Declining population in West Papua, and critical loss of life through clashes with the Indonesia military raise the question of genocide in a new book by Brisbane writer Dr Greg Poulgrain.

This work, Curse of Gold, published in English by Kompas, as the title indicates traces the roots of subjugation going on in West New Guinea (West Papua) to a cynical grabbing for resources. An Indonesian language edition is forthcoming.

The book is a history beginning with the discovery of huge deposits of gold in 1936, deposits more than twice the gold being mined at Witwatersrand, together with discovery of oil just off-shore.

The principal mine now, with an Indonesian billionaire as main owner, has 560 km of tunnels and produces 50 tonnes of gold annually.

The existence of the gold was kept secret, awaiting investment and development opportunities, held up by war with the Japanese, known just to Dutch interests, the Japanese, and significant for the future, the Rockefeller petroleum company Standard Oil in the United States.

The writer details the operation of a “Third Force” in a chain of political intrigues and manipulation over a half century: the US company, sometimes officers of the US government, and at all times an early player since the first discovery, Allen Dulles, who came to head-up the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Dulles as the lawyer for Standard Oil had already got a petroleum concession in Netherlands New Guinea before 1936, through forming a joint US-Dutch company with majority US interest.

Heyday of CIA operations
In the 1950s heyday of CIA undercover operations across the “Third World”, Dulles is depicted here manipulating political events in Indonesia, whether spreading disinformation, concealing information from governments, even setting up mysterious, destabilising armed skirmishes.

The objective given is always the same, to secure ownership of resources and a free hand for American commercial interests. At one point covert government help would be provided through some disingenuous work by Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State to Richard Nixon, and the always interventionist US Ambassador Marshall Green.

For people of West New Guinea the intriguing saga has been a catastrophe, seeing their rights, interests, existence and even human identity denied and ignored in the struggles over wealth and power.

The story is in two phases:

In wartime the occupying Japanese encouraged the Indonesian independence movement, as a block against any return to influence by European colonial powers, and naturally wanted Papuan resources themselves.

A Japanese intelligence operative, Nishijima Shigetada, familiar with the region, is given a key role. He had found out about the gold, and persuaded the Indonesian nationalists to include West New Guinea in their demands for a republic — the better to get the trove out of the hands of “colonial monopolies”.

The second phase of developments saw an ugly turn of events with the 1965 military coup in Indonesia, marked by large scale massacre across the country and coming to power of Suharto as President in 1967.

The new regime determined to build on the campaign by its predecessor, President Sukarno, to take over West New Guinea. In the calculus of Cold War rivalries, President John Kennedy had sought to keep him “on side” and the Russians provided guns and aid, in part to best their Chinese rivals.

Dutch gave in
The outcome was that the Dutch who had stayed on in the territory gave in to pressure and pulled out by the end of 1963. It was nominally then put under United Nations trusteeship until an “act of free choice” on independence.

But Indonesian forces moved in, violently put down any Papuan resistance, promulgated theories of an Indonesia Raya, a lost island empire to which all of New Guinea had belonged, and declared the decision on independence would be an issue of “staying” with Indonesia. Neither Kennedy nor Sukarno, who had planned to meet in 1964, is believed to have known about the gold in Papua.

Dr Poulgrain recounts the narrative of bullying and deception, including the sidelining of senior UN representatives, whereby the “act of free choice” became notoriously a series of managed gatherings, no plebiscite of the people ever countenanced. He argues that the “Third Party”, having helped to remove the Dutch, then moved in favour of its own preferred candidate, Suharto, no nationalist from the independence movement, a self-declared friend of US commerce and advocate for untrammelled investment:

“It could be argued that the fiery nationalism so characteristic of Sukarno, the tool that won him the right to enter the harbour of Soekarnopura (Jayapura) on board the Soviet warship renamed Irian, proved to be his own undoing. Under the mantle of Sukarno’s presidency, Indonesia ousted the Dutch from New Guinea, the goal of both Nishijima and the ‘Third Party’, finally bringing an end to the European colonial presence there.

