SMLOLA AGM, page-5

It’ssimply pointless and irrelevant comparing BCL today with the previousiteration. Very different entities; and mining practices today would bedifferent to 40 years ago.

 

Thereality is that the senior executives from BCL (and for that matter its parentcompany CRA) who ran the company in the 1970s and 80s are either dead or longsince retired. The recent ex BCl chairman Robert Burns was himself a technicalmanager at BCL in the 1980s, removed at the time from the decisions that nowseem to rankle the aggrieved members of SMOLA and others. But even thatperceived obstacle has now been removed.

 

Theshareholders are predominantly Bougainvilleans and they would therefore be thebeneficiaries if mining were to resume - very different to RTG (a point I havemade somewhat endlessly since late 2017). An entity owned by Bougainvilleanswould be more likely to do the right thing by Bougainville in terms of both theeconomy and the environment. It is simply pointless (and just a bit ridiculous)harping about BCL as though the company and its senior management had beenfrozen in a time warp since 1989!

 

Ofcourse it’s important to acknowledge the past and learn from it, but at thesame time it’s more important to also look forward and plan for the future.It’s apparent that under current structures there is no motive for BCL to doanything other than work in the interests of Bougainville; there are no othervested or outside interests to appease other than some minority shareholders inthe public shareholdings. 

 

Anotherthing (having followed these issues for some time as an interested observer)the activities of SMLOLA have been as clear as mud. It’s not actually clear whomthey represent. At the very least these issues are vexed because at varioustimes customary land owners have expressed support for BCL. 

 

Alsointeresting is that the ABG continues to work with BCL on community projects,yet presently seems unwilling to entertain RTG, which tells us quite a deal interms of the work that RTG would need to do to have any chance of developingPanguna. 

 

Surelyit’s time that the PNG shareholders as a block (and in particular the residentsof Bougainville) came to the realisation that BCL is a financial and operatingentity almost entirely owned by them.  It is simply pointless harping about the past, other than to learn from it. The shareholders have no-one to convince but themselves. No-one (and who would they be anyway?)   is going to argue that some things would need to be done differently.

 

Irealise that it’s likely that the mine ownership levels might change, dependingon project financing arrangements (say if a partner was invited in) but that probablyapplies to whomever redevelops the operation.