Arsonists torch foreign mining equipment at Bougainville's Panguna mine site

Reports from Bougainville indicate that a group of armed men broke into the Panguna mine site and deliberately set fire to heavy haul trucks and other machinery. The equipment belongs to Indian company Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited, selected by the Autonomous Bougainville Government to conduct feasibility studies for the mine’s future reopening. Panguna, once the centre of a civil war that began in 1989, is seen as vital to Bougainville’s economic development and its push for independence from Papua New Guinea.

The arson attack has heightened worries about the safety of the site and the viability of ongoing exploration and rehabilitation plans. Authorities from the Bougainville police force are investigating, though the identities, motives of the attackers and the full extent of the damage have not yet been confirmed. The incident adds another flashpoint to the long-standing debate over resource ownership and development in the region.