“Only 30 months later, Sukarno was facing his own political demise …”

In case the reader considers this might all be a well-worn path, it should be emphasised there is new material and insight into the origins and enactment of cruelty, appropriation and dishonesty that became the pattern in Suharto’s New Order Indonesia and its captive provinces in West New Guinea.

It is a work of thoroughness and industry, especially where covert activity and actual conspiracy appears; extensive documentation has been provided making the case strong. Much of it is original material, such as diplomatic messaging obtained through libraries, and records of interviews or correspondence with leading figures, viz Nishijima or the former US Secretary of State Dean Rusk.

Well defended
The thesis of the book is consistently propounded and well defended:

“This book is about the ownership of the immense wealth of natural resources in Western New Guinea”.

The colonised inhabitants did not get that ownership or any just share of it, with bad consequences for their culture and welfare. It was a bad beginning in 1963 with Indonesia in a dominating frame of mind:

“Papuan culture is the antithesis of life in Java.”

Where the Dutch colonisers are characterised as a very small population hardly penetrating the hinterland, the Indonesians who took over from them have been aggressive with their industry building, immigration and military occupation.

Papuans today make up barely half the population of 5.4-million, steadily outstripped by arrivals. Population growth in the comparable country, Papua New Guinea, since independence in 1975 has been much stronger, now pushing towards 11-million.

• Curse of Gold, by Greg Poulgrain (Jakarta, Kompas, 2026). ISBN 978, ISBN 978 (PDF)

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The National Court has ordered the Papua New Guinea government to disclose the full details of the gold refinery deal it entered into with a Singapore-based company, National Gold Corporation.

The court ordered Prime Minister James Marape (first defendant), Planning Minister Renbo Paita (second defendant), the NEC (third defendant) and Dr Eric Kwa (fourth defendant) to make full disclosure on the project agreement, which would eventually become law and change the entire landscape of PNG’s gold industry.

“The process of gold refinery, while it may be welcome news for the country as to [who is] owning it, especially when a company is proposed to be a proponent, developer or owner of resource, the country needs to know the good and bad of it and the justifications for such arrangements,” Deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi ruled in his judgment.

The order follows a court challenge mounted by Justin Parker, owner of Golden Valley Enterprise Limited, PNG’s leading gold buyer and processor, about the validity of the gold refinery agreement between the state and National Gold Corporation.

“I was disappointed when I learnt that an agreement was signed.

“To my knowledge the foreign company will own 70 percent of the refinery whilst the PNG government will only own 30 per cent when we could own for a 100 per cent nationally owned refinery,” Parker said through his lawyer, Saulep Lawyers.

The project agreement which will eventually be made law, will completely change the landscape of PNG’s gold industry.

Accessed unsigned copy
“Coupled with the media publications, I had the benefit of having accessed an unsigned copy of the agreement relating to the Refinery Project and I note with grave concerns how this purported agreement will be very detrimental to the state, as well as all industry stakeholders.

“This agreement will totally shut the doors completely on us local businesses, alluvial miners, gold miners and aggregators around the country.

“It is dangerous to note that there will be no more open market competition and trade, being the fundamentals of democratic society and therefore our Constitution,” Parker said.

Aggrieved with information gathered overtime, Parker filed an application in the National Court on 13 December 2021, seeking :

• A declaration pursuant to Section 51 of the Constitution that the Plaintiff has the right to have access to all pertinent and relevant information regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project relating to the downstream processing of gold in the country, including, policies, statutory business papers, National Gold Corporation Project Shareholder Agreement, all related NEC Decisions (NEC Decision No 73 & 74/2021 dated 17th May 2021, NEC Decision No 267/2021 dated 20th September 2021 and NEC Policy Submission No 208/2021.
• An order that pursuant to Sections 51 and 155 (4) and of the Constitution, the Defendants make available forthwith to all the referenced documents to Parker.

Justice Kandakasi granted these orders and further ordered that: “As the plaintiff submits, there has been no broader, wider consultation and so who stands to benefit, who stands to lose, what are the arrangements and what are the safeguards for alluvial miners or other mining interest holders?

“There is no evidence of any meaningful consultation having being occurred so a disclosure of these documents will enable the plaintiff and such other persons to work out whether they should be challenging the decisions arrived at.”

