Problem overview:

     Policies and measures: Although environmental legislations in PNG are very comprehensive compare to other South Pacific island countries, there has been difficulties and inefficiencies in enforcement and monitoring.

     Meeting information requirements: PNG has made mandatory for mining companies to conduct an Environmental Plan for each mining project, this includes an EIA and social monitoring. However, the government has entrusted these mining companies to conduct their own analysis, with minimal monitoring and control in terms of viability of information from the government side.

Background in summary:

     Ineffective enforcement and monitoring of mining legislations: PNGs environmental legislation is very comprehensive in comparison with her South Pacific neighbours. There are well-established institutions too. Despite that, there has been great difficulty in effective enforcement and monitoring. This was attributed from major constraints in the areas of manpower, financial resources, and conflict of interest between the States role as a developer and protector of the environment.

     Constraints from lack of manpower: The staffing problem of the regulatory monitoring agencies has been compounded by the high turnover of staff to private mining companies, who can offer far more attractive salary packages. The issue of lack of adequate manpower for monitoring and enforcement of environmental regulations is closely linked to that of inadequate financial resources.

     Limited financial resources: The allocation of inadequate resources to the regulatory authorities creates an additional constraint in the form of an imbalance in access to monitoring information between the developers and the regulators. There has been considerable criticism of the fact that mining companies conduct their own environmental monitoring and that the regulatory agencies do not evaluate these reports based on their own sampling and analysis.

     Problem of bureaucracy: So far there has not been a successful prosecution under the EP. This is seen be a more of a problem with the bureaucracy than the judiciary. The bureaucracy has little or no experience of prosecuting regulatory offences. In addition to the inadequate monitoring, poor record keeping and tolerance of some breaches and confusion about the seriousness of some breaches have contributed to a state of bureaucratic inertia.

     Conclusion: However the assessment of the Case Study is that the mining and petroleum industry in Papua New Guinea is to a large extent self-regulating; not by choice, but because of the inability of the government agencies to effectively carry out their responsibilities.

Peer Review Committee Good practice rating: (1 for the best, 5 for the lowest score)
Sustainability		Efficiency
3	Improvement in either the environment of economic condition with no harm to the other.	3	Cost efficient.
1	Sustainable over time (not one-off)	Process
Adaptability		-	Participation of the community
3	Location adaptability (can the project be done in other places?)	2	Participation of resource owners/users
2	Socio-cultural adaptability.	3	Partnerships between various actors (Governments, NGO, Academia, Private)
2	Level of development adaptability.	3	Degree of coordination and cooperation between government departments.
2	Style of government adaptability.	-	Ability to attract political interest/support
3	Degree of decentralization adaptability.	3	Procedures for feedback and review.
Comments on this example:       Since financial constraint is a major problem for the government to effectively enforce and monitor mining activities, some other alternatives must be considered instead. Although, please note that the following are only suggestions.       In some countries, for example Australia, environmental monitoring activities have been carried out by the local community. A program to monitor water quality in Australia called Streamwatch involved school students and teachers in water sample collection to test for water quality. The program has been very successful, educational and most important of all economical.       The government of PNG should be able to ask for cooperation from communities and/or landowners around the mining site to carry out regular environmental monitoring because they are the ones closest to the site and also most affected by the consequences of any destructive practices. Although, a reasonable sum of start up cost must be invested for proper training and data collection equipment, but in the long run, the financial outcome should be cost-effective. Sustainability of the project:   Adaptability of the project to other situations:   Process of decision making and implementation:      Policies and measures: No matter how comprehensive legislations are, without monitoring and enforcement, these legislations are worthless. PNG government really needs to restructure its budget allocation system in order to get rid off financial constraints.      Meeting information requirements: It is definitely unreliable to allow mining companies to conduct their own EIA because the information would be biased with convincing evidence of the soundness of the project. It is best to have an independent body to do the analysis. The problem here is to whom will be responsible for the expenses, the mining company or the government. It should be that mining company is responsible for the expenses because they are the ones will profit from the project. However, mining activities generate income for the country, therefore, expenses should be subsidized by the government too. Cost efficiency: