President: Mine failed
The National, Wednesday January 8th, 2014
A LOCAL level government president has accused two miners in New Ireland of failing to assist the people through development.
Ambros Silul, president of the Nimamar local level government, supported recent comments by New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan on the neglect by Newcrest Mining Ltd and Lihir Gold Ltd.
He said the two companies had failed to assist the people and the province by promoting development.
Silul said the Lihirian folklore of the magical wave bringing “riches and cargo” to Lihirians and transforming their rural setting into a modern city had been reflected in the rich gold mining operation on Lihir.
But he said the miners who rode on the “magical wave” had extracted the riches on Lihir but gave nothing valuable back in return.
“Billions of kina worth of gold have been mined over 16 years but there is nothing to show for it in the province,” he said.
“We are one people, speaking one language, united by six major clans living around the Lihir Island that form the base of the Lihir caldera where gold is being mined.
“We believe that our folklore to be true. Our wealth is the gold ore and the miners made it a saleable commodity.