Call to review Mining Act

Letters

I WANT to air my view opposing section 5 of the Mining Act 1992 which states that “all minerals under the surface of the land belong to the state”.
The act should be changed to allow the landowners to benefit from all minerals found in Papua New Guinea.
More than 97 per cent of the land in this country is customarily owned and the State owns only three per cent.
Therefore, the indigenous landowners should own the minerals under the surface of the land, and not the State.
We need to change our outdated laws.

James Ibitali
Hela Unit, Unitech, Lae