By Gedion Timothy 
Following completion of the Frieda River Project Environmental Impact (EIS) roadshows, the head of Government’s environment regulatory agency Mr. Jude Tukuliya has made a unique site visit on the borders of East Sepik and Sandaun Provinces.
Tukuliya’s familiarization visit signals a close collaboration between Government Authorities and project proponents to enable the safe delivery of the mine and associated activities.
Mr. Tukuliya, who is acting Managing Director of the PNG Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) said due diligence will take its course when deciding on an environment permit.
Lead project proponent PanAust representative Phil McCormack who had been on site for more than fifteen years expressed gratitude for Mr. Tukuliya’s visit with his technical team describing it as first of its kind visit by a head CEPA.
Mr. Tukuliya says CEPA has concluded all activities in the environment impact statement (EIS) of the Frieda River project.
“CEPA must ensure that all the issues in relation to the Sepik River, the integrity of the integrated storage facility and of course all the unknowns identified during the review processes are assessed and screened properly before the environment council meets for the permitting process,” he said.
JUDE TUKULIYA – PORT MORESBY
“CEPA has generally completed all the road shows and public consultations in the two project provinces (Sandaun and East Sepik),” he said.
“Consultations with the provincial governments have all been completed and we also have received comments and feedbacks from other interested individuals and groups as well.
“The last infrastructure consultations were conducted in July.
“The independent peer review teams have in their reports, identified a number of important issues, particularly in terms of the dam’s integrity and the stability. They have requested project proponent PanAust to test the core samples again in a different testing laboratory in Melbourne and that is still outstanding.
Mr. Tukuliya says generally both the East Sepik and Sandaun governments wish to see the project take off the ground “sooner than later”.
“However, their main concern is in relation to the safety of the Sepik River and the possible collapse of the integrated storage facility.
“They recommended that the tailings be transported in a pipe-line to Sandaun to an identified bay and allow for DSTP (deep sea tailings placement). The current mine plan is not quite accepted.
Tukuliya says CEPA now is collating the reviews comments from the IPR teams and the feedbacks and reports received during the consultation process before presentation to the environment council for its deliberations.