Give DSTP at Basamuk a fair go

Letters, Normal

I SUGGEST we all sit back and look at the options of allowing the DSTP to go ahead instead of using the judicial system and mass media to sabotage a vital development project.
The people of Usino-Bundi and Rai Coast have been left in the dark for so long and they deserve to see some tangible development take place.
They cannot remain in the Stone Age.
I wonder where the NGO, Bismarck Ramu Group, is getting its funds from.
It needs a lot of money to go to court and see it through to the end.
NGOs may use dirty funds to sabotage a very good government initiative or get funds from another country which is jealous of PNG and China trade ties.
I want to ask whether the NGOs also fund schools, roads, bridges, pay teachers, health workers and public servants their salaries?
No, they do not.
So what is their motive?
For nine months now, MCC is losing money due to the court injunction in place. Who will pay for the cost that MCC is losing?
Now, what happens to the NGO that instituted the case?
Will it take care of us who are affected? Will it take care of the people of Rai Coast and Bundi?
Obviously, it will pay for its staff, campaigners, supporters and lawyers from the funds derived offshore for their gain while we, the people of PNG, suffer from the consequence that the NGO has created.
Why use local landowners to pursue this DSTP case?
Why can’t Bismarck Ramu Group challenge MCC or the government for that matter?
It should be made to park K10 million in a trust account so that the money can be used to pay for whatever cost that may derive from the court case.
From what we have been told and heard from the grapevine, the lawyer pursuing the case is paid almost K2 million.
This is a huge amount of money and the suffering communities wonder how the NGO has managed to raise it.
If the NGO is against DSTP, then what other alternative can it offer?
Landfill? If so, where?
Yes, there will be environmental damages to our reef and marine life will be affected to some degree.
But the chemical used is safe as stated by government experts; it is sulphur, not cyanide.
So let us not confuse the people further, the government is concerned and will be accountable for its actions.
Will the NGO account for its actions too?
I say let us give DSTP a fair go and see if it works the way it is designed to operate without further delay.

 

Keen observer
Madang