Solomon Star
Wednesday 29 May 2013
University of the South pacific (USP) lecturer Dr Jack Maebuta said Temotu provincial government (TPG) has failed to consult the people when the Blue Water Metal mining company undertake their prospecting.
In a statement yesterday Dr Maebuta said many people are ignorant about the likely impact of such mining and thus TPG should not prey on our people’s ignorance as leverage into rushing off the implementation of the project.
Prior to implementation of this project there needs to be a feasibility study of likely impacts undertaken and results should be communicated to the people, he said.
Dr Jack added such study needs to be undertaken by an internationally reputable independent body so as to maintain ethical and neutral reporting.
The province should not buy into presentation done by the company as this only promotes their hidden agenda.
“Temotu is a sea of mostly atoll islands, you mine our seabed you mine our life.”
He said studies have proved that deep seabed mining has associated environmental problems. For example, Jan Magne Markussen (1994:33) confirmed three main areas of problems:
“If the propose mining will be eventuate It will seriously destroy the top few centimetres of the seabed, causing major disturbance and disruption to the flora and fauna in the mining tracks.
“We do not want to be fooled by scientific explanation and the use of advanced and sophisticated technology to justify the no-harm operation of the project.
“Our people’s livelihood depended on the environment and the deep sea mining project must not be allowed,” Dr Maebuta concluded.
Temotu is a disaster prone region and the recent deadly tsunami that devastated parts of Santa Cruz should be a turning point that we must look after our environment
By Elliot Dawea
