To Those Shareholders of RTZ and Bougainville Copper Limited.
> From the silent landowners of the down stream Jaba River,Southwest
> Bougainville.
>
> Apart from the huge hole that was dug in Panguna in the land which own by
> Panguna landowners,we the landowners of the most heavily polluted Jaba
> river taillings area would like to remind the major shareholders of
> Bougainville Copper of the following.
>
> 1.Pay up our original demand of PNG K10 billion to cater for compensation
> of damages of many kind that was done by RTZ/BCL,Australian Government and
> PNG Government since 1960 to 1997.This claim must be met before any sort
> of mining negotiation take place.
>
> 2.After the compensation is paid,we demand that all mining powers be
> transfer to the Government of the people of Bougainville,thus the
> Autonomous Bougainville Gopvernment.Any major resource development must
> come under the direct powers of the Autonomous Government of Bougainville.
>
> 3.We would like to see that any major mining operation or any other major
> resource development takes place under an Independent Sovereign
> Bougainville State.
>
> This will make it easier for Bougainville to choose the right resource
> development partners instead of outsiders who are bent on profit making
> but have no respect and hourner for landowners.
>
> [With RTZ/BCL establisment on Bougainville]
>
> They [RTZ]Came in the 1960s with teargas to impose their one sided,selfish
> and irresponsible mining policies down the throat of Bougainville
> landowners.The shareholders,RTZ,BCL,PNG Government and Australian
> Government have to be removed by and with guns because they came the same
> way to impose their reign over Bougainville against the will of the
> resource owners and the rest of Bougainville people.
>
> We would like to remind all the shareholders of BCL that we the landowners
> of the Southwest Bougainville for this matter are the biggest loosers in
> the sense that we have lost thousands of hectors of the best agricultural
> land forever.Our land lies under the billions of tons of polluted sand
> dumped in the Jaba river by BCL ever since the mine started.
>
> Whoever shareholder you are, can you come over to Panguna,Jaba
> river,Empress Augusta Bay,Torokina South west Bougainville and see for
> your self.Tell us one mining Company that is allowed to dump toxic waste
> to any river system and agricultural land in Australia,Europe,USA or
> elsewhere,please feel free to come aned talk about this with us.
>
> BCL Sahreholders in Europe and elsewhere apart from our land and
> environment along the Jaba river that was destroyed we lost millions of
> dollars worth of best species of tropical hardwood.Today it lays under the
> tons of toxic sand,when we raised the concern about the hardwood[trees]
> nobody ever listerned.Today we are facing the reality of the BCL's
> irresponsible behavior towards our environment.We find it very hard to
> find good quality timber to build our houses for our growing
> population.Who is going to pay for our lost timber resources? Today Jaba
> river naturally digs its way through billions of tons of toxic sand,the
> sand is been carried down stream further blocking many small streams that
> flows to Jaba river.These small streams blocked by tons and tons of sand
> have no way of flowing out,it forms lakes up land and eventually
> submerging hectors and hectors of good land.
>
> Therefore we have a on going environmental disaster,we don't know who is
> going to fix this problem?.We never invited RTZ to come and operate the
> mine in such a way that their oepration are carried out in an
> environmently disasterous way.Shareholders of BCL in Europe and elsewhere
> if you worried about your share values lost during the period Panguna mine
> had closed,we believe that as shareholders you should claim your lost
> money from RTZ/BCL and PNG Government,because as we see it from our point
> of view it was the Company,[BCL]and PNG Government who were not willing to
> renew the selfish oriented BCL and Landowners agreement.
>
> This was the real issue which our late Supreme Leader Francis Ona tried to
> negotiate but BCL,PNG and RTZ refused to accept late Francis Ona's request
> to redrawn the mining agreement.
>
> Sharholders in Europe,how would you feel if some Company come along and
> without much consultation with you forces you to lend your land for them
> to carry out billion dollar business? At the end of the years they pay you
> with peanuts after they been earning millions of dollars each year on your
> land?.Is it common sense that they pays you in peanuts after using your
> land and resources?.
> We the people of Bougainville are on the same scenario as above parable.We
> the people who have lost our land,Timber,environment etc forever,we were
> getting paid PNGK20,000. per year as royalty per head of family.Do you the
> shareholders think we were paid fairly for the destruction of our
> rescources and envronment forever?.
>
> We believe our claim of PNGK10 billion is justified even of the money is
> recieved our land will never be returned to its original glory.
>
>
> MR BLACKSTONE Oraru,
> Jaba Downstream Landowners Spokepeerson.