Kas: Mining Act out of date

 By ELLEN TIAMU

MADANG Governor Jim Kas said the Mining Act is out of date and needs to be reviewed.

He told the Mamose regional forum on mining development in the country that it was time landowners received greater benefits from resources on their land.

He said while stakeholders jumped in excitement at the news of large prospects, the rules of the game placed indigenous people at a major disadvantage even before the negotiation process.

Kas said the mining laws were out of date because they were designed to make business easier for  external partners and developers. They were accepted because the country needed development at the time “at any cost”.

He asked whether responsible and transparent social impact assessments were conducted and followed up by environment input studies.

He also queried whether the government negotiating teams broker satisfactory benefit packages which were accepted by the people. 

Kas said other areas that needed to be looked at in the Mining Act were whether landowners and the people benefitted from projects and whether equity, royalties, project partnerships, landowner contract opportunities and employment opportunities were equitable.

“Would the infrastructure development and economic benefits generated by the mine well and truly compensate our people for the use of their land and damage done to their environment?”