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James Jimmy Wangia reflects on the death of his brother, and the beginnings of ATA

An interview with US journalist  MR. JORDAN CORNISH 

The Ninth Door

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The ninth door depicts the entry point of myself (James Jimmy Wangia) into the human rights fight in revenge for my brother namely (John Wangia) who lost his life in the hands of perpetrators while he was scavenging for Gold at the Anawe Dumpsite. Notably his death was listed on the death toll as number nine (9) from the previous eight (8) deaths who lost their life from brutal attack by the Barrick Security Guards. Before I give an account of my personal experience in the type of work I endured in the human rights fight and to further elaborate on the book “the shooting field”, let me make title to this document as the ninth (9th) door in order to pay respect to my late brother John Wangia because if it wasn’t from his dead, I wouldn’t be writing this document. 

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Christmas 2022 Message from ATA

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THEME FOR 2022 – A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH: FOCUS ON THE THINNEST TO MAKE IT THE THICKEST. 

A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2022 to you all my fellow ATA executives, Other Human Rights Advocates Of Porgera, Victims and not forgetting our faithful international partners. Wherever you are in this special moment reading this remember that a year is about to be passed and another year is to be welcomed- the same usual notion of the twelve months cycle that ends one year and starts with another. 

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What defines the Akali Tange Association

Letter by ATA Founder, James Wangia

See the PDF of the letter here.

THROUGH THE WORST OF TIMES, WE WERE THE BAND OF MEN ACCOMPANIED BY BRAVE WOMEN COUNTERPARTS SURVIVED WITH COURAGE AND HOPE THAT ONE DAY THERE SHALL THE END TO THE CONQUEST AND ON THAT DAY SHALL WE BE FREE OF CAPTIVITY AND OUR VOICE SHALL BE HEARD. IN THE DAYS OF OUR CONQUEST WE WERE SUFFERED, WERE NEGLECTED, WERE DEPRIVED, WERE DECEIVED, AND WERE SIDELINED TO BE HEARD ON THE GROUNDS WE WERE FIGHTING FOR.
WE NEVER LOST FOCUS WE KNEW WE HAVE A PURPOSE THAT HAS NO END IN ITS ENTIRETY. ALL WE WANT IS AN ANSWER TO ALL THOSE MISERY AND CRIES THAT IS STILL FELT TODAY. THOUGH WE WERE IGNORED IN THE LAST ONE AND A HALF DECADE, WE STILL HAVE HOPED THAT EVENTUALLY THERE SHALL BE A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. THE PERSEVERANCE WE BUILT IN THE COURSE OF OUR WORK SHOWS THAT QUITTING IS NOT A CHOICE AND SHALL NOT DEMAND US BY ANY MEANS BETWEEN US AND OUR ENEMY; ALL WE ARE DESTINED TO DO IS TO SERVE AS LONG AS WE LIVE TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR THE POOR MEN, WOMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS FROM THE PORGERA VALLEY.

MY MEN, WE WERE DESTINED TO SERVE HUMANITY AND THAT IS OUR PURPOSE BECAUSE WE ARE LEADERS AMONGST A GROUP OF LEADERS WHO REPRESENT A TRIBE AMONG A GROUP OF TRIBES ACCORDING TO A MISSION THAT IS TOO COMPLICATED. WE HAVE ONE COMMON GOAL THAT POINTS TO RESOURCE DEVELOPERS AND ITS CONGLOMERATES TO SERVE JUSTICE AS A RESULT OF THEIR BAD IMPACTS ON THE MARGINALIZED LANDOWNERS.

MY MEN, I HAD LEAD YOU THROUGH A JOURNEY FUSED WITH A LOT OF CONTROVERSY BETWEEN THE RIGHTS OF AN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEING IN HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT AND THE IMPACTS OF A GIANT MINING COMPANY AGAINST HIS OR HER RIGHTS. MY MEN, WE WERE LIKE SOLDIERS WITH THEIR FEMALE COUNTERPARTS IN A NEVER – ENDING BATTLE FIELD COVERED BY DUST, HEAT AND SCREAMS OF INJURED MAN ON ALL FRONTS. REPEATEDLY, THE ENEMY HAD OUTNUMBERED US AND DEFEATED US AT ALL FRONTS- NO MATTER HOW HARD WE HAD FOUGHT THE BATTLES WE STILL SUCCUMB TO DEFEAT.

