Small-scale miners in the districts of Bulolo and Wau-Waria have petitioned their Members of Parliament to vote against the National Gold Corporation Bill 2022.
Members of the Morobe Goldfield Small Scale Miners Association Incorporation, armed with placards and banners, convoyed to the Wau Oval on Friday and appealed to the Wau-Waria MP, Marsh Narewec, to fight for their rights at the national level.
The association’s president, Banzi Zimanga, said the recently proposed National Gold Corporation Bill will effectively create a gold monopoly, which will be disastrous for PNG’s alluvial mining sector.
Sections 215 and 216 restrict alluvial miners from freely selling their gold at the best possible price and to the buyer of their choice. Instead, under sections 227 and 228, they will be forced to sell to a private Singaporean company, called National Mint, at the rate set by it.
“In addition, under Sections 493, 496, 523, 530 and 531 of the Bill, alluvial miners can be detained, have their properties seized, including gold, based on suspicion by the National Gold Authority,” Zimanga outlined in the petition.
“There will be no compensation for properties when forfeited, lost or damaged.
“This bill is draconian and is against any human decency and deprives our rights and freedom as enshrined in our Constitution.
“We, the alluvial miners, are very concerned and also question why such extraordinary powers are being given so unnecessarily to a majority owned and controlled foreign company to control and take over an industry which was an integral part of our lives for the past 100 odd years or more.”
Zimanga then submitted the petition, with over 400 signatures, to Narewec, who accepted it on behalf of Bulolo district as well.
Narewec reminded the electorate that citizens are benefiting from a number of good policies from the government, such as the tuition fee free subsidy and the ‘Connect PNG’ program. However, with the majority of Bulolo and Wau-Waria depending on gold for survival, Narewec believes that his people’s concerns need to be taken into account.
“Some of the bills that the government wishes to pass, which will directly touch people’s lives and affect their livelihood, wider consultation needs to be conducted,” he said.
“We have provincial governments, local level governments, even national agencies who need to host wider consultations with people who will be really affected by the bill. One example is the National Gold Corporation Bill. There was no wider consultation done with the alluvial miners’ association or lease holders or with the Mineral Resources Authority coming down to the lease holders, associations and artisanal miners, provincial and local level government. This consultation was not done. That’s why the people do not accept the contents of this bill.
“When our people go against something, we as mandated leaders must listen to them because they elected us.”
Narewec commended the association for taking this stance, and further revealed that the bill, which was set to be submitted in the May Parliament session, has been deferred to give more time for wider stakeholder consultation.