Fishy business. The Social Impact of SST.pdf - Act Now!

‘development’ projects will be less than wholly beneficial to the people of East Sepik Province.Their obfuscation should sound a warning bell, or at least remind us of history.The 1990 Barnett Report was unabashed about Sir Hugo’s designs on PNG’s natural resources.And while those who ignore history may doomed to repeat it, the lesson from that report wasnot simply that PNG’s leaders were flogging the country’s resources for their own self-interest,but that they were rewarding each other for their skills in engaging unscrupulous investors.Former Forestry Minister and Deputy PM, Ted Diro, was indicted on 86 counts of misconductand corruption. This has certainly not proved a political obstacle. And even after Sir Hugo wasconvicted of Leadership Code violations he went on to be appointed Minister for Lands.Meanwhile, the logging companies condemned by the report have only expanded their interestswithin PNG. In the words of Barnett’s Interim Report No. 4,It would be fair to say, of some of the companies, that they are now roam the countrysidewith the self-assurance of robber barons; bribing politicians and leaders, creating socialdisharmony and ignoring laws in order to gain access to, rip out, and export the lastremnants of the province's valuable timber…. It is doubly outrageous that these foreigncompanies have then transferred secret and illegal funds offshore at the expense of thelandowners and the PNG Government. (Barnett 1990:.85)In the meanwhile, no one seems to have bothered telling the Saure landowners at Yawasoro thattheir land was off the planning boards for SST. All the preparations of the Saure people hadcome to naught: landowner groups who registered with the Department of Commerce, set asidesavings and property to establish spin-off businesses; families who resettled to take advantageof the factory’s opportunities; some who raised pigs, others vegetables, in anticipation ofcatering sales, were all left holding the bag. No one from SST ever bothered to explain that theplans had changed—thanks but no thanks for your ground. That great field where Sir Pita Lus,Parliament Speaker Bernard Narokobi, East Sepik Governor Arthur Somare and HarboursBoard chair Timothy Bonga joined Sir Michael Somare in a groundbreaking ceremony in June2000 was never going to have a loinery after all. Nor were the residents going to get a new road,better electrical and water supplies, schools, jobs, and spin-off businesses as promised.But to a lesser extent this disappointment has also been suffered by the Kreer and Viaqlandowners who are customary owners of the ground where SST now sits. They maintain adispute with the Harbour’s Board over its ownership, however, as nothing was ever put inwriting when the State lay claim to it. But they, too, like the Saure landowners, were instructedby SST employees to register with the Department of Commerce as landowner companies inpreparation for spin-off businesses. And no such businesses ever resulted. At present there areno spinoffs and not plans for spinoffs from the factory.Apparently it is precisely these sorts of landowner issues that SST hoped to avoid by refrainingfrom any spinoff participation. SST’s one concession to landowners has been to reserve hiringand firing of two production divisions to a Kreer Landowner group, because these divisionsrequire nighttime shifts and should be filled by near residents. But workers told us that thesedivisions are actually filled by people from various origins and residences in Wewak.Prior to the factory’s groundbreaking, there were already concerns being raised by the publicover its environmental risks. SST hired consultant John Douglas of Douglas EnvironmentalServices to inpect the plant’s treatment system, and Douglas dutifully reported at the time thatwaste water treatment, discharge, sludge disposal, smell and noise were all expected to bemanageable and safe. SST Project co-ordinator (and Department of East Sepik Fisheries8