In this episode:
IT has been a decade after the closure of the Misima Gold Mine in the Milne Bay province.
The people have been left with high hopes of receiving direct benefits that the mine would bring after its closure. But after all these years, their lives haven’t improved in any big way.
In this Tok Piksa special, Edwin Fidelis gives an insight into the plights of the Misima people after the closer of the Gold mine. When the Misima Mine closed down in 2004, mining infrastructures were dismantled and taken away when the miners left.
A flight over the Island of Misima reveals two lakes burrowed in the center of the Island.
It remained a legacy for the Island people that there was once a mine on the Island.
Most of the people still live on remnants from the mine with an economy driven by alluvial mining. Government’s service standards are below what were expected by the Misima people.
According to Misima people, the 20 years of mining operations on the Island have let them down.The Misima mine has become a precedent for other mines in Papua New Guinea, the Misima people say.
The damage it has left behind, is permanent. The people are now working to rebuild their lives back to what it used to be twenty years ago before the mine came.
They are switching back to subsistence farming and fishing. Landowners are also fighting a court battle to resettle their claims against the mining company and the national government for environmental damages caused to the environment.
The court case in now twenty years old and counting. But to rebuild the life of Misima to its original state, might take many years.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gW0jtaBH5bs%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
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