Govt told to repeal changes

THE OPPOSITION yesterday called on the Government to withdraw the amendments to the Environment and Conservation Act 2000.
Yesterday in Parliament, Bulolo MP Sam Basil told the Government to withdraw the amended Act and reintroduce it to Parliament for withdrawal.
Mr Basil’s electorate is home of the Hidden Valley and Wafi gold mines. There are allegations surfacing of environmental destruction caused by the mines.
In response, the Government defended the amendments to the Act in Parliament.
Minister for Environment and Conservation Benny Allen told Parliament that the amendments were done to save the existing permits for projects like Porgera gold, Simberi gold and Ramu nickel mines.
“The processes in which a permit is issued to developers and like all other government departments...the Department of Forestry, any submission must reach the Environment Council which is made up of experts in the field, advise whether or not a permit should be issued,” Mr Allen said.
He said the changes would not affect the LNG project or any future projects.
But he did not explain the true content of the amended Environment Act section 87(D), sub-section (4) where it states that the director’s decision is final and may not be challenged or reviewed in any court or tribunal, except at the instigation of an aggrieved holder of a authorisation instrument.
He said all government stakeholders including the landowners were consulted in the process. Mr Allen also blamed the media for blowing the issue out of proportion.
He repeatedly said: “Those people sitting up there...media blew it out of proportion, although we met with the press and outlined the Government’s reasons as to why the Environment Act was amended.”
He said the media must be blamed for the misreporting that had raised a lot of controversies on the amended Act.

By Simon Eroro

Post Courier Newspaper, June 23, 2010