New post on Papua New Guinea Mine Watch
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ABG AusAID Advisor, Anthony Regan, Slams Central Bougainville Leadership
by ramunickel
Anthony ReganIn an extraordinary break from his 'neutral' role as Australian aid funded adviser to the ABG, Anthony Regan has launched an extensive attack on elected leaders from central Bougainville in an Australian journal, Security Challenges [see link below].
According to Regan no-one on Bougainville opposed to Rio Tinto for its past misconduct has pure motives, they are all in the pay of backdoor players!
He claims Lawrence Daveona 'the executive of the Panguna Special Mining Lease landowners association, has come under the influence of an adviser [David Martin] from the United States. They too support Panguna re-opening, but oppose BCL, mainly on the basis that the adviser claims to be able to raise the approximately US$6 billion need to re-open the mine, which would permit the Panguna landowners to own the mine lease'.
Regan has also suggested that the central Bougainville MP's concerns over environment and landowner trauma is nothing but a trick. He argues, 'the Member of PNG Parliament for Central Bougainville, Hon. Jimmy Miringtoro, wants the Panguna mine to re-open, he favours his own candidate company to replace BCL'.
Not finished, Regan also goes after the Me'ekamui Government of Unity - 'The Me’ekamui Government of Unity, based at Panguna, also opposes the re-opening of Panguna, mainly because in the absence of large-scale mining there, the leaders have been entering, or attempting to enter, a range of agreements with foreign interests, in which they have purported to grant long-term rights over minerals in various parts of central Bougainville'.
It does not stop there. According to Regan, the only ones who are pure of heart in their criticism of Rio Tinto are OUTSIDERS - but he claims, these outsiders are too stupid to realise they are being used by the backdoor players to help rob Rio Tinto of its Panguna gold.
He argues, 'From early 2013, when public discussion first emerged about ABG development of "transitional" mining legislations, a curious and perhaps to some extent unwitting "alliance" developed between the outside mining interests and their Bougainvillean partners, on the one hand, and PNG and Australian activists on the other'.
He suggests, 'none of these activists [critical of Rio Tinto] have long and deep connections to Bougainville, nor detailed understanding of the current problems and pressures facing Bougainville, they have perhaps unwittingly developed alliances with outside interests seeking to get control of mining and mining revenues for their own benefit, and contrary to the interests of Bougainville'.
This narrative created by Regan which claims outsider critics of Rio Tinto are pure in motives but thick, while all Bougainvillean opponents of Rio Tinto, are on the payroll of backdoor players, is an insult to all those who fought and died fighting Rio Tinto for reasons OTHER than money. He doesnt understand land and culture are worth more than money.
Will the ABG President finally come out and condemn these attacks on his constituents and colleagues? Enough is enough!
Download: http://www.securitychallenges.org.au/ArticlePDFs/SC%2010-2%20Regan.pdf [350kb] |
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