Madang is now the hub of all kinds of development that you find in the whole country. You name them, we have logging, mining, commercial fishing, agro-forestry projects such as oil palm…..they are all here. The tourism industry which once contributed to the income for the province is now threatened by these large scale developments. The environment has to pay the price in-order for these developments to take place.
Although much of the attention in the province is now on the Ramu Nickel Mine’s plan to dump waste into the sea, the issue of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) is quietly gaining momentum. Fencing at the Vidar location site in Madang is complete and this is under phase 1 of this project. There is going to be 10 more new fish canneries in Madang under the PMIZ Project. There is already one cannery in Madang so the new ones will be just additional.
Like other large scale development projects in the country, this project is strongly pushed by the government regardless of the many outstanding issues on the ground which needs to be dealt with. Some of these issues are:
1. Lack of Information.
The people lack basic information about the PMIZ. Initially it was called the Marine Park. People often ask, what is a marine park? The name “park” is confusing to most people. They think that a park is a protected area where people can go see wildlife like nature reserves and national parks. So when they hear a marine park they think it is going to be a park full of marine life. In fact, this is not the case; a marine park will be an area where 10 canneries are going to do processing and the effluent will end up in the sea. This is so confusing to the villages along the Madang Lagoon that are going to be affected.
2. Free Prior Informed Consent
The people from the area are complaining that they were not consulted let alone given their approval for this project to go ahead. This project is just being bulldozed through by the government in particular the Commerce and Trade & Industry Departments. .
3. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
The PMIZ is a national project and will be operating under an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The people don’t what is an EEZ? There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding amongst people as the government has not given basic relevant information to the people. It is scary to the people when they hear and understand that an EEZ is an area is like a country of its own. The laws of PNG will not apply in this area. This area will have its own laws which will govern whatever activities that will take place in that area. The locals will be barred from using the area for their daily activities, let alone they will not be allowed to enter the area unless they work there.
4. 30-40,000 Jobs
The government talks about 30-40,000 jobs that will be created when this project goes
ahead, however the question to ask is how much are these people especially locals that
will work in this project going be paid? Currently there are a lot of complains by locals
that work for the existing fish cannery regarding their pays and most of these workers are women that work 12 hours/day. Is this going to improve? Most of these women work odd hours standing most of the time the factory. Is this what we call development when we become slaves and “work for the man” for very little?
Influx of people – 30-40,000 Jobs
Where are the 30-40,000 that will be employed by this project going to be housed? Are
we ready for the many ethnic tensions that will arise when people from within the
country as well as outside flock in?
Are we ready for the increase in social problems as a result of increase in the number of
people? Are we ready for the many diseases that will arise as there are reports already of
rise in HIV Aids in the province mainly from logging, mining and fishing camps?
Ten foreign companies coming in under PMIZ will bring their own people to work for them. One of the terms and conditions of employment for those expat workers would be automatic attainment of permanent residency. Is this fair to the many expats that have already contributed to the development of this country however still awaiting approval of their application for permanent residency from the government? It is taking years and years for them to hear back from the government. Is this another strategy for big countries like China to resettle their already huge population in our country?
These foreign companies will not only bring in equipment and money but their own ways of doing things. The people of Madang had enough of dealing with Chinese workers working for the Ramu Nickel Mine. They don’t know how to speak in English and Tokpisin. They do not respect peoples’ culture and tradition. Is this what we want?
There are already a lot of problems faced by people in regards to only 1 cannery in Madang, do we expect these problems to increase 10 times when the 10 new canneries are established under PMIZ?
Are we really sure that the benefits of PMIZ far exceed its costs or is it the other way around?
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