Source: PNG Mine Watch

Nautilus Minerals Inc. announces that the Independent State of Papua New Guinea's nominee for participation in the Company's Solwara 1 Project has today placed US$113,000,000 into escrow, representing the balance of the funding for the State nominee's 15% share of the capital required to complete the development phase of the Project up to first production.

An MP from the land-locked Province of Chimbu is the only politician in PNG speaking out in support of experimental seabed mining… and even he has his facts all wrong!

Source: The National

THE Vice-Minister for Mining and Chuave MP, Chimbu, Wera Mori has applauded the Government for the 15 percent acquisition of share in the Solwara 1 Project.

The Prime Ministers failure to implement the SABL Commission of Inquiry recommendations and revoke the unlawful SABL leases and stop the illegal logging has again been put into the spotlight, this time by a new report on illegal logging in PNG from the influential Chatham House group in the United Kingdom.

Source: Post Courier

THE GOVERNMENT must conduct a scientific study to determine the imminent danger that the deep sea mining will have on the marine life, says Oro Governor Gary Juffa.

Mr Juffa said this when directing questions in Parliament yesterday to the Minister for Fisheries after being told that the government has imposes a ban on harvest of beche de mer in compliance with recommendation from a scientific study.

Source: Rosa Koian

‘World class’ has become such a nice catch phrase that even members of parliament ride with it without really giving some thoughts to what it means.

This week member for Chuave Mr Wera Mori decides to come out of his shadow and be a mouthpiece for Nautilus Minerals and welcomes ‘world class experimental seabed mining ‘ in PNG.

Source: The National

A local activist group is not ruling out taking further actions against the state over its recent decision to buy a 15 % share in the Solwara 1 deep sea mining project in the Bismark Sea.

Act Now programme manager Effrey Dadamo has accused the government of letting down the people of PNG and said it would be held accountable, as reported by Radio Australia.

Source: The National

The Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) is backing non-government organisations in demanding for the World Bank to end its support for land and resources grabbing in Pacific communities, under the pretext of making customary land more productive.

PANG said the terrible outcomes of such business environments include the illegal land grab taking place in the country, with over five million hectares of customary land taken from local people without their consent for commercial use.

Source: Post Courier

Sumkar MP Ken Fairweather is furious with the O’Neill-Dion Government.

Source: Science Magazine; Vol. 344 no. 6183 p. 463 

Source: Cathrine Wilson, Inter Press Service

The global spectre of state violence against political dissent, with paramilitary law enforcement units advancing against citizens they are employed to protect in cities such as Cairo, Bangkok and Kiev is daily news. But in some developing countries, the police are being used to put down indigenous opposition to the alliance of state and corporate power over resource extraction.