About Project Watch
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Project Watch provides a reference library of information on major resource projects in PNG. The projects are listed in the table below, which provides the links to individual project pages. Please email us if you have information about a project that we have missed or if you would like to join our team of regular editors. Papua New Guinea is blessed with a rich variety of valuable resources including oil, natural gas, gold and other metals, minerals, tropical forests and plentiful fish stocks. |
But Papua New Guinea has failed to apply its own Constitutional Goals and Directive Principles in the exploitation of these resources with the result that its vast natural wealth has not been converted into meaningful social development for its people, improved infrastructure or increased material wealth and, worse, the projects have brought negative social, economic and environmental impacts.
The Constitutional Goals and Directive Principles require the promotion of integral human development, equitable sharing of resources, the strict control of foreign investment, wise us to be made of the environment, and the protection of Papua New Guinea ways.
All these seem to have been forgotten, with the result thatPapua New Guinea is beset with rampant corruption, declining social indicators, decaying infrastructure and worsening crime and violence.
And the problems look set to get far worse. As the global population grows, wasteful consumption based on cheap credit increases and more countries push for economic growth based on industrialization the monetary value and political importance of Papua New Guinea’s natural resources is growing.
As a result there are now more major resource projects under development in Papua New Guinea than ever before including major investments from both China and the United States.
Unfortunately these new projects look likely to only exacerbate increasing poverty levels and declining social indicators and infrastructure as again they have not been designed and are not being implemented in accordance with Papua New Guinea’s Constitutional Goals and Directive Principles
