16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence: Day 16

Day 16: Copper, war, environment and women in Bougainville

“Bougainvilleans agree that environment concerns cannot be disassociated from human concerns. “Environment” encompasses both ecological and cultural rights; the two are often sacrificed side by side. Government tactics such as the forced evictions and populations transfers are part and parcel of development that, in the name of economic growth, justify ecological destruction and the dispossession of peoples. The intent of the perpetrators of war and siege is to create disunity on the islands through suffering and death, to torture us into submission, to steal back the mining resources at the expense of our society and our environment, to own the people and their island.” - Martin Mirriori, Bougainville Peace office (From ‘Bougainville: A Sad and Silent Tragedy in the South Pacific’, Do or Die, no. 5, p 59)

At the turn of the century the Australian colonial administration was granted effective control over PNG and following World War I the administration passed a Mining Ordinance which declared that all the minerals under the ground belonged to the Australian Government.  The local land law denoting that land is owned on a clan basis which had been in place for 40,000 years no longer existed.

In 1969 Bougainville Copper Limited, forcibly established the worlds largest copper mine at Panguna. The women landowners resisted the encroachment on their land from the beginning.  They pulled out the concrete exploration pegs, lay down in front of the bulldozers with their children, stood in the way of the giant machines, clinging to the trees on their land.  For this they were clubbed and beaten by police. Disputes over the environmental impact, financial benefits, and social change brought by the mine renewed a dormant secessionist movement. Regardless of the protests, 220 hectares of the Bougainville rainforest was poisoned, burned and bulldozed, leading to the displacement of local people, houses were bulldozed as a huge crater, 0.5 km deep and nearly 7km in circumference was gorged out of the mountains.  The chemical effluent from the copper concentrator was poured directly into the Kawerong River which ran green.  Forests died and the river changed its course as millions of tons of tailings were tipped into the once-fertile river valley. The subsistence life of gardening and fishing was destroyed.  Thirty years later, the effects of the mine are still being felt.

Landowners, who are traditionally women, and their communities saw their land, their culture and their future slowly being destroyed by the mine and attempts made to obtain redress for their grievances through normal democratic procedures were to no avail.  The Bougainville copper mine generated an income of 2,341.7 million kina (K); therefore it was of absolute importance to the Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) to protect and ensure that the mine remained operational.

The traditional landowners grew more militant and in November 1988, after two decades of peaceful protest, they set out to close the mine using guerrilla tactics, by blowing up the power pylons, buildings and machinery and other acts of sabotage, the militants, later branded as the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), forced the mine to close in 1989.  When the BRA closed the mine, they found maps of five other mineral deposits on the island.

“We truly believe that all of Bougainville is under threat of destruction by these mining corporations”.

The PNG Government sent in the riot squad and then the army, who were given a “shoot to kill” licence in an attempt to crush the militants, who were local men and women, and in the process ignited a desire for independence.  A brutal civil war ensued from 1988 to 1997 with the people of Bougainville experiencing the most degrading violations: murder, torture, beatings and rape by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and its pro-PNG ‘Resistance Force’. There was a blockade placed preventing access to medicines.  The war claimed an estimated 20,000 lives equating to 8% of the population.

The conflict ended in 1997and a peace agreement, finalised in 2000, provided for the establishment of an Autonomous Bougainville Government.  The effort now is to secure a settlement and rebuild the island communities ravaged by the war, oppression from Papua New Guinea and mineral exploitation. The people of Bougainville remain hopeful and optimistic while guarded about the possible pitfalls awaiting them.

The Bougainvillean culture of forest gardening and fishing, where women are the ‘landowners’ is an organic one. It has grown within, not against the ecology they call home. They have fought against the industrial machine and for their small scale ecological society. 

“Land is our life; land is our physical life- food and sustenance. Land is our social life, it is marriage; it is status; it is security; it is politics; in fact, it is our only world. When you take our land, you cut out the very heart of our existence.”

Since the signing of the Peace Agreement, Bougainville has been able to take stock and concentrate on the pressing development needs of the island.  The key concern has been to find ways in which the local economy can recover and diversify following the sweeping environmental degradation caused by the large-scale mining that began in the 1960s.  The dependence that grew upon the mine as a single source of revenue led to the neglect of other areas of economic activity which are only now being redeveloped.  Key to the rebuilding of the rural economy is the land.  Mine developments across the island led to massive quantities of spoil being deposited, effectively rendering much of the land unusable.  

Against this backdrop the Panguna mine remains closed and it is still a sensitive issue for Bougainvilleans.  Whether the mine has the ability to redress some of the damage it has created remains doubtful.  It is still to be seen whether its resources can be harnessed productively for the benefit of all Papuans.  But there can be no doubt as to the clear resolve with which Bougainvilleans are attempting to rebuild their environment and livelihoods.

Based on geological data, the study indicates over 1 billion tonnes of ore could still be mined, which is more than the 675 million tonnes dug over 18 years the mine operated. The study indicates “sufficient potential for a viable operation” resuming at the mine.  There has been no exploration or mining at Panguna because the site remains off-limit despite the formation of an autonomous island government.

In his first statement on Radio Australia Pacific Beat on June 8th, 2010 the newly elected President of Bougainville, John Momis, declared that the Panguna mine has to be reopened to assure economic growth of Bougainville in the future. 

Click here to read about IWDA’s project in this region in partnership with Tulele Peisa.

16 Days Contact Form

1. Your Name(required)
2. Email(valid email required)
3. Subject(required)
4. Message(required)
5. Yes - Sign me up to the newsletter

Contact Form Verification

1. Enter Code

 

cforms contact form by delicious:days

---

16 Days of Activism is a global campaign encouraging organisations and individuals across the world to take a stand against gender-based violence. The campaign starts on 25th November: The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on 10th December: World Human Rights Day.

16 Days of Activism was started by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership 18 years ago. The campaign’s beginning and end dates highlight that violence against women is a human rights violation.

Thousands of diverse groups and individuals now take part in 16 Days, together calling for an end to all types of violence against women. Each year people organise events in their communities, including meetings, conferences, demonstrations, exhibitions and performances.

This year at IWDA, we have decided to use the 16 Days to highlight the work our partners in Asia and the Pacific are doing to improve the situation for women and girls in their communities, as well as the work IWDA is undertaking in Australia. Each day between 25th November and 10th December, we will post a short article about 16 Days on our website, Facebook page, and Twitter page.

Tags: 16 Days of Activism, Papua New Guinea

This entry was posted on Friday, December 10th, 2010 under 16_Days, Recent.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.