The court orders:

• The plaintiff is granted leave to proceed ex-parte conditional on the plaintiff filing and serving an affidavit annexing the various email communication between the plaintiff and the defendants in respect of the matter coming to court today.
• Judgment is granted in favour of the plaintiff
• A declaration that pursuant to Section 51 of the Constitution, the plaintiff has the right to have access to all the pertinent and relevant information regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project including the following information:

– (a) Department of National Planning and Monitoring’s Policy Document on the Refinery, Smelting and downstream processing of Gold in the country;
– (b) Statutory Business Papers regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project;
– (c) National Gold Corporation Project Shareholders Agreement;
– (d) NEC Decisions No. 73 & 84/2021 dated 17th May 2021;
(e) NEC Decision No. 267/2021 dated 20th September 2021;
– (f) NEC Policy Submission No. 208/2021.
– Pursuant to Section 155(4) and Section 51 of the Constitution, the Defendants make available forthwith to the Plaintiff copies of all pertinent and relevant information regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project, namely:
(a) Department of National Planning and Monitoring Policy Document on the Refinery, Smelting and downstream processing of Gold in the county;
(b) Statutory Business Papers regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project;
(c) National Gold Corporation Project Shareholders Agreement,
(d) NEC Decisions No. 73 & 84/2021 dated 17th May 2021;
(e) NEC Decision No. 267/2021 dated 20* September 2021;
(f) NEC Policy Submission No. 208/2021.

The defendants shall pay the plaintiff’s costs of and incidental to these proceedings on a party/party basis, to be taxed if not agreed.

Gorethy Kenneth is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid is asking the government to halt the planned gold mine at Wabu Block in Intan Jaya regency until there is agreement from the Papua indigenous people in the area.

“We have asked that the planned mine be halted until the state obtains agreement from the Papuan indigenous people,” said Hamid in a press release received by Suara Papua.

From the results of its research, Amnesty said that one of the largest gold reserves identified in Indonesia was located in an area considered to be a hot spot for a series of violent acts by Indonesian security forces against local civilians.

Hamid explained that Papuan indigenous people reported that violence was often committed by security forces along with restrictions on personal and public life such as restrictions of movement and even the use of electronic devices.

“Amnesty International Indonesia is quite relived by the attitude of the Papua governor who has officially asked the central government, in particular the ESDM [Energy and Mineral Resources] Ministry to temporarily hold the planned mining bearing in mind the security situation in Intan Jaya which is not favourable,” he said.

Most of the area, which is inhabited by the Moni (Migani) tribe, is still covered with forest.

According to official estimates, the Wabu Block contains 8.1 million tonnes of gold, making it the fifth largest gold reserve known to exist in Indonesia.

Relieved after meeting
Hamid also said he was relieved after meeting with Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD in Jakarta.

“We also feel relieved after meeting with the Menkopolhukam who explained that the plan was still being discussed between ministries and would not be implemented for some time”, said Hamid.

Amnesty is concerned over the potential impact of mining in the Wabu Block on human rights, added to by the risk of conflict in the Intan Jaya regency.

“So this special concern is obstacles to holding adequate and meaningful consultation with the Papuan indigenous people who will be impacted upon in order to obtain agreement on initial basic information without coercion in relation to mining in the Wabu Block”, said Hamid.

Amnesty added, “We very much hope that the central government and the Papua provincial government will work together to ensure that the planned mine really does provide sufficient information, consultation and agreement obtained from the Papuan indigenous communities”.

Based on existing data, the Indonesian government has increased the number of security forces in Intan Jaya significantly. Currently there are around 17 security posts in Sugapa district (the Intan Jaya regional capital) when in October 2019 there were only two posts.

This increase has also been accompanied by extrajudicial killings, raids and assaults by military and police, which have created a general climate of violence, intimidation and fear.

Restrictions on lives
Based on reports received by Amnesty, said Hamid, indigenous Papuans in Intan Jaya faced restrictions on their daily activities and many had had to leave their communities in order to find safety in other cities or the forests.

Hamid hopes that the government will pay attention to reports released by human rights organisations in Papua.

“The government must pay attention to human rights reports which are conducted by human rights organisations such as ELSHAM [the Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy] Papua,” he said, bearing in mind the recent situation in which there had been an escalation in conflict.

