abg.gov.pg/index.php?/news/read/...m-with-panguna-communities
The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) will begin a major community engagement program with communities in Panguna this week.
ABG Chief Secretary, Kearnneth Nanei, announced this government initiative, and explained that the program will begin with a frontline engagement team made up of government officers and veterans from Central Bougainville.
This team will visit communities in Panguna, including mine-affected communities in the upper and lower tailings areas. This first phase of community visits will run from 16 March to 27 March.
“The purpose of the frontline visit is to have open dialogues with communities and listen directly to their concerns about the Panguna EL01 redevelopment process. Community views, recurring concerns, and questions raised during these engagements will be documented and reported to the Panguna Technical Working Group under the Bougainville Administration,” he said.
He explained that these issues will then be addressed during a larger, integrated ABG engagement with Panguna communities scheduled for the first week of April, which will be led by the ABG President and Minister responsible for Mining, together with senior government leaders and the Bougainville Administration.
The ABG is encouraging landowners, community leaders, women, youth, and all affected communities to actively participate in these engagements.
“This process is about listening to our people and ensuring that landowners and communities are part of the journey as we carefully move forward with Panguna,” Mr Nanei said.
He emphasized that the redevelopment of Panguna will proceed in accordance with ABG laws and regulations, and that the government remains fully committed to open dialogue, transparency, and continued consultation with landowners and key stakeholders.
“Landowners will be partners with the proposal for Panguna Mine re-development,” he said.
It is also important for the public to understand that for more than twenty years, discussions about Panguna largely occurred outside of the actual mining project life cycle. However, in 2024 the Toroama Government made the decision to issue Exploration Licence 01 (EL01) to Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), placing Bougainville formally within the exploration phase of the mining life cycle.
Mr Nanei emphasized that all developments at this current stage is associated with exploration phase, and not mine development, adding that throughout all these stages, landowner groups in Panguna will be partners to the process as they happen.
As this technical phase progresses, engagement with Panguna landowner stakeholders will continue and become more structured. Discussions on matters such as benefit sharing and other development issues will take place through formal Mining Forum processes as required under Bougainville law.
In the meantime, Mr Nanei said teams from the ABG Department of Mining, together with other key government departments, will be deployed to Arawa and Panguna to ensure a stronger and consistent government presence on the ground to manage Panguna-related issues.
Communities are encouraged to attend the scheduled engagement meetings in their areas, raise their concerns, and contribute to the ongoing dialogue with government.
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