Radio Australia | ABC
THE CANADIAN COMPANY, Nautilus Minerals, says it is confident it has support at the highest levels of government in Papua New Guinea.
The company is hoping to be the first in the world to mine the deep sea floor for copper, gold, zinc and silver at its PNG site.
But it has been embroiled in a dispute with the government which has forced it to put the project on hold.
Last week, PNG's prime minister, Peter O'Neill, told Radio Australia that issues relating to equity, intellectual property and the environment still need to be resolved.
Mike Johnson, interim CEO and vice-president of Nautilus Minerals, was one of the speakers at the PNG mining and petroleum investment conference in Sydney.
He's reluctant to go into details about what he wants to get out of the formal dispute process but expressed confidence it could be resolved, enabling mining to go ahead.
This is the kind of no win-win investment that the PNG government and the people of PNG don't need.
They should get out of it the sooner the better whilst the damage to the ocean floor and its surrounding ocean areas is still revesible.
An investment that does not guarantee zero harm to the environment and people should nevere lbe given the licence to operate in PNG and should be stop.
Mike Johnson knows that he can not guarantee zero harm. Peter O'Neill knows that he can not guarantee zero harm.
The coastal villages whose life depend on these parts of ocean knows that and therefore are the big losers here.
Therefore there is a compelling moral duty and obligation - to do the right and proper thing by shuting down the construction altogether.
As an engineer who has had over 25 years of first hand experience with these technologies within and without PNG - it is a no brainer about the irrevesible destruction and devastation these sort of activities can cause to the environment and people.
Shut it now whilst the damage is fixable and recoverable.
Posted by: Chalapi Pomat | 09 December 2012 at 03:26 PM