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K12billion lawsuit
By HARLYNE JOKU
AUSTRALIA’s mining giant BHP Billiton and
operators of the Ok Tedi mine have been sued for civil damages that
exceed US$4 billion (K12 billion) by 13,000 people living in the remote
Ningerum village in the Western province.
Leading international lawyer Carmillus Narakobi told The National
yesterday that he lodged the lawsuit on behalf of the villagers in the
National Court in Waigani last month.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for destruction of the villagers’
traditional habitat along 38km of the Ok Tedi River.
“The Ningerum people have suffered from the tonnes and tonnes of
arsenic, copper, zinc and other heavy metals dumped into this once
pristine habitat, where they had lived since time immemorial,” Mr
Narokobi said.
He said according to the world’s best expert report it would take 300
years to clean up the toxic dump.
“There’s nowhere in the world where you’ll find mine waste dumped in the
river system except in PNG and the West Papua province of Indonesia,” Mr
Narakobi said.
He said he was representing six Ningerum clans who were not signatory to
the Community Mine Continuation Agreement signed between landowners and
Ok Tedi Mine last year.
“They offered to pay K50 per family a month for damages which is total
exploitation and the Government of PNG sanctions this kind of programmes,”
Mr Narakobi said.
“It was time the people of this country reversed this system of foreign
companies giving them lip service and stand up against them, he said.
Ok Tedi Mine is a major producer of copper concentrate for world
smelting markets. Its operations began in 1984 and in January 2002, BHP
Billiton Ltd subsidiary BHP (PNG) Ltd divested its 52% shareholding in
OTML by transfer of its shares to PNG Sustainable Programme Ltd.
Ok Tedi is the single largest business contributor to the economy of
both the Western province and PNG.
In 2004, OTML’s export sales were K2.1 billion which represented 25.7%
of PNG’s export earnings.
The PNG Government owns 30% of Ok Tedi.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for BHP told The National that almost all
landowners of OTML have signed the Community Mine Continuation Agreement
accepting compensation.
A similar case was filed by the Yoggom people of Fly River in 1994 in
Melbourne, where BHP is incorporated, which resulted in compensation
offered to the 30,000 villagers.
 
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