Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

216 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries
Kanaks wanted to sign an Impact and Benefit Agreement (IBA), similar
to those the Canadian company Inco had negotiated with First Nations
in Canada. Scott Hand, Inco Chief Executive Officer, replied that as Inco
could not recognize Kanak indigenous peoples’ rights, as France did not.
If they did the company would be engaged in politics, rather than mining.
This is despite the 1998 Noumea Accord having a provision calling for
consultations with the Kanak people on mining projects.
Throughout 2005, Inco continued in its refusal to hear the claims of
the Kanak people. As a result opposition increased, both in terms of
the demand for an agreement and also highlighting the need for a full
environmental study of the impacts. In April 2006, the work site was
blocked for several weeks by activists from Rheebu Nuu, who also
blockaded Inco’s offices. There were violent clashes, and members of
Rheebu Nuu were arrested. The Rheebu Nuu committee also initiated
various court cases, and even appealed to the French Senate. In June
2006 Rheebu Nuu won a victory challenging the Southern Province’s
authorization of the project before the Administrative Tribunal of Noumea,
which led to the cancellation of the lease. The company, however, failed to
stop work, relying on a separate construction permit, which led to further
blockades to try to enforce the decision.
In September 2006, the Brazilian company CVRD (which changed its
name to Vale) acquired Inco. In December 2006, CVRD announced
that the start-up of the project would be delayed in order to review the
situation. They started a process that led to a negotiation with the Kanak
people. Vale’s first act was to change the local Goro-Nickel management
team, bringing in people who were more open to accepting a dialogue with
indigenous peoples.
Finally, on 27 October 2008, Vale-Inco New Caledonia signed an
agreement with Rheebu Nuu, representing the concerned Kanak people,
the chieftains of the Southern tip of Grande Terre, and the Customary
Senate, the latter representing the indigenous Kanak people as a whole.
The agreement agreed to transparency and monitoring of environmental
impacts, and measures to mitigate the cultural impacts. Neither the
Government of New Caledonia or the French state interfered in the
agreement, even though the company recognized the Kanaks as the
owners of the land. The Southern Province, who were a partner in the
negotiations from the beginning, were eventually unwilling to make a deal
with the Kanaks and quit the negotiations.