Underground mining slated

THIS is an open letter to our current Bulolo MP and minister Sam Basil and Wafi Golpu landowners, Mumeng LLG, Bulolo District Development Authority and the Morobe Provincial Government.
Let us all reject the proposals for underground mining at Wafi-Golpu and push for open-pit mining instead.
Underground mining at Wafi-Golpu will be the first of its kind in Papua New Guinea history and this may prove disastrous down the line.
I urge the political leaders and stakeholders to think before pushing for the mine operations as this may turn into a major disaster during the lifetime of the mine because the ground soil around the Bulolo electorate is too soft and cannot hold loose underground soil from the mining pits.
Our national Government is currently hell-bent on pushing for the opening of the mine because it wants the money but it has not given enough consideration to the lives of the workers who will have had no experience with underground mining.
Let me conclude by asking both the Government and the Wafi-Golpu mining developers this: What is wrong with open-pit mining?

Samson Napo
Former Bulolo MP (1992-2002)