Party wants independent probe into SHP disaster

PEOPLE’S Action Party general secretary Simon Bole has supported calls for an independent investigation into the landslide that claimed 25 lives in Southern Highlands.
Bole said he was a Hela man who lost relatives in the tragedy and Esso Highlands should not be flying in government officials because of a conflict of interest.
“This is the first major landslide caused by man-made activities in cutting land for quarry that may have caused the disaster,” he said.
Bole said Esso Highlands must carry out its own investigation to be separate from the government sanctioned probe to find the cause of the disaster.
Bole said people living directly around the LNG project areas must be immediately resettled.
He said this was because there had never been any environment impact study conducted by all stakeholders in the LNG project areas.
“People must be resettled away from the LNG project construction areas because of the dangers involved in such massive project,” he said.
Bole said the developer and the government must meet compensation claims by the landowners to meet customary obligations associated with the land and its resource.
He passed on his sincere condolences to the people and families of those who lost their loved ones and hoped such a “man-made” disaster should be avoided at all costs in future.