The Ok Tedi Mine Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Ok Tedi Mine Case Study - Essay Example Moreover, the mine contributes to costs such as environmental pollution and degradation of land which is risk for the human and animal population. I do think the benefits brought to PNG by the OK Tedi Mine override the costs to the society and environment. This is because the mine is one of the most controversial mining projects where a huge tonnage of wastes are released to the Ok Tedi River which has great effect on the local community living along the river, on the biological structure of the mine and the continuous siltation causes flooding and death of aquatic life (Harding, 1998; p. 308). This is more costly than the benefits. The different stakeholders groups include the owners of land around the Ok Tedi River, the government of PNG, employees in the mine, the indigenous people around the area and the firms contracting the mining projects. The contracting firms contributes to employment opportunities for local people hence raising their living standards, the local community contributes to the labor force in the mines while the land owners give up their land for the benefit of the citizens of PNG. There are some critical problems of the EIA process noted in the DVD. The escalating bank flooding and the transformation from the tropical lands to wet lands of which it contributes to more aquatic vegetation in the area which causes loss of arid land for farming along the Ok Tedi River. This limits the diversification of exports and subsistence farming by the indigenous people of PNG hence low living standards. The dual role of the PNG government in the Ok Tedi Mine as both the owner of the mine and the regulator has some specific positive and negative impact. The positive side is that it reduces the3 exploitation of the local employees and subsequent repatriation of profits by the mining company. The negative side is that it limits the standard of investment through excessive regulation. The best