CIANGO face Select Committee

CIANGO endured a nerve wracking time when presenting its submission to the Seabed Minerals Seabed Select Committee.

Among those making submissions to the Select Committee on Tuesday were the President of the Cook Islands Association of Non Government Organisations (CIANGO), Mrs Vereara Maeva-Taripo and environmental consultant, Teariki Rongo appearing on behalf of the NGOs.
They said it was difficult to collect a ‘full united voice’ for the groups and the wide variety of interests they represent but nevertheless, in the two meetings they have held, it is clear that not all NGOs understand the full concept of the Bill, let alone those in the wider community.
CIANGO’s President said she had spoken to a number of Members of Parliament and they admitted not knowing what the Bill means. Her question was how the MPs can be held responsible for their ‘did not know’ decision.
What they want to know is what is the intention of the Bill and whether government has the capacity to implement it.
Environmental concerns are a major issue with CIANGO highlighting problems of proving liability for any damage caused by mining companies where the community had to prove to the Authority (in those countries) that the damage was caused by the companies.
The group is concerned about the vast areas of ocean over which to collect such data to prove the point.
The group says they understand the thrust of the Bill to try everything possible to protect our environment and our other resources but studies of the sea at those depths are still an unknown quantity. How can we deal with the unknown and its consequences if we don’t know the nature of the causes of environmental problems?
They give the example of Mururoa Atoll in Tahiti where the NGOs tried to stop French nuclear testing because of the far reaching consequences of any environmental fallout from the testing. “The environment does not recognize political boundaries and what makes us think that in mining our ocean the negative effects will not affect our neighbours?”
Then there is the issue of climate change where industrialized countries have ‘pumped millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Will the Bill help us in the future?”
Does Government have a bailout plan for the other industries in the Cook Islands such as Tourism, Agriculture and Fisheries if and when they are affected by the activities of a permitted company?
Their advice to the Select Committee is to go back to the community and explain the concept of the Bill to the general public and the outer islands because one round of meetings is not enough. They request details as to how Government intends to implement the Bill and what financial commitment they intend to enable effective and cost effective monitoring of activities on the open ocean.
They have asked for a list in easy to understand form of the benefits of the Bill to the people of the Cook Islands as well as a risk analysis of the project to show whether the risk levels are acceptable. Will specialized training be provided to our people to manage the whole affair? Have the qualified experts explained the concept?
The Select Committee has undertaken to present their findings to Parliament after which they will determine what further action, if any, they intend to take.

Herald Issue 455 15 April
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