Guadalcanal Provincial Secretary of the Christian Outreach Center and a respected elder of the Navola community in North Guadalcanal, has voiced concerns and the risk linked to the tailings dam used by Gold Ridge Mining Limited (GRML) when a disaster strikes. Speaking during a Disaster Awareness Workshop held last week in Navola by the National Disability Forum of Solomon Islands (NDFSI), Stanley Vatiande warned that the dam poses a serious risk to nearby communities, especially during natural disasters.
“We don’t control the power of nature. That dam could break at any time if a disaster strikes such as heavy rain or earthquake,” he said. Vatiande emphasized the importance of the workshop, describing it as a privilege for the community. He noted that similar sessions had previously been conducted by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM).
