BCL says return will give ‘impetus’ to sectors other than mining
20 September 2017
KEITH JACKSON
BUKA - Bougainville Copper Ltd says it considers the development of primary industries and tourism as critical to Bougainville’s future economic success, and says employment is a “fundamental” objective.
“In terms of our efforts as a company in mineral resources, we are certainly looking to complement other sectors and provide impetus for them to prosper and grow,” BCL’s executive manager Justin (Ted) Rogers said as the company made a high profile return to Arawa in central Bougainville.
The visit by the four-person team from 5-8 September coincided with the National Boxing Championships –which BCL sponsor – and the 2017 Bougainville Chocolate Festival.
The group also included Buka-based Bougainville manager Ephraim Eminoni and recently appointed senior project officers, Ezekiel Burain and Genevieve Itta.
It met with a local stakeholders as BCL builds community support for the implementation of its redevelopment plan for a new Panguna mine.
Meetings were held with landowner association leaders from the project area, representatives of the Panguna New Generation Leaders group, women representatives from Ioro 2 and Pakia villages, leaders of the Upper Tailings and Port Mine Access Road populations as well as officials from the Arawa Football Association.
Mr Rogers said the local stakeholders welcomed the opportunity to meet with the members of the BCL team.
“We are actively building positive relationships and will continue to increase our presence in central Bougainville over the coming months as we expand our community engagement activities,” he said.
Making the re-opening of the mine sound like some sort of social welfare scheme is duplicitous.
We all know why BCL is there - to make money, full stop.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 20 September 2017 at 09:13 AM