Prime Minister James Marape declared a state of emergency on Thursday and suspended government and police officials after rioting left 16 people dead, Reuters reported.
The news agency said police and civil servants held protests on Wednesday over pay cuts that officials blamed on administrative errors but ended in lawlessness.
Television footage showed thousands of people walking through the streets of the capital, Port Moresby. Many of them were carrying what appeared to be stolen goods as black smoke rose over the city.
“Harmony’s operations in Papua New Guinea have not been affected in any way by these activities,” Harmony CEO Peter Steenkamp said in an email in response to questions. “We welcome the declaration of the state of emergency and the steps taken to restore order,” he said. Extra security measures.”
Nine people were killed in riots in Port Moresby and seven in Lae in the gold-copper mining country’s north, Australian state broadcaster ABC said on Thursday, citing police sources.
Wafi Gorp Project
Harmony has long-term ambitions in Papua New Guinea as a joint venture partner in the Wafi Golpu copper/gold project. A special mining lease (SML) is expected to be signed this year, following a memorandum of understanding agreed with the government and then-partner Newcrest (now Newmont) in April.
Steenkamp said this week’s events were “not expected to have a negative impact on the Wafi-Golp license negotiations”.
Once SML is in place, Harmony can add Wafi Golpu to the board and then as shareholders. Before then, Harmony will update its 2018 feasibility study, which projects total project capital at $5.38 billion, $1 billion less than the 2016 study.
In 2020, a Papua New Guinea court rejected a stay order from the then-governor of Morobe province, where the Wafi Golpu project is being built, on the grounds that the MOU should have consulted with the Morobe governor. Later, Wafi Golpe had to take a break due to the political unrest in Papua New Guinea, and Marape was re-elected as prime minister.
Marape’s re-election campaign proved bitter and violent as he blocked attempts by his predecessor, ex-party leader Peter O’Neill, to return to power.
The situation is tense
Marape said this week he had suspended Papua New Guinea’s police chief and senior officials at the Treasury and Treasury while the government reviews the causes of the unrest.
“There is evidence of organized disorder,” he told reporters, adding that the review would ensure “we ensure democracy, we ensure the rule of law.”
He said about 1,000 military personnel were on standby to prevent further unrest.
The US Embassy in Port Moresby said police had returned to work but tensions remained high.
“The relatively calm situation may change at any time,” it said in a statement, adding that it had received reports of violence from several other parts of the country.
