-Gold Ridge mine stands still following burning and damage of company properties by unknown ‘group of people’
-Cost of damage still assessed
BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Gold Ridge Mining Ltd (GRML) operation in Central Guadalcanal has been placed on hold following the burning and damage of machines that occurred on Tuesday night this week.
It is still unclear how much the damage is worth, but the company said it is quite substantial since a huge number of its properties were burnt.
Speaking in an exclusive interview yesterday, Chairman of Gold Ridge Community Investment Limited (GCIL) and a Director of GRML, Walton Naezon said that a dialogue was held yesterday between Government representatives, the company, and the Gold Ridge Land Owners Council to identify a solution to the cause of the problem.
“Stakeholders come together to identify the cause of the problem. So those are the areas of concern. Work still halted since there are things yet to be settled. We have to re-structure work place, repair machine,” Mr Naezon said.
He said that those involved in the burning should go through their council rather than taking things into their own hands.
“The situation has now returned to normalcy and is under control. Work will continue as things are settled,” he said.
He calls on the government, leaders, Land Owners (LOs), chiefs, women, and youth to work together for a safe, smooth future operation.
“I regret and am sad about what happened. GRML contributed more than 40 percent of GDP -it’s a national project, and thus, everyone should have a concern over it,” he said.
He said that the Gold Ridge Landowners (LO) council is responsible for dealing with the LO concerns to the company and the Government.
He said the GRML is operated through a government taskforce, the Gold Ridge Task Force, co-chaired by the Minister of Mines and the Minister of Police.
“All these things are inside a matrix. For example, the issue raised by LO should have been addressed by the Government, not the company. Under the matrix, each party has its priority areas, the company, Government, the LO council, the Ministry of Mines etc,” he said.
He adds that the operation is conducted under three agreements; agreement between LO and the Company, the LO and the Government and the Company and the Government.
“For example, the government is responsible to pave way for the company’s development for Los concerns. However blame always goes to the company when issues arise, which should not be the case,” he said.