Earlier, the central government was urged to halt the prolonged conflict in Intan Jaya by the Intan Jaya Papua Traditional Community Rights Advocacy Team (Tivamaipa) in Jakarta.

During an audience with the House of Representatives (DPR), Tivamaipa revealed that the armed conflict in Intan Jaya over the last three years began with the deployment of TNI (Indonesian military) troops which were allegedly tasked with providing security for planned investments in the Wabu Block by Mining and Industry Indonesia (Mind Id) through the company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam).

According to Tivamaipa, on October 5, 2020 Intan Jaya traditional communities declared their opposition to planned exploration in the Wabu Block.

Four demands
In order to avoid a prolonged conflict, the Tivamaipa made four demands:

1. That the DPR leadership and the leaders of the DPR’s Commission I conduct an evaluation of government policies on handling conflicts in Papua and West Papua provinces involving the Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs, the Defense Minister, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), the Minister for State Owned Enterprises (BUMN), the TNI commander and the Indonesian police chief.
2. That the Commission I leadership invite the Papua and West Papua provisional governments, the Papua Regional House of Representatives (DPRP), the Papua People’s Council (MRP), the Papua and West Papua regional police chiefs, the Cenderawasih XVII and Kasuari XVIII regional military commanders, the regional governments of Intan Jaya, the Bintang Highlands, Puncak, Nduga, Yahukimo and Maybrat along with community representatives to attend a joint meeting.
3. It urged the central government to withdraw all non-organic TNI and police security forces which have been sent to Intan Jaya regency.
4. That the central and regional government must repatriate internally displaced people from Intan Jaya and return them to their home villages and prioritise security and peace in Intan Jaya by providing social services which are properly organised and sustainable.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Usmad Hamid Minta Rencana Tambang Blok Wabu Dihentikan”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

It will cost the Papua New Guinea state and Australian operator Barrick Niugini Ltd K630 million (US$180 million) to reopen the Porgera gold mine.

The reopening of the mine in early September will see Barrick paying out full benefits of all employees who were retrenched, including those in care and maintenance, and they will be recruited under the new Porgera mine structure.

Barrick chief executive officer Mark Bristow said the refinancing of the mine for a 10-year operation period will be done by Barrick and it will recoup its 36 percent of the state’s share under state-owned Kumul Mineral Holdings Limited for the restart during the mine’s operational life.

The 36 percent is from the 51 percent stake in the Porgera agreement framework with Barrick on 49 percent.

Landowners will get a 10 percent stake and Enga provincial government 5 percent under the new agreement.

Bristow said it had cost the company K420 million (US$120 million) for the care and maintenance of the mine since the closure in April last year.

“We estimate that to restart will be another K630 million but as discussed with the full state negotiating team last Wednesday the quicker we start the mine the lower that cost is because that cost is funded by everyone,” he said.

“We will fund it and offset that against the revenue so it’s in everyone’s interest to try and reduce that cost but again in the spirit of not forcing taxpayers’ money into this,” Bristow said.

“We fund and recoup the money so that equity will start delivering value once we’ve recoup all the cost, so it focuses on everyone’s mind that one, we are efficient and two we don’t waste any money and three we get this mine running as quickly as possible especially with the gold price as it is because we have the opportunity to fast track the return of some of that investment.”

He said as miners it was their responsibility to take the risk as they were qualified to evaluate and decide whether that risk was manageable.

“We’re starting to plan the prestart of the mine with reemployment programmes under a new Porgera company.

“One of the things we were not prepared to do was put people at risk when the mine is closed so we retrenched everyone that wasn’t required for care and maintenance and we paid them their full dues and those on care and maintenance will get the same,” Bristow said.

“Everyone will start with no service and as soon as we finalise the legal documents and create a new company and when we move people into the new company and those employees who did not get their dues will get their dues,” he said.

Mining.com reports that the operation has been closed for a year, after Barrick and its Chinese partner, Zijin Mining, became embroiled in a dispute with the PNG government, when Marape refused to renew the companies’ mining licence.

The companies temporarily halted operations in response.

