Nineteen years and counting in Papua New Guinea

Deep Sea Tailings: When a Faustian Contract isn't worth the paper it's written on

The PNG National Court today made a decision of unprecedented symbolism. It’s hard to know why, but not hard to decipherwhat we’ve been offered.

Environmental disaster. In exchange for the billion-kina investment of a mine that will export all its earning back to China.

When a resource extraction project has invested enough money (in this case, K2.8 billion, we are told) in the effort, virtually no level of constitutional or moral insult can be felt.

In other words,

IF an investor plans to violate any of the National Goals of the country, goals which underpin the Constitution (like the Federalist Papers in the US) and define the unique sovereignty of the State, and

IF a project’s plan amounts to a breach of ‘our duty of trust for future generations’ as vested in the National Goals, and

IF the investor plans to commit irreparable harm to a resource which has international significance, above and beyond its national and local significance, and in the course of which will most probably pose a danger to the health of a population wider even than the immediate landowners, and

IF the investor has failed to disprove either possibilities in a court of law

It is still LEGAL for their project to go forward

IF they have invested an indeterminate sum ALREADY –- a sum that represents either overwhelming confidence in the outcome of the project, and/or the time spent under construction of the project BEFORE the plaintiffs have filed their suit.

In still other words,

With enough money, and enough impediments to raising  a case by remote villagers, anyone can destroy the environment of PNG.

In still other words,

PNG can and has sold it's soul to the Devil.

Given that in this case the impediments to bringing a case have included the very suspicious ‘flipping’ of the first set of plaintiffs, and the singular courage of the one remaining plaintiff---it is hard to find any judicial recourse for landowners from this judgement.

Justice Canning’s judgement spends 61 pages affirming the validity of the plaintiffs’ case, and the defects of the defendants’ case. In the last 3 pages it effectively does an about-face to conclude that the Deep Sea Tailings Plan is not in violation of the Environment Act, and that the preponderance of investment in the mine, and the potential expense to the Provincial and National Government were it to close, including the loss of investor confidence in the country, forces his hand.

This is particularly curious in light of his statement that:

"The defendants assert that if the DSTP is stopped the Ramu Nickel Project will be abandoned.  ‘If   DSTP is killed, the project will be killed’ was how counsel for the first defendant put it in his opening address. I see no credible evidence in support of that proposition. If a permanent injunction is granted in the terms sought by the plaintiffs MCC will be required to find an alternative method of tailings disposal, a land-based facility, which the evidence suggests would be a technically feasible option, though much more expensive than the DSTP."

 Furthermore, Cannings says,

“I cannot believe that MCC would just walk away from the project, having invested K2.9 billion in it to date, according to the evidence of their Acting Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Sun Yan.”

It is therefore the additional costs that he is considering, should MCC need to switch to a land based tailings system at this stage. In fact, it is the unspecified 'considerable' cost, and the likelihood that there would be economic ripple effects---also unspecified--that constitutes his decision:

“What I can believe, however, and make findings of fact on, is that a permanent injunction would lead to an extensive delay in commissioning of the project. The extra cost involved for MCC would be considerable. The multiplier effect on the provincial and nation al economy of commencement of a project of this magnitude, would be delayed. Investor confidence in PNG would be impaired.”

 Where is the hard evidence of these costs and the loss of investor confidence? In fact, Ms Nonggorr was the one to claim during the trial that a judgement in behalf of the plaintiffs would boost investor confidence in their investments by indicating that a robust judicial system stands to protect them in PNG.

But it is all too clear, by symbolism as well as word, that Ms. Nonggorr more than won her case.

 
 
 
Because, in the end, Twivey Lawyers are UNBEATABLE

Especially when they've got a chocolate fix (thanks Jordanna)

 
 and they bring a six pack from Hagen:

Hey--Who's that kid in the background?

Madang's Chamber of Commerce welcomes you to the leisure, retirement and industrial zone that is Future Madang

A Vision of Future Madang: Free from trees, tuna, fresh air and negative thoughts.

