The Autonomous Bougainville Government led by President Hon. Ishmael Toroama, and key Panguna mine stakeholders, including a landowner delegation, participated in the PNG Resources Week hosted by the PNG Chamber of Resources and Energy in Port Moresby last week.

The week also included the second Community Affairs and National Content Expo (CANCONEX), focused on promoting awareness and engagement on national participation and community affairs in the mining and oil and gas industry.

Recognizing that Bougainville is part of a larger global community and the need to align with global best practices in the industry, the ABG continues to support active participation at these events as an opportunity for Bougainville leaders and landowners to appreciate that industry practices today have significantly improved from what they were in 1988/89 when Panguna was prematurely shut, particularly regarding community affairs and local content.

Furthermore, these events provide an opportunity to see how community affairs and local content is being implemented in other projects across the country and learning from both the successes and challenges.

President Toroama, who is also the Minister responsible for Mining and Petroleum in the Bougainville Executive Government, delivered his statement at the event during the session on “Panguna – Lessons and Eye to the Future”.

He reflected on Bougainville’s policy responses to the lessons learnt, and shared on policy developments being undertaken under his leadership as Minister towards improving existing policy frameworks.

Reflecting on the history, President Toroama said, “Panguna is a story that we’re all too familiar with. In pursuit of resource-sector developments, may we never forget the Bougainville Panguna mine experience and the unnecessary loss of 20,000+ lives."

Photo provided by PNG Core.

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