Editorial: Post Courier

The 11th Mining and Petroleum Conference in Sydney, Australia kicked off on Monday. In a packed room, PNG’s Oil Search Limited, a major partner in the LNG project, shocked the experts and government officials including ministers from both countries, by revealing it has paid a whopping K11.931 billion in oil benefits between 1992 and 2009.

ACT NOW!, has welcomed the public admission by Harmony Gold and Newcrest Mining that sediment run off from their Hidden Valley mine has caused pollution in the Watut river.

"This is a significant step forward by two leading companies and we welcome their announcement," says Effrey Dademo, Program Manager for ACT NOW! 

"Hopefully responsible resource companies are beginning to see the need for much greater transparency, honesty and respect for local people."

Harmony Gold and Newcrest Mining have, for the first time, publicly accepted their Hidden Valley mine in Papua New Guinea has caused pollution problems in the Watut River.

This is a significant admission from the two mining companies, in the face of mounting community pressure, as they have only previously spoken about 'higher than expected sediment loads' in the river system.

The companies have also announced steps to seek a 'constructive resolution' of the pollution problem in consultation with local people and their MP Sam Basil. 

By Derek Wall

Grassroots groups warn that the UN forest protection scheme being negotiated in Cancún amid the UN 16th Conference of the Parties may severely undermine climate mitigation policies and exacerbate environmental and social problems.

A new report, No REDD: A Reader, is based on groundbreaking research exposing links between REDD and carbon trading, International Financial Institutions, extractive industries, GMO trees and biotech.

Leader of PNG Party, Belden Namah, has called on Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare to act decisively in dealing with corruption in the Treasury and National Planning departments.

Namah said it was common knowledge that corruption was rife in Treasury and National Planning offices, but Sir Michael continues to pretend that all is well.

He said Sir Michael had conveniently shut his mouth and chooses to remain deaf and blind.

Kevin Conrad, Papua New Guinea's shadowy international climate change ambassador, in Cancun, Mexico, for the latest round of United Nations Climate Change negotiations, is still pushing the international community to give the PNG government US$1 billion for, well, for not very much really.

In response to requests from people living along the Watut river, ACT NOW! has launched a new Email Action asking mining companies Harmony Gold and Newcrest Mining to 'come clean' about the pollution caused by their Hidden Valley mine.

By Daniel Purt*

A cholera outbreak that began in July 2009 in Papua New Guinea has infected at least 5,000 people and has claimed the lives of at least 79, causing overcrowded hospitals and a quickly diminishing stockpile of treatments.

The island of Daru is one of the hardest hit by the epidemic, with at least 800 people diagnosed and around 300 people requiring emergency treatment at Daru General Hospital, which is severely underequipped with only 60 beds available, WSWS.org reports.

Papua New Guinea's Parliament has now twice refused to entertain a vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister, Michael Somare, and this underrmining investor confidence according to the  world's leading economic and financial analysis firm.

IHS Global Insights, says Parliament's rejection of the no-confidence motion in the Prime Minister raises "real questions about the long-term stability of the country's political system" and "adds weight to claims that the government is manipulating the system to maintain its hold on power"

By Lydia & Peter Kailap*

Kaugere is one of the oldest settlements in PNG, having started in the 1960s, and is home to the notorious raskol gang, Koboni. Even other raskol gangs will not tangle with these boys.

These are the boys we live and work with; they are the boys who built our school, teach our children and take care of CUMA – the Chilren’s University of Music and Art, which we established. They have renamed themselves the “Fox Tribe Youth Development Program”.