-Around 30 machines damaged, burnt at Gold Ridge mine site; police say situation under control and investigations underway
-Landowners say incident is the result of mistreatment, false promises and long-outstanding issues

BY JOHN HOUANIHAU

Around 30 machines on the Gold Ridge Mining sites were damaged and burnt on Tuesday night, Jan 20 by a group of ‘unknown individuals’.
Police have said it has the situation under control, and the company has said it is working closely with police and community leaders to ‘investigate the root cause of the incident and identify those responsible’.
Meanwhile, people from the communitie on Gold Ridge say the incident was a result of peaked frustration among landowners over false promises and long-outstanding issues.
Jerry Tisili, who took a video of the burning at Bita village, not far from the mining site, said the incident occurred between 9pm and 10pm.
He said that a number of the company’s machines were burnt during the incident.
“The main reason behind the incident is the issues that the company promised to address, but was halted and delayed. One of the common ones is the Royalty, which always comes in half, including the mistreatment of landowners (LO),” Tisili said.
He said that the company promised to build a clinic, water supply, school, and road access – but has not done so to this day.
“Every stream and river at Gold Ridge is polluted with cyanide. Previous companies built something here, not like this one,” he said.
Aldrin Smith an elder at Bita village told Island Sun that one of the leading factors in the incident is the unfair treatment by the police.
“They treat us LOs badly. Sometimes they chase us. When they treated us like that, we could not go back to work the other day because of fear, though that’s what we depend on for money,” he said.
“When they chased us, they took our bags of high mineral content soil to pan them for themselves, leaving us with nothing at the end of the day when we returned home,” he said.
He alleged that when police officers take the high mineral content soil, they don’t return it to the company but take it for their own benefit.
“So, we always work with fear. Whenever we saw a police vehicle, we must escape,” he said.
Yesterday Premier of Guadalcanal Province Willie Atu appealed for calm and constructive engagement over the Gold Ridge unrest in a press statement.
He expressed deep concerns over the burning of machines and properties at Gold Ridge Mining Limited.
He assured the public that the Provincial Government is firmly committed to collectively engage with Gold Ridge Mining Limited, Gold Ridge Investment Company Limited, the chiefs and elders of the surrounding communities at Gold Ridge, the Ministry of Police and National Security, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and other stakeholders to seek a peaceful and amicable resolution to the issues at hand.
About 30 machines were burnt down, according to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) yesterday, which has commenced its investigation into the incident.
It was alleged that those unknown people who burnt down those machines were not happy with the company for not addressing their long-outstanding issues, RSIPF said.
Acting Commissioner of the RSIPF Mathias Lenialu, said police have contained the situation and will deal with those who are responsible for the burning incident.
The Gold Ridge Mining Company issued a statement last night condemning the incident and calling for cooperation with the police and restoring of stability in the communities.
“We take this incident seriously. Our focus is on safety, cooperation with the police, and restoring stability while investigations continue.”
At this stage, there is no immediate risk to surrounding communities, the statement said.
While a full investigation is ongoing, overall operations at the Gold Ridge Mine continue. Safety protocols have been reinforced, and additional monitoring measures are being implemented across the site.
Leaders across Guadalcanal are proactively working with the Company to manage the situation, including:
-Peter Shanel Agovaka, Member of Parliament for Central Guadalcanal
-Bradley Tovosia, Member of Parliament for East Guadalcanal
-Willie Dai, Member of the Provincial Assembly for Vulolo Ward
-The Guadalcanal Provincial Government
-Chiefs, landowners, and community leaders, including the Gold Ridge Community & Landowners Council (GRCLC)
These engagements are aimed at sharing verified information, promoting calm, and ensuring that communities understand the importance of cooperation and lawful processes while investigations are underway, the Gold Ridge mining company statement said.