akeover of mine praised

 By ADRIAN MATHIAS

THE national government’s decision to take over the running of Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) when the current lease expires has been welcomed by the people of Western.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced in parliament last Wednesday that the government would turn it into a model operation for the benefit of the people.

OTML has been seeking to extend the mine’s life and wanted to continue operation until 2025.

The mine-impacted communities through their president Nick Bunn said it was a blessing for the people of Western because it was something they had been advocating for. 

In 1994, the people of Western, headed by two landowner leaders, Rex Dagi and Gabia Gagriamabu, brought a lawsuit against Broken 

Hill Proprietary (BHP), a former operator of the Ok Tedi mine.

The case was heard by Melbourne supreme court in Australia that year.

The Australian media reports stated at the time: “Rex Dagi, the landowner who presented the class action in Melbourne where BHP is headquartered, condemned this possibility when BHP executives opted to try the claim in the PNG supreme court where they believe they have a stronger chance of winning their case.”

Dagi was quoted by Australia’s AAP as saying:  “If BHP has nothing to be ashamed of, and if it is as confident of being vindicated as it has been telling the people of PNG, why not have it in Melbourne where the whole world will be watching?”

Dagi, a landowner and businessman from the Miripiki clan on the Ok Tedi River, told the Melbourne supreme court at the time that villagers living around the mine were deeply angered by the pollution caused by the mine.