 |
 |
| Semri should get his facts rights | |
|
I REFER to Minister for Fisheries and
Member for Middle Ramu Ben Semri’s statement “Disposal of toxic waste a
concern” (April 7). Given the fact that the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) was involved in the stakeholder consultation process and having all documents relevant to the environment risk assessment process relating to the Ramu nickel project, it is unbecoming of the minister to use terms like dumping of “highly toxic tailings” into Basamuk bay. One would be wondering if he is speaking as minister responsible for fisheries or as an uninformed member in Madang province (here, it is clear he is concerned with the tuna stock). If the he is speaking as a minister, then he should not have used dumping of “highly toxic tailings”. My opinion is that the Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for the Ramu nickel project was comprehensive and on par with other operating mines using the Deep Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) method of mine waste management. It should be noted that during the course of the consultation process and the resultant review of the EIS, a component of the ocean hydraulics at the tailings outfall (point of discharge) was agreed to be lacking by the stakeholders, especially the Department of Environment (DEC). The proponent was tasked by the DEC to conduct the study and provide to the director vital data on the ocean upwelling, stratification and so forth. This, I believe, had been fulfilled and NFA should have this document. The reason I am writing this is, many times, leaders speak on issues without checking facts and fail to refer and get the opinions of the experts employed in their organisations. It is my opinion that DSTP is the best for geologically active island states, such as PNG. Steven Putii Mud logging geologist Rig 101 |
|
| Letters | |
 |
 |
 |
 |