The judge has decided in fvour of the laintiffs to keep the injunction against submarine tailings pipe construction by Ramu Nico in Basamuk Bay---and full credit goes to the lawyer who stood and argued a cogent but complex case for two solid hours, without skipping a beat, while half the peanut gallery sat mesmerized and the other nattered away urgently and in contempt of court, in Mandarin. Here's Tiff with one of the landowners discussing the futility of the defendant's case after court Monday, as the crew from Sacred Lands Project roll away. They had just caught the MD of Ramu, Dr James Wang, leaving court with a smile and, to the question How can Ramu Nico assume submarine tailings will be environmentally safe when their own environmental plan calls for more rigorous research?---he responded, "OK." OK that Ramu has been illegally dumping grey waste water and sewage into the bay for the past 12 months in clear violation of their requirement to install a septic system? Or OK that because that has remained unmonitored by the DEC we can assume that 500 tonnes of hot submarine tailings spilling into the sea floor off Madang will be similarly unmonitored?
This is but a small step for the case ahead, and yet a giant leap for the morale of Madage. Thanks to you Tiff.
Nancy, great post. Tiff is a hero for sure. Still not clear though what this means. Is this temporary, if so how long, what are the next steps? gb
Posted by: Glen Barry | April 15, 2010 at 10:40 AM
Such great news Nancy. Tenkyu tru poromeri!
Posted by: Heather | April 16, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Timothy: Once again I believe you are blaming the messengers here, and not the culprits.
Posted by: Nancy | September 07, 2010 at 02:53 AM