On March 1, 2011, MiningWatch Canada and two of our partner organizations in Papua New Guinea submitted a Request for Review to the office of the Canadian National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The Request for Review concerns the operations of Barrick Gold Corporation at the Porgera Joint Venture mine on the land of the indigenous Ipili of Porgera, Enga province, Papua New Guinea.
The Request for Review was submitted by Mark Ekepa, Chairman of the Porgera Landowners Association; Jethro Tulin, Executive of Akali Tange Association; and MiningWatch Canada. The Request for Review documents alleged breaches of the OECD Guidelines regarding sustainable development, human rights and the environment. It suggests ways in which Barrick may come back into compliance with the OECD Guidelines and asks the NCP to use its good offices to facilitate a dialogue with Barrick Gold regarding the issues of the Request for Review. EarthRights International and Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) serve as advisors on this Request for Review.
For more information contact: Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada, catherine(at)miningwatch.ca; tel. (613) 569-3439.