Today was the meeting of Madang’s Chamber of Commerce (aka ‘ We mean business, [and by that, we mean government business]’)

PNG Power’s Regional and local Directors opened a discussion about cutting down all the large tress in Madang. To clear space for power lines. Because trees are always a great threat to power lines, hence to progress, and it seems efficient to just do away with them all. Even the signature 200+ year old rain trees that adorn every postcard image of Madang are now, like the flying foxes, visiting low income workers, and of course our coral reefs, endemic fish, dive sites, tuna stocks and wide open spaces in general, present significant threats to the development of our new Madang Vision.

 
 

Ultimately it was decided that cherrypickers harvesting the offending branches would be a better solution, but not before the local PNG Power boss told a story about having  ripped up one grand old rain tree, leaving only its roots --which somehow flooded in a storm and toppled a series of power lines after all (a story we could only assume was meant to drive home the need to FULLY ERADICATE rather than partially cull the nuisance trees). But really: who needs shade when we're talking progress!

 

CoC President ( ex RD, and now representative from the CoC to the PMIZ Board) Stotick Kamya then gave us a cheerful progress report on the PMIZ and its initial scope of work. Included in it was an admission that money had run out last year for both the environmental and social impact assessments, which have still been left unpaid, and that all the settlers within the fenced area have been paid off but they are now asking for more (!!! Really---beggars must not be choosy!!).

 

 Some kerfuffle ensued when he suggested by misstatement that ALL Rempi people were settlers, which got the hairs up on one CoC member's back (who also queried the rumour that  the PMIZ is to have legally unprecendented private access banning landowners to waters offshore to 500 metres out from Rempi to Alexishafen---Stotick remained unsure).

 

 The wisdom of the project couldn’t be clearer when the Secretary, Graham Proud, asked for clarification, in front of the regional PNG Power boss, of how the project’s projected 16 kw load will be served by Madang’s power production when we are short 3 kw at present and only producing 5 mw when we require 8 mw. Our load is supposed to be 13, we were reminded--that is, for years CoC meetings have discussed the town’s unmet needs at 13 kw).

 Mr. Regional PNG Power offered us an excellent imitation of civil service double speak as he explained that the Ramu load would be soon ramped up to some crazy figure like 95 mw from the current 65 for the entire Mamose region, even if the lines from the Yonki dam are still precarious (and it only takes one downed pylon to blackout Madang)...without answering anyone’s questions.

  Then the presentation went on to include a discussion of the Gold Coast of PNG , a spectacular new development planned for up the north coast road, clearly piggybacking the town joy of a Pacific Marine Industrial Zone,  sponsored by Coral Seas and other private entities (land clearing has already begin!) ---where we can expect luxury villas, swimming pools, golf courses, malls, maybe even a Movie World and a ferris wheel modelled after the QLD version (whoopee!) ---and yet STILL no answers as to whether our gracious three bedroom condo over the 9^th hole will need gen sets and candles after all.

 

 It would seem that evicting landowners from these marvellous new retirement and industrial zones has not been a problem. Residents will be able to command spacious and landowner free vistas from the edge of their infinity pools.

 

 Did I mention Toady from the Wind in the Willows? He is a regular attendant to the CoC  meetings.

 

The meeting highlight came when the Provincial Administrator explained his problem evicting some of the squatters now occupying a town meeting hall on Coastwatchers Drive, once the old Madang Theatre, which had been mysteriously prised from the hands of its legitimate guardians into those of the highlander who happens to live behind the building, and whose acquisition of similar plum sites around town has raised questions regarding the integrity of the Lands Department here.  Not to mention the perpetrators of one of the worst crimes of violence against an esteemed private citizen in Madang town in the last few years.

 

So, after Mr Kamya claimed that the police would require a donation from the Chamber of Commerce to travel to Moresby and finish the paperwork for this case (eliciting loud scoffs and denials from members of the Chamber familiar with the case), the Provincial Administrator apologised for being unable to force the police to do its job, and explained that he couldn’t himself evict the squatters because ‘they have human rights after all’-----(apparently something the Rempi residents lack)

 

At least one major Madang business house tendered its resignation to the Chamber after today’s meeting.