O’Neill calls for Marape to look at better deal for mine

The National National

FORMER prime minister Peter O’Neill has called on his successor James Marape to stop evading issues surrounding the closure of the Porgera gold mine in Enga.
O’Neill said instead of doing nothing for a year after the mine lease ended, Marape should have negotiated a better deal by taking the lead from the successful transition of Ok Tedi to state ownership.
“When our government delivered ownership of the Ok Tedi mine to our people, Marape should have been observing and learning, but he paid no attention,” O’Neill said.
“It is a sorry state of affairs that such an amateur attitude by this Government could cause so much pain to so many people as he has done in closing the Porgera mine,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill said it was a shame for the country to he held to ransom by a political agenda.
“After everything he has said about the PNG-LNG agreement, if he was to back up his slogans with action, he would have moved against this project.
“But he would never inflict the same pain on the people of Hela as he has done to the people of Enga.”

5 comments

  • Not cheap politics, look and study deep into the issues he is talking about. He is definitely correct and it was never the right timing for Marape government to close Pogera down. Should have negotiated better while the weight of negotiations was on his side. With Pogera closed, Papau LNG and Py’ang stalled and COVID-19 going havoc…were do you go and what do you do.????? Don’t think Pogera is going to open tomorrow!!

  • During the past years of minimg apart from Panguna days, where is PNG Heading? PMJM i think your’re are on the right path.

  • Right path to where? Correct in doing what..? . This is the dumbest government so far, applying the Tari mentality on the national level and holding Porgera at ransom.

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