A Papua New Guinea environmental advocacy group is planning to petition the Prime Minister, James Marape, to try and stop coal mining in the country.
An Australian miner, Mayur Resources, was planning to mine coal in Gulf Province and use it for a coal-fired power station to be built in Lae, and said it hoped to get the green light to begin construction by early next year.
Photo: Unsplash / Bence Balla-Schottner
Peter Bosip, of the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights, said while Mayur already had a mining licence they hoped to convince Marape to stop both developments.
He said while it could be difficult for leaders to turn away investment they had to think of the people's welfare.
"That's what we think - that our Prime Minister will think along that line. So we wanted to bring the issue to his attention by way of getting a number of Papua New Guineans, say at least more than a thousand people to sign petitions that will be forwarded to the Prime Minister."