Landowners at Basamuk urged not to disrupt ops

MINING Minister Johnson Tuke has asked landowners of the land on which the Basamuk refinery in the Rai Coast, Madang, not to disrupt its operations.
Tuke said the investigation on the alleged slurry overflow into the sea was being finalised and the report presented to him.
Tuke visited the refinery yesterday, accompanied by Madang Governor Peter Yama and Mineral Resource Authority (MRA) managing director Jerry Garry, to get firsthand information on the slurry overflow that occurred on Saturday morning.
Ramu NiCo vice-president Wang Baowen received Tuke and Yama on behalf of the mine’s management in the presence of refinery manager Bill Hill and other senior company officers.
“While the investigation on the slurry overflow is on, I ask all of you (landowners) to stay away from the outflow point into the sea and do not disturb the operation of the refinery,” Tuke said.
“As the Government, we are aware of your concerns and we will try our best to ensure a full investigation is completed and presented.
“It will take some time but we will ensure the root cause is identified and rectified.” More than 70 landowners and nearby villagers gathered at the Basamuk refinery’s old camp and petitioned Tuke asking for permanent environmental officers to be stationed at Basamuk to monitor any environmental issues and compensate them for the inconvenience caused by the slurry overflow.
On Tuesday, more than 50 landowners from nearby villages to the Basamuk refinery including Mindre, Bobidik, Jangag, Duman, Sulu, Ganglau and Tugiak expressed concerns on the same issue and urged MRA and Conservation, Environment and Protection Authority (Cepa) to thoroughly investigate and establish the toxicity of the slurry in a transparent manner so that the landowners would work closely with Ramu NiCo.
MRA chief inspector Lave Michael, mines inspector Joseph Umare and Cepa’s mining manager Robert Sine were present to hear the landowners’ grievances.
Government officers arrived at Basamuk on Monday to carry out investigation on the alleged slurry spill.
A vocal leader from Mindre village, Terry Kuning, challenged the State and Ramu Nico to establish the main cause of the slurry spill transparently and ensure it did not happen again.
“The environment damage has been done and we ask the company and the government to compensate us. This must be done soon,” Kuning said.
Other landowners and women representatives also expressed similar sentiments to avoid future unnecessary inconvenience and asked the company to compensate them.
The landowners also asked the Government representatives and Ramu Nico to carry out regular awareness on issues and success of the mine including the Basamuk refinery so that the people could understand the project well and work together for a win-win situation.