Bougainville/PNG Update
Published by MAC on 2006-05-15
Bougainville/PNG Update
15th May 2006
Call for Bougainville mine to reopen
Radio Australia
The vice president of Papua New Guinea's autonomous Bougainville province, Joseph Watavi, is calling for all stakeholders in the Panguna copper mine to discuss the possibility of it reopening in the near future.
The mine was closed in 1998 when a civil war erupted over grievances by landowners, which included concerns over environmental degradation.
The European-based shareholders of a company which owns the Panguna mine now say they want it to go back into operation.
The Papua New Guinea government, which still has authority over the mine, has been unwilling to consider its reopening, fearing that it could lead to more tension on the island.