Locals in Namatanai supporting Solwara 1 project

Business

THE Mineral Resources Authority says people along the West Coast of Namatanai in the New Ireland are supporting the Solwara 1 project.
They are from wards Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, 15 and 16. They told a team from the national government, Namatanai district mining office and Nautilus Minerals that after many awareness programmes conducted in the coastal communities, they understood the project and were confident it would be successfully operated.
Valentine Betbet from Ward Four said Nautilus, the MRA and the Conservation Environment Protection Authority (CEPA), had done a lot of awareness on the project.
He said ward members saw for themselves in Port Moresby the mining tools which were going to be used.
Ward representatives in the provincial government and their counter parts from East New Britain recently went on a familiarisation tour to Port Moresby and viewed the mining tools at the Motukea wharf.
Ward Five member Sokip Sulias urged people to understand the working of the project.
Nautilus Minerals’ manager for community and government relations Stanley Komunt said the company was committed to working with the people.
Meanwhile, Cepa representative Joe Katape said Nautilus Minerals had satisfied most of the requirements of the Environment Act, such as the submission of the inception report and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The company has also submitted its Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan to Cepa to be assessed.