BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
A mining toolkit developed by the Development Services Exchange (DSE) revealed feelings of exclusion of land owners’ voices when it comes to extractive industries such as mining and logging.
In developing the Toolkit, the Development Services Exchange (DSE) has conducted a survey of traditional landowners in Guadalcanal, Isabel, and Malaita provinces.
The survey gathered perspectives on logging and mining activities.
The preliminary findings revealed widespread feelings of exclusion, lack of consultation, and dissatisfaction with current practices.
The Key preliminary found that People found out about extractives industry operations informally, such as observing machinery or hearing rumours, as opposed to formal notification, which is required by law.
The toolkit also found that where consultation occurred, it was often late, superficial, and limited to select individuals.
The Key preliminary finding includes,
- While some people mentioned short-term economic benefits like local employment or road access, the majority reported disruptions to local livelihoods and not enough compensation.
- Extractive companies often made existing divisions and conflicts worse or created new disputes, especially when companies favoured certain families or leaders over others.
- People have been frustrated by the lack of enforcement of community and environmental protections, opaque agreements, and the neglect of traditional governance systems in the process.
- People highlighted the devastating environmental impacts, including deforestation, river pollution, and loss of biodiversity and noted that companies rarely made an effort to rehabilitate affected areas or monitor environmental impacts.
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