BEN JACKSON
THERE ARE SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT the
legitimacy of the exploratory and mining partnerships between Canada-based
Morumbi Resources and five land ownerships companies in Bougainville.
It is unclear from where these land ownership companies derive their authority, but it seems they have over-stepped their jurisdiction, with neither the Autonomous Bougainville Government nor the government of Papua New Guinea having sanctioned any exploratory or mining projects in Bougainville.
Sam Kauona (flickr.com)
It is unclear from where these land ownership companies derive their authority, but it seems they have over-stepped their jurisdiction, with neither the Autonomous Bougainville Government nor the government of Papua New Guinea having sanctioned any exploratory or mining projects in Bougainville.
Attention
was drawn to Morumbi’s activities in Bougainville with last month’s appointment
of Lindsay Semple as chief executive officer.
Semple,
an Australian national, has a colourful history in PNG and Bougainville, having
previously brokered a 10-year logging deal on the mainland which is alleged to
have lasted only a few months resulting in land owners and contractors not
being paid what they were owed.
Then,
in 2008, Semple, acting for Invincible Resources, made facilitation payments of
$8 million to President Joseph Kabui and the Autonomous Bougainville Government
to secure a deal for 70% of Bougainville’s mineral resources.
The
late Joseph Kabui never took the deal to Bougainville’s parliament and as a
result was facing a vote of no-confidence before his sudden death in June 2008.
The
deal was canned following Kabui’s death, but not before $200,000 had been spent
by Kabui and another $1 million had been withdrawn by other unnamed persons.
At
the heart of the deal was Sam Kaouna, financial advisor to Kabui, who it seems
saw it as his place to decide on the future mineral resources for Bougainville
when he and Lindsay Semple created Invincible.
Kauona
told the ABC’s Steve Marshall in 2008: “Lindsay Semple, out of hundreds of
interested investors that came into Bougainville, turns out to be that person,
that special person, who is genuine, who is able to listen to the way people
think.
“Look,
although hundreds, I have chosen Lindsay because in my heart I feel that he's
the person Bougainville needs.”
Perhaps
unsurprisingly, four years on Kauona is again at the centre of affairs; this
time as vice-chairman and director of Isina Resource Holdings, one of the
landowner groups that have made deals with Morumbi.
Source: Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE (http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2012/08/simple-for-lindsay-as-morumbi-moves-on-bville-resources.html
)
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