O’Neill government suffers first election court rebuff in Bougainville
A delighted Sam Akoitai (in red tie) outside the National Court yesterday after winning back his Central Bougainville seat in the National Parliament. Photo: Sally Pokiton/Loop PNG Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Bougainville Affairs Minister Fr Simon Dumarinu has been ousted by four votes as the first casualty of the Peter O’Neill government in Papua New […]
Read More →Manila brands volunteer teachers as ‘terrorists’, say Lumad advocates
By Jean Bell in Auckland Volunteer teachers are being wrongly labelled as “terrorists” by the Philippine government while paramilitary and mining activity increases in the country, say visiting indigenous Lumad education advocates. Fritizi Junance Magbanua, a volunteer teacher and administrator with the Save Our Schools network, says teachers, schools and communities of indigenous peoples are being […]
Read More →Indonesian state governor Nur Alam jailed for 12 years over eco-bribery
Suspended Southeast Sulawesi governor Nur Alam … jail sentence for bribery connected to mining licences. Image: Kurnia Sari Aziza/Kompas.com/Jakarta Post By Moses Ompusunggu in Jakarta Indonesia’s Jakarta Corruption Court has sentenced suspended Southeast Sulawesi governor Nur Alam to 12 years in prison in a case linked to several mining licences that led to environmental destruction […]
Read More →Counting the cost of PNG’s devastating earthquake – many uncertainties
SPECIAL REPORT: Shirley Mauludu in Port Moresby reports on the earthquake which hit parts of three Highlands provinces almost two weeks ago, leaving behind a trail of destruction, injuries, loss of lives and massive damage to infrastructure. She talks to economist and Institute of National Affairs executive director Paul Barker about the challenges of recovery. […]
Read More →Juffa blasts PNG resources ‘sell out’ but tells of Managalas hope
Rapacious logging cartels feature in PNG’s Northern Province Governor Gary Juffa’s speech. Video: Café Pacific By David Robie at Te Papa Northern Province Governor Gary Juffa made a blistering attack on politicians who are “selling out” Papua New Guinea to foreign cartels with an open door policy over extraction industries, but offered some good news […]
Read More →PNG Mine Watch: Bougainville’s new ‘infamous’ Filipino mining company
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte exposes “illegal favours” to mining tycoon Eric Gutierrez, whose company SR Metals Inc has now won an exploration contract on Bougainville. Archlight Productions video shot during 2016 presidential election campaign. BACKGROUNDER: PNG Mine Watch Mine Watch recently predicted that Bougainville President John Momis’ appetite for crooked foreign miners was very much […]
Read More →Philippine mining company wins Bougainville search licence
By Franklin Kolma The Autonomous Bougainville Government has granted its second mining exploration licence to a Philippine company in a low-key event at Tunania, the seaside home of Bougainville crisis commander of rebel forces Sam Kauona. The event was set against the sombre double backdrop of the bloody crisis which had begun as a protest […]
Read More →Raglan Community Radio Interview: Seabed Mining – from Raglan To Papua New Guinea
Seabed Mining – from Raglan To Papua New Guinea by Raglan Community Radio – – Broadcast date: 2018-02-08 – KASM, seabed mining, Papua New Guinea https://archive.org/download/SeabedMiningInPNGLucilleParuAndNatalieLowry180208/Seabed%20Mining%20in%20PNG%20-%20Lucille%20Paru%20and%20Natalie%20Lowry%20180208.mp3 *** In this webcast, Raglan Community Radio talks to Lucille Paru, a leader in PNG’s fight against Seabed Mining – and also New Zealander, Natalie Lowry, who is part of the same […]
Read More →Bougainville autonomy ‘positive’ but improvements needed, says poll report
PNG’s NRI researchers present Bougainville referendum reports. Video: EMTV News By Meriba Tulo in Port Moresby The autonomous arrangements for Bougainville have been described as positive. However, there is also room for improvement – among these, the need for the effective use of knowledge, capacity and time. These were points highlighted this week during a […]
Read More →Indonesian court convicts mining protester over ‘communist’ symbol
Protesters gather in front of Banyuwangi District Court in Indonesia’s East Java province, this week in the freedom of expression case. Image: Yovinus Guntur/BenarNews By Yovinus Guntur in Banyuwangi, Indonesia An Indonesian court has convicted and sentenced an environmentalist to 10 months in prison on a charge of spreading communism by carrying a hammer-and-sickle banner […]
Read More →Momis calls for unity as Bougainville future status referendum nears
