the PNG political leaders declared that: “We can no longer tolerate this blatant disregard for our river systems, land and the environment that our people live off … The government has compromised our environmental laws by listening [to] utter rubbish from BHP. … Western Province is not a dumping ground but BHP and the national government have made it as a rubbish dump. This is an insult to our people and we cannot allow it to continue”.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10932.