Commission completes review

The Constitutional and Law Reform Commission has completed the terms of reference (TOR) for the laws on the management and disposal of mine tailings and it is expected to be tabled in Parliament soon.
Chairman and Kandrian-Gloucester MP Joseph Lelang told The National that the review had taken two years.
“The final report has been submitted to Justice Minister Ano Pala and it’s now for the him to take it to cabinet and Parliament for debate.
“One of the important things that we did was in relation to many of the terms of reference that were given to us from time to time which are issues to us.
“These TOR enable us to proceed to review very specific aspects of the laws, certain laws or to develop new laws given concerns over issues that are confronted by our people in the country.”
The management and disposal of mine waste has been a challenge in major projects such as Ok Tedi, Tolokuma, Lihir and others.
The issue created debate among non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations and communities, calling for the closure of such major resource projects.