Bougainville community leaders have called for representation in discussions over the potential remediation of Rio Tinto's former Panguna mine, which began in Port Moresby last week.
Despite being closed for more than three decades, the mine still has masses of waste and decaying infrastructure which continues to impact thousands of people in the area.
Last year, results from the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment (PMLIA), undertaken by global environmental consulting firm Tetra Tech Coffey, found - in some sites - violations of Indigenous people's rights to water, education and culture have taken place.
It found parts of the mine pit, levee, roads, and old buildings were at extreme risk of collapse with the potential to cause death, as well as cutting off access to medical care for locals.
A roundtable of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), Bougainville Copper (BCL) and Rio Tinto followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding last November after the results of the PMLIA came out, to develop a collaborative process to remedy the identified impacts.
Theonila Roka Matbob, a traditional landowner and local MP from the region, said they lived with the impacts of the mine daily. She spearheaded the human rights complaint against Rio Tinto but said after bringing them back to the table "after many years of inaction," community leaders now "find ourselves shut out of the room".
"This is not the way to rebuild trust with communities or design lasting solutions," she said.
Rio Tinto said the roundtable aimed to "develop a process for collectively remedying actual and potential impacts identified in the PMLIA Report", including the design of a "potential remedy mechanism aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights".
"Throughout the meeting, the parties deliberated and reached consensus on the scope of additional investigations needed to address the most critical impacts identified in the PMLIA," the company's statement said.
"This will be submitted for consultation with and formal endorsement by the PMLIA Oversight Committee, which includes diverse stakeholders representing local communities, the Government of Papua New Guinea, the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Bougainville Copper Limited, Rio Tinto, and the Human Rights Law Centre."
Rio Tinto said the parties were addressing "ageing infrastructure" and other priority issues highlighted by the legacy report.
"The ABG has launched an education awareness program to inform local communities and small-scale miners about potential geo-technical risks," they said.
In 2021, Rio Tinto agreed to fund the PMLIA in response to a complaint brought by 156 community members and represented by the Human Rights Law Centre.
Rio Tinto was the majority-owner of the mine until 2016, when it divested and passed its shares to the PNG and Bougainville governments.
One expert with intimate knowledge of the situation and speaking on condition of anonymity told National Indigenous Times last year Rio Tinto attempted to "wipe their hands" of the situation when they gave up their stake in the mine.
"It's the complaint from the Human Rights Law Centre that has pulled them [Rio Tinto] back in again," they said. "Once that claim was accepted, it was very difficult for Rio Tinto not to respond to it, and their response has been to fund this legacy impact assessment."
Paramount Chief of the Kurabang Clan and Chairlady of the Siokate Association, Theresa Jaintong, said being responsible for the communities' wellbeing meant they expected to be involved in the discussions to "make sure our peoples' concerns are heard and that can all move forward together".
"At the moment, we are in the dark about next steps in this process and what will be done about the impacts and risks we are facing, and which the impact assessment has validated," she said.
