In light of the exponential growth in COVID-19 cases in Papua New Guinea, the resource sector says this health and societal emergency needs swift action by governments, business and individuals.
In a joint effort to combat COVID-19 in the country, Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, with its members, agreed to work together with the PNG government, donors and communities, to assist in terms of ensuring the most reliable information reaches PNG communities on the safety of the vaccine and support the PNG Government in their vaccine rollout across the country.
This collaborative effort will:
1. Ensure all employees in the mining and petroleum industry have accurate information and the capacity to share this with their communities;
2. Use the industry’s collective relationships to advocate for vaccine promotion and acceptance;
3. Support the Provincial Health Authorities within host communities of mining and petroleum sites in their delivery of vaccines through established government systems; and
4. Provide logistics and cold chain support where companies in the industry have the capacity to do so.
Separately, the following companies have the capacity, through their existing health programs, to provide support in the provinces where they operate and have strong relationships.
– ExxonMobil and their Joint Venture partners on PNG LNG, including Oil Search
and Santos, operate in Central and Hela;
– Oil Search Ltd operates in Southern Highlands and Gulf;
– Newcrest has strong ongoing presence in New Ireland and Morobe;
– Ok Tedi Mining Limited is operating in Western;
– K92 Mining has operations in Eastern Highlands;
– Barrick and its joint venture partners operate in Porgera in the Enga province;
– Harmony operates in Wau-Bulolo and Lae in the Morobe province;
– St Barbara Limited operates in the Tabar Group of Islands in New Ireland where it is supporting the government in maintaining community health services; and
– GeoPacific Resources and Kingston Resources operate in the Milne Bay province.
As representatives of the Private Sector, PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum stated that with its member companies, they strongly endorse the adoption of a whole-of-government, whole-of-society, and coordinated approach to urgently respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
