The mining giant Rio Tinto has told a Bougainvillean group it should have made an earlier assessment of the damage their mine at Panguna had caused.
The first meeting of the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment Oversight Committee was held in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region this month.
Panguna tailings wasteland Photo: supplied HRLC
Last July Panguna communities, led by local MP Theonila Rota Matbob, and assisted by Australia's Human Rights Law Centre, filed a human rights complaint over the mine damage.
They said it had caused severe environmental damage and put lives and livelihoods at risk.
Ms Matbob said the first meeting with Rio Tinto went well.
The next meeting is scheduled for next month.
A Bougainville family fends among the ruins of Panguna Photo: supplied HRLC
"There were apologies [from Rio Tinto] saying they should have come back to assessing Panguna a little sooner than now but they clearly made the commitment that they are committed to ensuring that the assessment is undertaken as soon as possible," she said.
The committee, through its idependent cairman, Martin Brash of the Tanorama Consulting Group,released a statement following the meeting, saying, "all parties at the meeting have committed to collaborating in a fair and effective process that helps address the concerns of affected communities."