We urgently need Rio Tinto to do what’s right and deal with the disaster they have left behind,” Matbob said. The company which used to the run the controversial Panguna copper mine on the island of Bougainville is now trying to reopen it with the support of the island's Government. Residents of the Papua New Guinea region have accused the mining giant of environmental and human rights violations and asked for an investigation. The people of Bougainville will vote in a referendum this weekend that will decide on its independence from Papua New Guinea. “This is a company that holds itself out as a global leader on human rights, and yet as we saw at Juukan Gorge in Australia and we see here in Bougainville, there is a total disconnect between Rio Tinto’s rhetoric and the reality experienced by Indigenous communities impacted by the company’s operations,” the Human Rights Law Centre's legal director Keren Adams said. It provided over 45% of Papua New Guinea's national … “The communities are living in a highly unstable dangerous environment,” said Keren Adams, the legal director of the Human Rights Law Center. (Image from archives via Bougainville Copper Limited) “Every time it rains more waste washes into the rivers...some communities spend two hours a day walking just to get clean drinking water because their nearby creeks are clogged up with mine waste.”. The mine was the largest non-aid revenue stream of the Government of Papua New Guinea from the nation’s independence in 1975 to the mine’s closure. The complaint over the poisoning of Bougainville’s rivers also calls on Rio Tinto to re-engage with residents to address the abandoned site. While the civil war is long over, some residents of Bougainville say the problem of pollution is becoming worse. Theonila Roka Matbob standing in front of an area destroyed by mine waste flooding. Pollution of the Panguna mine in Bougainville: Rio Tinto targeted by a complaint in AustraliaSydney (AFP) Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto is accused of shirking its responsibilities in cleaning up toxic waste from the gigantic Panguna mine, on the Papua island of Bougainville, in a complaint filed Tuesday in Australia. The ensuing civil war left up to 20,000 people dead and led to a peace agreement opening the way for possible Bougainville independence. The complaint alleges the Anglo-Australian company failed to mitigate the risks posed by billions of tonnes of mining waste that have turned riverbeds blue and caused health problems for more than 12,000 people living downstream. Human rights complaint urges Rio Tinto fix environmental 'disaster' at Bougainville mine site. In 2016 Rio divested from the mine, passing on its shares to the Papua New Guinea and Bougainville governments, in a move locals say allowed the miner to entirely avoid the costs of clean-up. Watch SBS World News live daily at 6:30pm on TV and on our app. Rio Tinto has been contacted for comment. “We live with the impacts of Panguna every day,” Theonila Roka Matbob, a traditional landowner from Makosi Village and a member of the Bougainville Parliament, said in a statement released by the Human Rights Law Center, which lodged the claim. 12:30. Our rivers are poisoned with copper…our kids get sick from the pollution,” Ms Matlob said. A large number of nearby communities, Ms. Adams added, “don’t have access to safe, clean nearby water sources.” She said Rio Tinto desperately needed to conduct a risk assessment, and to contribute substantially to an independent fund to assist in the cleanup and managing of ongoing health problems in the community. Panguna is a copper and gold mine that Anglo-Australian multinational Rio Tinto exploited, through its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), from 1972 to 1989. Each morning, Theonila Roka Matbob walks down to the river that flows near her village, and looks at the water and sand. The mine at Panguna had been perhaps the most major sticking point between Bougainville and the mainland. It said the waste was making the island’s drinking water unsafe and causing health problems, including skin conditions and upper respiratory and gastrointestinal illness, particularly in children. Follow SBS News to join in the conversation and never miss the latest live updates. Pollution of the Panguna mine in Bougainville: Rio Tinto targeted by a complaint in AustraliaSydney (AFP) Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto is accused of shirking its responsibilities in cleaning up toxic waste from the gigantic Panguna mine, on the Papua island of Bougainville, in a complaint filed Tuesday in Australia. Three executives, including the chief executive, were forced to step down this month over its destruction of prehistoric rock shelters in the Juukan Gorge in Western Australia, which are sacred to two Aboriginal groups. The company passed on its shares in the mine to the Bougainville and PNG Governments and side-stepped entirely the cost of clean-up. An abandoned Rio Tinto mine in the Bougainville region of Papua New Guinea has caused flooding as well as pollution, according to the Human Rights … The mine was the largest non-aid revenue stream of the Government of Papua New Guinea from 1975, when it became independent, to the mine's closure in … 29/09/2020 1:59:00 AM. At the time, the Panguna open cut mine was the largest in the world. We love feedback: help us improve by rating the app and sharing your suggestions at apps@sbs.com.au. Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox. " The Bougainville Government is holding a crucial mining warden's hearing at the abandoned copper mine which sparked a decade-long armed insurgency against the Papua New Guinea Government. However, resuming operations at the mine isn’t a guaranteed economic solution. Bougainville’s significant economic problems could pressure the government into re-opening the Panguna Mine, which closed in 1989 during the fighting — at the time, it was the world’s largest open-cut mine. SBS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia. Ask Amazon Alexa for the latest SBS News or listen to SBS Radio. Here, SBS News visits the mine that ignited its decade-long civil war. “We live with the impacts of Panguna every day,” Theonila Roka Matbob, a traditional landowner from Makosi Village and Bougainville’s education minister, said in a statement released by the Human Rights Law Centre, which lodged the claim. The mine has been closed since 1989 and has ceased all production. “We live with the impacts of Panguna every day,” said Theonila Roka Matbob, a member of the Bougainville Parliament, pictured at the closed Panguna mine pit last year. In … Strategising and planning for the economy should run parallel to Agenda 1 and 2. Port Moresby Office +(675) 309 2800 BCL The company which used to the run the controversial Panguna copper mine on the island of Bougainville is now trying to reopen it with the support of the island's Government. Key points: RTG Mining chairman Michael Carrick says a proposal by the Central Me'ekamui Exploration Limited consortium is more realistic and "for the benefit of the… The mine was also at the center of … The company said it was ready to have discussions with the communities that had filed the complaint, along with their representatives. Human Rights Law Center, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. Speculation about the future of the Panguna copper mine in Papua New Guinea’s autonomous region of Bougainville, which ignited a decade long civil war in the 1990s, peaked late last year when an application for exploration by former Rio Tinto subsidiary, Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), was put to a local vote. Three executives, including the chief executive, were forced to step down this month. Rio Tinto is facing accusations it "side-stepped" responsibility to clean up poisonous waste from a closed mine on Papua New Guinea's Bougainville island in a complaint filed Tuesday in Australia. In the 1960s, Bougainville was explored for copper and gold mining opportunities which resulted in the opening of the Panguna Mine in 1969, managed by Bougainville Copper Limited (a subsidiary of Rio Tinto). Download our free app on the App Store or Google Play for the latest headlines and breaking news alerts.
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