Reports misleading public on seabed mining issue

THE public has been misled to think that the O’Neill government has approved the seabed mining undertaken by Canadian mineral company, Nautilus Minerals.
The fact is the approval – in the form of mining lease – was granted by the Somare government on Jan 17, 2011.
The concerns raised on environment impacts and associated risks are undisputable.
However, Nautilus has been granted the lease for a trial on the world’s first deep sea mining (Solwara 1 project).
It appears that journalists and bloggers have added to the misunderstanding by publishing and broadcasting without proper re­search.
Last week’s front page report
in the Post-Courier was misleading as it was published by the Guar­dian newspaper in England.
In subsequent articles published in Post-Courier and The National, I did not see important details such as date, place and who granted the approval.
It appears that Nautilus is trying to boost its share price in the stock markets to raise capital.
Currently, there is a dispute between our government and Nautilus over financial matters.
It is understood that the government, through the Treasury Department, and Nautilus have opted to resolve their issues through arbitration.
What is sad is the misleading information by the media, cau­sing unnecessary anxieties.

Mining/Petroleum follower
Port Moresby