MY MEN, I REALIZED THIS FIGHT MAY HAVE TAKEN MY LIFE IF IT HADN’T HAPPENED IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE FOR US ALL GOING INTO THE FUTURE. I HAD STARTED WITH NOTHING 16 YEARS FROM NOW AND I’M STILL STRUGGLING AT THE SAME PACE TO CLAIM JUSTICE FOR MY DEAR BROTHER WHO LOST HIS LIFE TO THE CRUELTY OF THE MINE SECURITIES. I UNDERSTAND

THAT THE FEELING OF ENVY, HATRED AND VENGEANCE HAD BEEN IMMINENT IN OUR WORK AND I SUSPECT IT TO BE A REVERSE HIT CAUSED BECAUSE BARRICK NEVER RESPONDED WELL ENOUGH AND THE BAD FEELINGS WE HAD AGAINST BARRICK HAD TURNED BACK TOWARDS US FIRING AT EACH OTHER.

MY MEN, I WASTED SO MUCH, IF TIME CAN DICTATE I LOST ALL MY RESOURCES TO ENSURE THIS FIGHT IS STILL ON-GOING. I SAY RESOURCE IN TERMS OF THE HUGE EXPENDITURES THAT HAD BEEN WASTED AND MAY NOT BE RE-IMBURSED ADEQUATELY. IM GLAD, SOME OF YOU GREW OUT OF MY SHADE AS YOU WERE LIKE A SMALL TREE FEEDING FREELY UNDER MY CANOPIES BEFORE YOU BECOME WHO YOU ARE TODAY REMEMBER THIS STILL ADDS ON TO THE EXPENSES. JUST IMAGINE 16 YEARS AND ONWARDS AND I’M STILL ONGOING REGARDLESS OF THE EXPENSES. IN FACT, I’M LEAD BY THE PASSION IN THE WORK IM DOING AND GETTING MOTIVATED AS THE START OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE END OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN PORGERA.

MY MEN, I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE OF ALL THE BAD FEELINGS I EXPOSED TOWARDS YOU AS I KNOW YOU MAY HAVE BEEN BADLY HURT BY THOSE. AS YOU ALL KNEW, MY EMOTIONAL DRIVE SOMETIMES GO CRAZY UNDER PROVOKING SITUATIONS – IT’S AN ACCUMULATIVE OF THE 16YEARS UNSUCCESSFUL BATTLE I LEAD CARRYING YOU FORWARD. YOU COULD BE MISTREATED MAY BE BECAUSE OF YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCE THAT PROVOKED THE RELATIONSHIP I BUILT WITH YOU. AS YOU ALL KNEW MY NATURE OF A STRAIGHT SHOOTER, NO NON-SENSE PLAYER WHO STANDS FIRM ON CHOICES OR DECISIONS THAT BENEFITS EVERYONE IN THIS WORK WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR AND NOT FAVOURING A SINGLE PERSON TRYING TO SERVE HIS OR HER OWN INTEREST.


MY MEN ,I HAVE A CONDITION, MY CONDITION OF BEING IN THE STATE OF DEPRIVATION, MY CONDITION OF BEING IN A STATE OF SICKNESS, MY CONDITION OF BEING IN THE STATE OF DOUBT THAT AFFECTED ME MUCH. I’M IN PAIN AT THE MOST COMFY TIMES OF OTHERS. I FOUND IT HARD TO BREATH AT TIMES, I HAD PAIN ALL OVER MY BODIES, I HAD SWOLLEN HANDS AND LEGS TOO. THESE SICKNESSES AND SITUATIONS HAVE AFFECTED ME MUCH BUT IM STILL IN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE.

