By
Rainforest Portal, a project of Ecological Internet
-
August 12, 2010
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1.) Inform Yourself
NOTE: This is a protest, not a petition, sending emails to many real decision makers on matters vital to the Earth.
Caption:
Somare and his government have no respect for Parliament, democratic principles or the people and ecosystems of PNG. It is time for him to resign. (link)
Sir Michael Somare - the first and current Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (Eastern half of island Northeast of Australia)- is becoming increasingly despotic and unbalanced, stripping landowners of their customary land rights, and stealing the nation's resources. Illegal logging, mining, natural gas and petroleum projects - all at the expense of the Earth's third largest intact rainforests and some of the world's last healthy fishing grounds - are being illegally rushed through without prior and informed consent of resource owners, to benefit Mr. Somare's family and friends. Further, to avoid a vote of no-confidence, Mr. Somare has again resorted to illegally dissolving parliament - threatening to kill a political opponent that resisted.
In recent days Somare's government has again amended PNG's Environmental Act to make it easier for Chinese government owned China Metallurgical Construction (MCC) corporation to dump 100 million tons of untreated mine waste into the pristine oceans of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea - some of the world's last best tuna fishing grounds. These changes were carried out specifically at the behest of the Chinese government's mining agency. This means local landowners have been stripped of land rights and the government seeks to squash their court cases and protests demanding mine tailings not be dumped into the sea. Chinese mining investment in Madang against local wishes can only be described as an invasion of sovereign peoples, and will be resisted at all costs. The situation threatens to needlessly descend into revolutionary violence, as Red China threatens PNG's democracy and freedoms.
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