Whose interest is DEC serving?

 I REFER to your report “Basil queries safety of Watut River” (Dec 29).

I support the comment made by Bulolo MP Sam Basil where he called on Environment Minister Benny Allan to drink a litre of the river water to prove that the water is safe and not polluted.

I understand the DEC’s mission statement is “to ensure our natural resources are managed to sustain environmental quality, human well-being and support improved standards of living”. 

If that is so, I call on the minister and all the technical people from the department and developer who wrote the report and conducted experiments on the Watut River to at least drink a litre of river water in front of the local people to prove it is safe.

The report was compiled by the developer and I doubt the minister and his officers actually made a visit the impact site to confirm the report.

Basil shows that he is serving and looking after the people’s interest by taking a legal action.

Gideon Wagi Mutono

Port Moresby