 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Sydney (AFP) June 28, 2010 Papua New Guinea has banned all reporting and public discussion of controversial environment law amendments which could allow a Chinese miner to pump waste out to sea, outraging a civil rights group. Justice Minister and Attorney-General Ano Pala sent a two-page statement to the impoverished South Pacific country's media on Friday, saying he was putting a halt to public debate on the laws. "There shall be no more discussion, comment or reference in the media to the Environment Act amendments," he said in the statement, published in part by The National newspaper. "This mean there will be no talkback radio programmes or interviews, no more advertisements, no more letters to the editor and above all no more protest meetings, no public demonstrations, and no public marches." Pala's office refused to comment on the statement, saying only that the minister was unavailable. Critics argue that the amendments reduce landowners' legal rights to oppose projects approved by the government. The changes to the law are being contested in court by landowners from the Madang coast, who are against a pipeline which will dump millions of tons of waste into Basamuk Bay. Pala warned the public there was to be no discussion of the case, given that a court was determining whether the amendments were constitutional. In March, the courts ordered a halt to work on the Ramu nickel mine, operated by the Chinese Metallurgical Construction Group (known as MCC), as it prepared to blast away corals to make way for the pipeline. Papua New Guinea civil society group Act Now accused the government of acting like "an African dictator" over the issue. "This is an utterly outrageous attempt by a draconian government to stifle public debate and deny citizens their constitutional rights," it said in a statement.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up
Presence And Severity Of Pollution In National Parks ConfirmedCorvallis OR (SPX) Jun 25, 2010 Toxic contamination from pesticides, the burning of fossil fuels, agriculture, industrial operations and other sources are a continuing concern in national parks of the West, two new studies confirm. In research performed by an international group of scientists over several years, pollution was found in all eight of the national parks and preserves that were studied, in terrain ranging fro ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook