Parliamentary committee calls for action

Papua New Guinea is losing millions of Kina due to the export of alluvial gold.

Chairman of Special Parliamentary Committee on Public Sector Reform and Service Delivery, Gary Juffa, released a preliminary statement earlier this week, revealing findings of a national economic emergency driven by massive gold smuggling and systemic regulatory failure.

"Despite visible increase in mining activities on the ground, official production figures have dropped rapidly from a peak of 120,000 ounces to 40,000," he said.

Governor Juffa said, the Committee has uncovered a crisis where the amount of gold being smuggled out of PNG is more than double the amount being legally declared.

"This is a direct, substantial theft from our public services, our schools and our hospitals," he said.

Governor Juffa added that this is not mere inefficiency, this is sophisticated economic criminality in the alluvial gold mining sector.

The committee has identified that crises arise when the sector lacks the capacity and manpower for effective audit production, as well as when conflicts between existing law and government policy occur.

These conflicts are driven by well-organized foreign criminal networks exploiting uneducated local landowners through agreements that leave them with no long-term benefits.

Governor Juffa stated that the Committee is preparing a final recommendation for the Executive Government and Parliament to adopt structural and enforcement measures.

The measures include, establishing a High-Impact compliance and audit Task Force, allow new regulatory controls to be implemented without external pressure and enforce legal clarity.

In his closing remarks, he urged all stakeholders and the government to cooperate with the urgent reforms and save a vital national resource.