MY MEN, I ACCEPT DISCIPLINE FROM THE MISTAKES I MADE THAT CAUSE YOU DISAGREEMENT OR MAY HAVE PROVOKED YOU TO INSTIGATE TERMINATION OF MY LEADERSHIP IN THE FIGHT I BUILT IN THE LAST 16 YEARS. DARE YOU TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT ME AND YOU SHALL SEE HOW I EARNED THIS LEADERSHIP ROLE; I DIDN’T EARN IT THROUGH HIJACKING, NOT THROUGH BRIBERY OR OTHER CORRUPT WAYS. THIS IS MY WORK AND I DESERVE TO BE WHERE I’AM AND I’M COMFORTABLE WHERE I’M.

MY MEN, LET ME LEAD YOU ONCE MORE INTO THE BATTLE UNTIL TO A CERTAIN REACH WHERE MY EXIT POINT WOULD BE AND THAT’S WHERE PEACE BE WITH WHOEVER IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT TO TAKE MY CHAIR.
I SALUTE YOU ALL MY HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE PARTNERS IN PORGERA TOGETHER WITH OUR INTERNATIONAL ALLIES FROM ABROAD.

Human Rights Victims protest PM Marape and Barrick’s Mark Bristow, as the two present their Mine Framework Agreement

Media ignores human rights concerns as framework is discussed

Large protest of ATA victims of human rights abuses confronts the PNG government and Barrick Gold at the Paiam football stadium, where PNG PM James Marape and Barrick’s Mark Bristow discuss reopening the Porgera Mine.

ATA victims protested by putting up burners and marched to the stage at Paiam football stadium where the PM and Mark Bistow were delivering their Mine Framework Agreement on Monday, June 7. ATA protesters we then forced out of the fenced field by defence and police. The media was silent on the large presence of local protesters, and nothing was reported on the media about the ATA protest.

ATA currently does not have a copy of the Framework Agreement with GoPNG and Barrick, despite their best efforts. They were referred to the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), to which they have submitted all a lot of documentation of human rights abuses. However, the ATA feels that they have been referred to a very junior officer within the MRA who seem not to understand how to get the government to make a policy decision to address human rights issues in Porgera.

It is ATA’s understanding that nothing in the Framework Agreement considered or addressed human rights abuse in Porgera.

ATA’s Stages Peaceful Protest to urge response from Barrick on the BSR report and compensation

On May 23, the Akali Tange Association staged a large and peaceful protest of the company’s lack of action on compensating victims of human rights abuses at the Porgera mine site, as well as a lack of response to their own commissioned BSR report and recommendations.

Barrick’s private security personnel and Barrick hired PNG Police Mobil Squads all came in numbers to protect their properties and employees as the ATA and allies turned out in hundreds marching with Banners. We shouted, “Barrick when will you Compensate Us, Give us the Exact Date and Barrick are you going to adhere to your very owned commissioned BSR Report’s Finding and Recommendation and if so When” and headed to the PJV Mine Site.   

Everyone including the bystanders, security personnel and PJV employees stood and watched as we marched fearlessly to the OGM office.

Upon arrival at the gate, only ATA Executives were requested to enter and the PJV OGM and the Community Affairs Officers approached us and requested to know why we were protesting.

On behalf of the Executives and the Members of ATA, I stood firmly with confidence and explained the purpose of our protest stating that the protest is a result of the Barrick and BNL’s negligence to respond to our Petition dated 28th April, 2019, which we have submitted to these companies.

After having said this, I further requested the PJV OGM Superintendent to know whether or not the Barrick Management has notified them to give us any respond as we have informed them that we will protest to demand for response to our Petition.

In respond, the OGM Superintendent said that they were never informed of such petition and what to respond to our Petition. These officers also said that they will note down our purpose of the Protest and will advise the Management to respond within this week or early next week.

The ATA has promised more protests if there is still no response within the promised time frame.