They also served Marape with a dispute notice arguing the licence extension refusal violated a bilateral investment treaty between PNG and Australia.

PNG authorities cited environmental and social issues for denying the permit renewal then. Instead the government gave it to Kumul Minerals.

Melisha Yafoi is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Author Margaret Mills speaking at the launch of The Nine Lives of Kitty K at Waiheke Library today. IMAGE: David Robie

Introduction for the book launch of The Nine Lives of Kitty K by Margaret Mills
Waiheke Library, Waiheke, 27 February 2021

AUTHOR Margaret Mills and I go back a long way. All the way back to 10 July 1985 (and a bit before) when a certain environmental ship sank in Auckland Harbour in outrageous circumstances that sent shocked headlines around the world.

The fateful bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by French secret agents has etched its memories deeply into our lives – and the lives of many activists on Waiheke Island. This is how I first came to get to know Margaret as a journalist on board the Greenpeace flagship when researching one of my own books, Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior.

As it turned out, while it might have been the last voyage of the original Warrior, two more campaigning ships of the same name came in its wake.

As we all know, You can’t sink a Rainbow!

Recalling that moment in Eyes of Fire, I wrote that Margaret Mills woke with a jolt. She thought there had been two explosions. Immediately before the engineroom blast, somebody had dropped the gangway on deck. She could hear water gushing into the ship. It sounded like somebody had left the firehose cock running. In spite of no lightbulb in the cabin, Margaret managed to pull on her tracksuit and sneakers. But she couldn’t find her glasses. She couldn’t find her way around without them.  

The genesis of The Nine Lives of Kitty K is truly remarkable. Margaret Mills is a consummate environmentalist, community activist and story teller. And her rich recreation of the life of Kitty Kirk in the 19th century echoes in some respects Margaret’s own life, in the sense of battling the odds, her tenacity to triumph in spite of the obstacles, and to do so with honesty, gutsiness and warm humanity.

This book has been mulling around in Margaret’s mind for almost four decades, longer than I have known her. Ever since she promised her main informant Winnie Mulholland back in Queenstown in the mid-1970s that she would “get the story out”.

However, earlier on Margaret was far too busy with her own life and her own nature reserve block at the top of Trig Hill Road to be able to sit down at a typewriter – as in the early days – or a computer to write this epic period saga.

In fact, I didn’t know it then but when Margaret was on board the Rainbow Warrior as relief cook (in the place of Natalie Mestre) back in July 1985 she had been writing the narration for a play script based on the Kitty K story. Two acts had already been drafted thanks to the encouragement of a director.

And then she had completed a third act and was ready to send it off. But it sank with the Rainbow Warrior and that was the end of that.

After countless afternoons as a postie listening to Winnie Mulholland relate the tales of Kitty’s life over cups of tea over a six-month spell, her original draft was a 12-page overview that found its way into the Lake County Museum.

Ironically, a heart attack suffered by her partner Trevor Darvill in 2016 gave an opening for her to begin writing this book as she was spending more time at home supporting Trevor. And now here it is – the published success 27 drafts later.

Margaret said to me that she was worried about whether the prose lived up to the striking cover by Greg Hepworth. It certainly does. It’s such an extraordinary saga and tragedy. Like her, I was worried about whether my introduction today would live up to her achievement.

Kitty K, who was born in 1855 and died in 1930, had a reputation for incredible bravery with hair-raising horse rides on the cliffside tracks in Skippers that continued long after her death.

In fact, it is Margaret who brought the memories alive through her painstaking research and storytelling skills.

Margaret was partially inspired to write this book by a poster of the Battle of Omdurman – and her knowledge of this obscure 1898 British army triumph – which gained the confidence of Winnie Mulholland.

I have to confess, Margaret, that I knew nothing about this battle either until you mentioned it to me and I had to Google it.

It was during the British army’s invasion of Sudan when General Kitchener defeated the Mahdi’s forces, naturally claimed to be twice the size of the imperial brigade. Today Omdurman is a suburb of the capital of Khartoum.

At the end of the book, Winnie Mulholland is quoted by Margaret as saying Kitty Kirk was an “unsung heroine of Wakatipu history”. Well, for me, Margaret Mills is the “unsung heroine of Waiheke”. This book is a superb achievement, Margaret.

