Source: Deep Sea Mining Campaign
Author: Natalie Lowrey
PAPUA NEW GUINEA | Coastal Communities have today launched legal proceedings against the PNG Government in a bid to obtain key documents relating to the licensing and the environmental, health and economic impacts of the Solwara 1 deep sea mining project.
“Very little information about the Solwara 1 project has been disclosed by PNG Government or the project developer, Nautilus Minerals”, stated Peter Bosip, Executive Director, Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCoR).
“Communities likely to be impacted by the project have no choice but to bring legal proceedings against the PNG Government.”
“They are seeking information to enable them and all Papua New Guineans to clearly understand whether the project was approved lawfully and what the impacts will be on local communities. The Solwara 1 Environmental Impact Statement contains insufficient information to determine this. “
Lucielle Paru, of the Central Province Pressure Group says, “Section 51 of the PNG Constitution provides the right of reasonable access to official documents to every citizen of Papua New Guinea. It is a sad condemnation of our national Government that we have to force them to share information about this experimental seabed mining project.”
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