EMTV News report on the call for unity. By Aloysius Laukai in Buka The Autonomous Bougainville Government president, Chief Dr John Momis, has called on the people of the region to unite in spite of their differences with the future status of Bougainville at stake in next year’s referendum. In his New Year message to […]
Read More →Momis announces moratorium on Panguna mining and exploration
Panguna copper mine on Bougainville … the catalyst for decade-long civil war. Image: Aloysius Laukai/Bougainville Forum By Aloysius Laukai in Buka The President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Chief Dr John Momis, has announced an indefinite moratorium on exploration and mining in Panguna. He said the Bougainville Executive Council had its meeting on Wednesday made […]
Read More →Natuman makes dig at US big business in historic West Papuan ‘home’ event
A jubilant crowd marches to the historic Crow’s Nest on a summit topping Port Vila, the new home of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. Image: Screenshot/Vanuatu Daily Post By Dan McGarry, media director of the Vanuatu Daily Post “We are all Melanesian,” says Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister Joe Natuman. “We are family. We […]
Read More →Frustrated PNG gas supply landowners protest over non-payment of royalties
MIL Analysis+Reportage – EveningReport.NZ Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz PNG landowners protesting over non-payment of their LNG royalties. Image: Loop PNG By Freddy Mou in Port Moresby More than 1000 villagers from Portion 152 where the Papua New Guinea LNG plant sits have gathered on site to protest over their overdue royalty payments. Spokesperson and chairman of […]
Read More →Freeport Indonesia chief resigns as dispute over mining policy intensifies
MIL Analysis+Reportage – EveningReport.NZ Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz Freeport Indonesia’s Chappy Hakim … “an extraordinary commitment of time”. Image: Bernadette Christina Munthe/Jakarta Globe file Chappy Hakim has resigned as its president director, only three months after his appointment as the mining giant’s top executive, PT Freeport Indonesia announced at the weekend. In a media release, Freeport […]
Read More →Freeport seeks to dodge piling problems as stalemate shuts production
MIL Analysis+Reportage – EveningReport.NZ Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz A Freeport worker monitors the mineral flotation process before the mine production crisis. Image: B. Josie Susilo Hardianto By Viriya P. Singgih and Fedina S. Sundaryani in Jakarta Gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, the country’s largest taxpayer and oldest foreign investor, is in for another rough […]
Read More →Philippines mining industry faces huge ‘green economy’ crackdown
MIL Analysis+Reportage – EveningReport.NZ Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano in Manila The Philippines is among the world’s top sources of metallic deposits like nickel. But in this Southeast Asian mining haven, love may have been lost between the Philippine government and the mining industry. The country’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) […]
Read More →Indonesia approves Freeport, Amman contract conversion and exports continue
MIL Analysis+Reportage – EveningReport.NZ Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz Dig deeper: A heavy vehicle passes gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining areas in Grasberg in Papua. Image: Nethy Dharma Somba/Jakarta Post By Viriya P. Singgih and Grace D. Amianti in Jakarta The Indonesian government has approved the conversion of the contracts of gold and copper […]
Read More →Freeport mining boss denies assaulting lawmaker in row over smelter
MIL Analysis+Reportage – EveningReport.NZ Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz Chappy Hakim, chief executive of Indonesia’s local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, speaks to reporters outside Parliament in Jakarta last year. Image: Bernadette Christina Munthe/Jakarta Globe file By Eko Praseto in Jakarta Freeport Indonesia director Chappy Hakim has denied assaulting a lawmaker after a hearing with […]
Read More →Indonesia stands firm as Freeport mine threatens to cut production
MIL Analysis+Reportage – EveningReport.NZ Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz The Grasberg copper and gold mining complex in Indonesia’s Papua province. Image: Dadang Tri/B/JP The Indonesian government seems set to ignore threats by United States mining giant Freeport-McMoran Inc to cut production at its Papuan copper mine – the world’s second-largest — and slash its local workforce if […]
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