Like Kitty K, you’re a legend. In your case, a living legend.

Kia kaha manawanui, Margaret – congratulations on the launching of The Nine Lives of Kitty K. 

Dr David Robie
Editor
Asia Pacific Report

• NZ Booklovers interviews Margaret Mills about her new book
  

David Robie speaking at the Waiheke book launch. IMAGE: Cafe Pacific

David Robie and Margaret Mills at the Waiheke book launch. IMAGE: Cafe Pacific

Margaret Mills, Trevor Darvill and James Darvill at the Waiheke book launch. IMAGE: Cafe Pacific

This article was first published on Café Pacific.

]]> https://eveningreport.nz/2019/04/07/scott-waide-will-png-project-reviews-mean-more-benefits-for-landowners/ Sun, 07 Apr 2019 06:01:20 +0000 https://eveningreport.nz/2019/04/07/scott-waide-will-png-project-reviews-mean-more-benefits-for-landowners/ This year is a crucial year for Papua New Guinea’s mining industry as important players – in Hela, Porgera and Madang – are being examined over their performance. Video: EMTV

COMMENTARY: By Scott Waide in Lae

Just into the fourth month of 2019, and resource projects in Papua New Guinea have come under scrutiny.

Early last month, senior ministers of government, including Petroleum Minister Fabian Pok, traveled to Komo in Hela for meetings with landowners of the gas project.

After 15 years, there is some progress. Or at least that’s the positive spin to it.

READ MORE: O’Neill loses in high stakes battle for control of US$1.4b PNGSDP

There appears to be some indication that royalties locked away due to legal battles and tangled by bureaucratic red tape were going to be paid – but only after landowner identification processes.

-Partners-

Finance Minister James Marape told the media three months ago, that K300 million (NZ$132 million) is parked at the Central Bank ready to be released. But landowners or people claiming to be landowners had to follow a process of “landowner identification” in order to be paid the money.

There is some hope of an end to disputes. However, the final settlement is still a long way off. That’s the reality. Many of the elders died waiting for the royalty payments they were promised.

Since becoming a new province, there is still a lot that needs to be ironed out. The Hela provincial government still has to work its way through layers of bureaucratic processes that continue to favour the Southern Highlands in terms of royalty payments from the gas project.

It’s all that and a lot more.

Background to complexities
Understanding the background to the complexities of the resource project in Hela means going back some 20 years when oil extraction ended and the promise of Papua New Guinea becoming the Saudi Arabia and Dubai of the Pacific faded as the crude oil taps shut off.

It is against that backdrop that the neighbouring Enga province is now looking at the Porgera mine’s renegotiation through a wardens’ hearing. This is a process that is reopened after the end of a mining lease.

Landowners and the Enga provincial government are looking at a bigger slice of revenues and benefits.

What did they get over the last 30 years? That’s a point of contention for pro-mining and anti-mining proponents.

What is visible to the international community is the campaigns against alleged atrocities committed against local people in Porgera and the desperate push by locals to get what little crumbs they can from a mine that has existed for 30 years on their land.

For the first time in more than three decades, it appears the national government is speaking a different language: One that calls for greater benefits into government coffers and landowner pockets.

This rhetoric has come after 30 years of gold extraction, 500 shipments of liquefied natural gas and billions of dollars worth of round log exports.

Production-based tax
In Lae, during the opening of the Central Bank’s Currency Processing Facility, Deputy Prime Minister Charles Abel talked about a production-based tax. Instead of a profit-based tax for resource projects which will be signed from 2019 onwards.

The general thinking from the national government is that a profits based tax can be deceptive leaving the government with very little to collect if a mining company declares losses or breaks even.

While Porgera discusses mine benefits, a similar process is happening in Madang. Triggered by an agreement between the Chinese and the PNG Governments, Ramu Nickel’s expansion is in discussions ongoing between the government and the developer.

The processes are long and drawn out. The risk is that without proper representation, landowners could be left with another raw deal for several more decades before another opportunity for renegotiation presents itself.

Scott Waide’s blog columns are frequently published by Asia Pacific Report with permission. He is also EMTV deputy news editor based in Lae.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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