COMMENTARY — Community relations in P.N.G.

Placer Dome’s Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea (P.N.G.) is one of the more socially, politically and technically complex mining operations in the world. Besides the task of winning more than 400 tonnes of gold from the Highlands, the company must deal with problems of local government.

While operating in developing countries, resource companies such as Placer Dome understand the need to exercise cultural sensitivity, and they go to great lengths and expense to accommodate cultural groups in the impact area. For this purpose, the project, known as the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV), has a large department to manage social affairs.

This is more necessary than ever, as, after 20 years of independence, the capacity of the national government to deliver services to its people has eroded to the extent that inhabitants of Porgera’s impact area (those not near the mine site in particular), are increasingly looking to the PJV to fill the void. Conflict is inevitable when those wishes or demands go unfulfilled.

More than 95% of the country’s land is held under customary law, meaning groups hold land that is not surveyed or registered. Much of this land is under continuous dispute, and tribal fighting continues to hinder development. The remaining land is alienated for residential, commercial, agricultural and mining use.

While project managers view a “Special Mining Lease” as legally acquired land where rights of occupancy are sacrosanct, many P.N.G. nationals view the implications and obligations differently. They see leases as a loan of land through the government to a third party for as long as it suits them. The moment the occupier or government loses its determination to enforce ownership, “land-grab-back” occurs.

The Porgena (Ipili) culture is changing and evolving. Their fortune in having a major gold deposit has forced them to adapt to a new role but has not spared them from the jealousies of their neighbors. As is the case with most Highland people, the Ipili are pragmatic and less likely to close a project (as was the case on Bougainville) without first exhausting every avenue to achieve the end they seek.

The Enga speakers of the province of that name are the largest language group in P.N.G. and are strong-minded and aggressive. All are determined to share in the wealth of the mine, and many are frustrated the mine is in Porgera and not their area. Their individual qualities and capacity for hard work are completely overshadowed by the destructiveness of their constant tribal fighting. The failure of their provincial government system to deliver services has further exposed the PJV to demands to fulfil their expectations.

Most of the cultural groups within the Highlands are led under a “Big Man” system. Big Man status is not necessarily hereditary; rather, it is gained in recognition of a person’s ability to accumulate wealth, wives and influence. In contrast to Western society, the Big Man is obliged to distribute his wealth because, in gaining that status, he would have used all manner of favors, thereby locking himself into never-ending obligations to others.

At the risk of simplification, the arrival of the PJV triggered a reaction similar to the arrival of an instant Big Man and his powerful clan. The PJV is powerful indeed and some groups aligned themselves with the group for the excitement, protection and largesse offered.

It is common for landowners to lodge dubious claims for compensation and react violently when the claims are rejected. They will claim to be supporters of Placer and mean it. A real Big Man, however, would placate his supporters with some token, regardless of the merit of his request. The PJV does not, and cannot, take the role of the Big Man.

— From “Prospect,” the quarterly magazine of Placer Dome.