Is the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone the answer for Madang?

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?

Arrest of the ring leaders of the protest in Madang

It will be a slap on the face of the people of Madang if the ring leaders of the protest yesterday are arrested by the government. This will really show that there is no freedom of speech in this country. It will show the government’s shift from so called democracy to dictatorship. It will really look bad for the government.

But nonetheless if they government arrests the ring leaders all protesters in Madang are prepared to also be arrested along with their leaders. They feel it will not be fair if the leaders are arrested. If the government is smart, it should let the people express the concerns.

Other centres in the country are also planing to do what the Madang people did. If the government is serving the interests of the people, there will not be such protests. These protests are a response to the many injustices in this country and the government by now should listen to the people. The people had enough and are frustrated. The National Alliance's rule in this country is now numbered. This could be the down fall of the ruling party.

Change of leadership

This is the 71^st day since the court injunction preventing the Ramu Nickel Mine from dumping of waste into the sea at Astrolabe Bay as well as blasting of the reefs. The situation in Madang as we hear from sources on the ground is now tense. While the people of Madang are fully prepared and pumped up for a public protest on Wednesday re: the recent changes to the Environment Act, MCC as well as the government of Papua New Guinea are desperately running out of ideas in dealing with the situation. This is an indication of the power of people. If people can stand together they can be able to make a big difference. The government of PNG is now confused as hell. The government should know that the people are no longer blind. The tactics used to run this country in the 80s is no longer relevant and applicable. Seriously there needs to be change in leadership if this country is going to progress.

Environment Act lacks vision

The Government’s recent amendment to the Environ-mental Act can be considered irresponsible, conceited, blind-folded and lacking vision.
The amendment is an enhancement for the Government because landowners in any future mining operations will hardly render the initial permit for the operation to proceed, given the doubts pertaining to the obvious unrecompensed environmental damages.
On the same hand, one may argue that the amendment restricts only third party involvement however the practicality of landowners pursuing a court injunction is a far-fetched option hence rendering landowners pursuit for environmental justice a tedious exercise.
So why did the Government go ahead to pass the bill in haste?

Niglembia
Mondia Khen Nem

Post Courier, June 28, 2010

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