Landowners fear more killings despite PNG ‘state of emergency’ over mine fighting
2024.09.18
Port Moresby and Brisbane
Landowners have warned they fear further deaths and violence at the Porgera gold mine if the Papua New Guinea government does not relocate them as part of a state of emergency declared on Wednesday.
A 120-strong police and defense force presence in Enga has restored some order under the emergency powers, quelling fighting between landowners and illegal miners.
Porgera landowners told BenarNews more than 30 people have died since the conflict erupted mid-August at the mine, spilled into the surrounding area, and further escalated last week in the volatile Enga Province.
The cabinet of Prime Minister James Marape’s national government met on Wednesday to endorse the emergency measures but no statement has been issued.
Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Marape said there would be a “new way of doing business” to “clean up Porgera of illegal trespassers” and allow only “genuine Porgerans” and mine workers into the area.
“We will ring-fence the area and start work immediately on resettlement of Porgerans,” he said in a media statement on Tuesday evening. “Porgera is vital to our country, especially with the ongoing operations of the mine.”
About 100 Porgera landowners were in Port Moresby on Wednesday for talks on a Community Development Agreement with the country’s mining industry regulator.
“The government has failed us. Although they have imposed the state of emergency, it is only a short-term measure,” chairman of the Porgera Land Owners Association Mark Tony Ekepa told BenarNews.
“Someone has to move out or the fighting and killings will continue. Fighting has stopped a bit but most likely will erupt again in the near future.”
The CDA process was launched in May by the Mineral Resources Authority for the mine’s landowners and stakeholders to negotiate benefits from the project.
Vice President of Porgera SML Women in Mining Janet Aluako told BenarNews at the meeting she supports Ekepa in the longstanding demand for resettlement.
On Saturday night, Police Commissioner David Manning declared emergency measures including use of police “lethal force”, an exclusion zone for non-residents, curfew between 6pm and 7am, and a ban on alcohol across the Porgera valley.
Manning called on local leaders and landowners to cooperate with security forces to bring an end to the conflict, blaming the outbreak on “illegal miners and illegal settlers who are victimizing traditional landowners and using violence to terrorize local communities.”
Acting Assistant Commissioner for Police Joseph Tondop told the Post Courier newspaper on Tuesday that 30 people were killed, adding “100 high-powered rifles are in the wrong hands.”
Landowners said the dispute began after the PNG government refused to renew the mine operator’s license in 2020; the mine was shut down and illegal miners moved in.
“The fights started in the pit at the core of the mining area where two illegal mining groups had an ongoing dispute in the past three years,” said Ekepa.
“The warlords were everywhere in the pit and fighting took place in the heart of the mine. There was a lack of police presence and no freedom of movement.”
The national government’s formal declaration of a state of emergency was delayed after last week’s violence until security forces could be deployed into Porgera to assess the situation. A landslide in May that killed more than 100 people cut the only road to the mine and left the valley isolated.
A temporary road by-pass accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles has now been pushed through the landslide to get security personnel, fuel and supplies through.
At an altitude of over 2,200 meters (7,218 feet), the Porgera open pit and underground gold mine is located in the highlands about 600 kilometers (372 miles) north-west of Port Moresby.
Opened in 1990, the mine has been a source of conflict for years.
The mine reopened in December following a four-year shutdown in a dispute with the PNG government over ownership. The subsequent arrival of illegal miners heightened tensions in a region that already struggles with law and order and an influx of modern automatic weapons.
Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp. operates and part owns an almost 50 percent stake in New Porgera Ltd along with China’s Zijin Mining Group, with the provincial government and traditional landowners the majority owners.
Barrick in a statement to BenarNews said the violence “is not related to the mine and its activities.”
“The Porgera mine’s asset protection unit is working closely with the government’s security personnel to ensure the safety of the mine’s employees.”
Just over half of the 2,500 workers at Porgera are drawn from the local community. New Porgera Ltd said two employees died in the latest violence, that has displaced many hundreds of villagers, with operations suspended until Sept. 19.
“Normal operations at the mine will resume once we restore full control and security in the area,” said Marape on Tuesday night.
“I appreciate Barrick and New Porgera Ltd for their support in mobilizing additional resources to complement (the) Government,” he added without specifying what they were or how they were being used.
PNG could lose significant revenues if the recently reopened mine does not resume production. Porgera has contributed approximately 10 percent of the country’s total annual exports, according to the company website.
The IMF’s economic outlook for PNG in February said the country’s GDP would grow two points annually to five percent in 2024, “supported by production from the Porgera gold mine.”