Landowners blame govt for illegal miners

LANDOWNERS of the world-class Porgera gold mine in Enga has blamed the state and Barrick Gold for poor mining plan that has resulted in increased illegal mining.
The landowners said during a news conference to welcome the commitment made by the Mining Minister John Pundari to look into the review and resettlement process of Porgera gold mine MoA after his visit last week.
The landowners’ led by the chairman of Porgera Landowners Association Mark Tony Ekepa said the developer and the state failed to plan the future of the mine, especially the relocation and resettlement of the landowners to cater for the mine expanded.
They said if they knew that the mine was going to expand and last longer than expected, then they should had relocated all the indigenous people so that special mining lease (SML) area was free from any landowner intrusion.
They said that at present, the landowners continued to live in SML area while the company also continued to operate, resulting in the landowners without land for gardening, which forced the people to go into the mine area to search for gold to make ends meet.
“They are not illegal miners referred to but were legitimate second and third generation landowners who wander into the mine site to find something to survive,” Ekepa said.