Nimamar LLG and New Ireland Provincial Government have endorsed their united position on a revised Lihir MoA, concluding three years of extensive deliberations with the National Government, Mineral Resource Authority and Stakeholders.
The revised MoA is a collaborative document seen as a cure for the complete failure of the National Government over the past seventeen years.
The new MoA represents their collective position that insists on substantial increases in benefits derived from the mine’s purse.
After three years of reviewing the two Lihir Agreements comprising the MoA and the Integrated Benefits Package, which essentially forms the compensation package to mining affected communities, the Lihirian leaders proposed to establish a new era in the indigenous access to benefits by teaming up with Governor Sir Julius Chan to bring New Ireland and its people closer to realizing autonomous status championed by the Malagan Declaration.
The parties all agreed that the basic key to real autonomy is a fair return from the wealth that is taken out of their land. Autonomy without financial resources is an empty shell.
Governor Sir Julius Chan concluded saying that the MoA signed will finally give resource owners their due rewards.
