Landowners attend forum to know their benefits

A TWO-DAY consultative Wafi-Golpu Project Development Forum in Lae starting yesterday aims at gauging views from different stakeholders towards the development of the mining project.
The forum was attended by Mining Minister Johnson Tuke, MPs from Morobe, Mineral Resource Authority representatives, Wafi-Golpu developers and landowners at Sir Ignatius Kilage indoor stadium.
Landowners from the mining area, the pipeline area and the wharf area were there to listen to what the government, the developers and other stakeholders had to say as well as presenting their views on the development of the project.
A packed indoor stadium saw landowners from impact project areas eager to find out how the project will be implemented and how they will benefit from it.
Morobe Governor Ginson Saonu, when addressing the forum, emphasised more on local people given the maximum benefits that they would get.
He said the Wafi-Golpu mine should not be different from past mining projects in the country where landowners were sometimes overlooked and not given enough attention in terms of benefits.
“We do not want to repeat the same mistakes here at this project and urged that the project goes off the ground and serve the interest of all parties involved,” Saonu said.
Bulolo MP and Minister for Communication and Information Technology and Energy Sam Basil said it was good that all issues involving the development of the project had to be identified and mechanisms to mitigate them identified.
He said all landowners from the mining area to the wharf played an important role in making sure the project ran smoothly and they had to be involved in all phases of the project.
Basil said landowners and stakeholders must learn from the failures of other mining projects and develop Wafi-Golpu gold and copper mining project to be the best in the country.