BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
SOLOMON Islands Resource Company Limited (SIRCL) is reportedly continuing operations on disputed land at Suma despite a High Court ruling ordering the company to cease its activities there.
Reports reaching Island Sun indicate that the mining company is still using Suma as a storage site for soil extracted from its prospecting activities at Zaho in Isabel Province.
Earlier this year, the High Court declared the lease agreement between SIRCL and Suma landowners void, and ordered the company to remove all machinery and vacate the site.
Following the ruling, SIRCL entered into a new agreement with landowners at Zaho and shifted its primary operations.
However, concerns have emerged that the company has continued to use Suma as a dumping and storage area for soil materials—an action landowners argue directly contradicts the court’s directive.
Tensions have since escalated between the company and customary landowners. In a recent incident, landowners detained a company boat and engine, resulting in a police case.
In an earlier confrontation, landowners also blocked a landing craft from loading soil samples at Suma, citing the High Court order as the basis for their actions.
Landowners claim SIRCL’s continued presence demonstrates a disregard for both the court ruling and the rights of resource owners.
They have also raised concerns over environmental damage allegedly caused by the ongoing soil storage.
Calls are now mounting for authorities to intervene urgently, with landowners warning that failure to act could lead to further escalation of the dispute.
Photo: Supplied
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