PNGExposed blog
The ‘new’ Panguna Landowners Association, led by its Chairman, Lawrence Daveona – a Port Moresby based businessman and civil servant – is holding itself out as the true representative body for landowners on Bougainville. And, to that end, the association has put itself in the box-seat to negotiate the mine’s reopening [1] with Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL).
But there is more to this political coup than meets the eye. PNGexposed can confirm that the group’s Chairman, Mr Daveona, has received thousands of kina in payments from the European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper (ESBC), a body set up by BCL’s European investors to lobby for the mine’s reopening.
These payments have been made by ESBC’s President, Axel G Sturm. According to The Australian, Mr Sturm is “possibly the company’s largest individual shareholder”. He has been agitating for the mine’s reopening from his home in the Principality of Andorra, a notorious tax-haven and secrecy jurisdiction (there is no evidence though that Mr Sturm is involved in any illegal activity).
Receipts and reports viewed by PNGexposed show that Daveona received numerous payments by ESBC between 2009-2011, ranging from K1,000 to K4,650 in value (see Appendix A). Some payments are simply labelled ‘Project Funding’ and ‘ESBC Activities in Panguna’, while another was evidently made to purchase a laptop for James Tanis, Bougainville’s former President, who has now come out in support of the mine’s reopening. [2]
In 2008 the ESBC’s President, Mr Sturm, claimed to be “deeply impressed by Lawrence Daveona. He is the ideal mediator in this sensitive issue [mine reopening]. He has our [ESBC] confidence and our full support as well”. [3]
Axel G Sturm with Lawrence Daveona, Michael Pariu, Chris Damana and Severinus Ampaoi – Davoena, Pariu and Ampaoi strongly supported, and profited from, Rio Tinto/BCL during the 1980s and once again lead efforts to reopen the mine today.
We have also discovered evidence that Daveona, evidently on behalf of landowners, took K5000 from BCL to fund the reconciliation process between different landowner groups – a process viewed as a ‘fundamental condition precedent’ [4] for the mine’s reopening.
These payments – in particular the ESBC money – raise serious concerns over whether Mr Daveona’s leadership role has been compromised by personal pecuniary interests.
Axel G Sturm with Sam Akatoi another Bougainvillean ‘leader’ supporting Rio Tinto’s return.
But there is more! Daveona was allegedly sacked in December last year as Acting Deputy Clerk of PNG’s Parliament (Daveona has lived in Port Moresby since the early 1990s). According to a Post-Courier report [5], “alcohol, vehicles and other resources have been provided by Parliament for Fraud Squad officers to carry out investigations against certain senior officers of the Parliamentary services”. It is claimed by the Acting Clerk of Parliament, Simon Ila, that his Deputy, Mr Daveona, was responsible for this inappropriate conduct.
It is perhaps not surprising then that Daveona was one of the targets of Francis Ona and Perpetua Serero as they attempted to clear out the rot from the landowning community during the late 1980s. At the time Daveona was a manager at the Bougainville Development Corporation (BDC), and a Secretary/Director of the Roads Mine Tailings Lease Trust Fund (RMTLTF) – a body set up to administer certain mine compensation payments.
The BDC was controlled by a number of rich nationals. When the conflict kicked off, and Francis Ona called for a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources, the BDC it appears were happy to assist the PNGDF slaughter their own brothers and sisters on Bougainville, flying and maintaining the infamous Iroquois helicopters supplied by Australia. By Daveona’s own admission: “Heli Bougainville was a subsidiary company of Bougainville Development Corporation (BDC) the very company I was also a subsidiary company manager of another one of its companies namely, Wear Resistant Material (PNG) Pty. Ltd at the start of the crisis in 1988. We the employees of BDC at that time knew this [that the PNGDF were using Heli Bougainville pilots] and it was business as usual for BDC”. [6]
The helicopter-gunships flown by Heli Bougainville dropped grenades onto villages, and dumped murdered civilians into the ocean – not exactly “business as usual”.
Daveona’s tenure at the RMTLF was also plagued by suspicions. Dr Henry Okole, a Senior Researcher in Governance and Institutional Matters at the National Research Institute, claims:
First, there was a complaint that formal membership of the RMTLTF, including the right to attend meetings and appoint the executive, had been artificially restricted to a small minority of the titleholders in the lease area, while the rest of the landowners had no control over its operation. Secondly, although many ordinary PLA members were aware of the business activities of the RMTLTF, some of our informants claimed that the management had failed to produce a financial report to notify them of the present financial standing of the fund. Thirdly, there was discontent over the recruitment of a Filipino as a general manager of the fund. This man was alleged to be in receipt of an annual salary of K12,000. There were claims that the PLA members were not notified of his recruitment, and there was clearly some resentment at the size of his reported salary. Finally, there were allegations that the whole operation of the RMTLTF, like that of the PLA itself, had come to be geared to the personal gain of the board members. For instance, sponsorship of students to higher education institutions was said to have been monopolised by the board members. There were also rumours that the fund had begun to operate as an integral part of the Bougainville Development Corporation – a move described by the some of our informants as ‘greedy’ and ‘self-benefiting’.
Lawrence Daveona has been, for many years, [7] an advocate of BCL’s return to Bougainville –this support is so overt that on Daveona’s website the following image appears when the heading “Our Future” [8] is clicked:
BCL Chairman and Secretary enjoying the finer things in life.
To date Daveona’s support for BCL has been couched in largely benevolent terms, for the greater good of ‘his’ people. But in light of these payments, and other serious allegations, it would appear fair to ask whether other material motivations inform Daveona’s call for BCL’s return?
And how many other ‘leaders’, we wonder, are also taking payments from those associated with BCL, or have lucrative ‘business contracts’ lined up for BCL’s return – more than a few we bet!
Appendix A
References
1. http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20130611/news.htm 2. https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/former-president-in-depth-on-bougainvilles-future/ 3. http://www.bougainville-copper.eu/informations-2008-2.html 4. http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20110328/news09.htm 5. http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20121214/news14.htm 6. http://www.bougainville-copper.eu/news-july-2011.html 7. http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20070228/business03.htm 8. http://panguna-landowners.org/bcllandowners/jsp/BCLPeopleFuture.jsp
Papua New Guinea Mine Watch 
At least give us your name so we can reply to your story. I think that is a reasonable request. Anoniminity tends to dilute the credibility of the above blatant attempt to character assasinate. If you are ballsy enough to put this snipets of information together and claim them to be facts then you should be ballsy enough to put your name to it to give it credibility.
Stop trying to detract attention and just tell us which parts of the story you are disputing. The article seems to be well researched and backed up with documentation and references. You have provided nothing that questions its authenticity and accuracy – which means it is only your credibility that is in question.
It is true that for many years the ESBC supported Mr. Daveona’s efforts to resume mining by BCL. Unfortunately I had to stop funding Mr. Daveona because of his increasing inappropriate behaviour towards Bougainville’s President, Dr. John Momis and mysself. Sadly there was no more sustainable cooperation possible for the benefit of Bougainvilleans. Today, quite obviously, Mr. Daveona follows his very own agenda and private interest which is proved by his recent statements. He does not have any regard for the people of Bougainville or even the Panguna landowner’s future.
Axel G Sturm
ESBC President