Jubilee Australia Report: Community Perspectives on the Panguna Mine

Tied up with debate over Bougainville's Referendum on independence is debate over Panguna copper mine located in the heart of Bougainville. On the one hand, the argument is being made that permission should be given to re-open the mine,  to provide income for Bougainville as a fully independent state. A counter-argument is that the environmental, social and cultural damage caused by the mine, and by the civil war, outweighed any benefits. 

A number of consultation events have been held across all parts of Bougainville, but it is not clear how effective these have been in getting a representation of the range of community views. Jubilee Australia conducted its own project to seek out the views of the people most severely affected by the mine: the communities living around it in the area known as Mekamui. Many of the people continue to live with the effects including illness and birth defects; loss of livelihood as they can no longer grow food or catch fish in the rivers; and the destruction and poisoning of their traditional lands. You can access the report here.

Once the biggest copper mine in the world, the mine has played a critical role in the decolonisation of PNG and its subsequent history. Income from the mine was considered essential for PNG to become an independent state, and the mine was developed despite opposition from many of the landowners affected. Only a tiny percentage of the mine's profits were received by Bougainvilleans, although they did experience improved education and health care compared with other provinces of PNG. The people in the vicinity of the mine or of the transport links to port, paid a catastrophic price and in many cases continue to do so, as their natural environment and sources of food and water have been destroyed by tailings and chemical outflow from the mine. The closing of the Panguna mine in 1989 after landowner actions marked the formal beginning of the decade-long civil war in Bougainville.  Some fear that re-opening the mine, apart from any other effects, could spark new conflict.

Oxfam appeal: violence against women in PNG

Oxfam is highlighting problems of violence against women in PNG in a current campaign. This is an ever-present and serious problem throughout PNG, and is one of the important issues the HWC and BWF are also trying to address. Oxfam is providing training, support for women and safe places for them to take refuge from violence. Oxfam has many worthwhile campaigns, but this one is especially close to our hearts. More information here.

Good news and frustrating news

The event of the day is that the Bougainville Women's Federation's new building at the Buka town market is ready for them to move in! You can see the market roof in the background.

It's a great achievement to have organised the land, funding and all the planning and building work to the point that the building is now ready for use, and many people have worked extremely hard to get it all done.

The sad part is that many of the projects and programs planned for the new building cannot begin yet as the essential equipment and materials are in the shipping container which is still stranded at Lae. The women at the BWF office in Buka have been making an all-out effort in the past couple of weeks to persuade the Customs and Inland Revenue officials to make the necessary decisions so we get the container on a ship to Buka. It looks as if we may have to pay duty on some of the goods; we will also have to pay for storage of the container during its enforced wait at Lae - an expense that is charged daily. There is still some money remaining from the generous donations for the costs of shipping, but it may not be enough, although we have asked about the possibility of a discount or waiver of part of the storage costs.

More to come, undoubtedly.