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The famous Eddie Creek gold mine in Wau, Morobe province, was attacked by a rowdy group.
The discovery of gold at Edie Creek above Wau in 1926 sparked a gold rush of massive proportions which led to the development of the famous gold fields of Wau and Bulolo, The National reports.
A reliable source from Wau, who was at Eddie Creek on Saturday night after the incident happened, told The National that a geologist from mining and exploration company Niuminco was assaulted and five excavators damaged.
Wau is an inland town in Papua New Guinea’s Morobe province.]
The source said the attackers were from Kaindi on the outskirts of Wau and included men, women and children. He said they were mainly settlers and not landowners who took out their frustrations at not being able to get jobs.
"They were angry because of jobs. They moved up as a group, assaulted a company geologist, broke the glasses of one of the excavators and removed the key.
"The operator got scared and ran away," he added.
The incident happened as the change of shifts was about to be made.
The source said there were only three policemen on site when the incident took place and they could not do much. The angry crowd said they were fighting for their rights, he said.
"The story I got was that they wanted jobs but the company did not hire them."
The source said these people were settlers from outside while the real landowners were the Watuts and Biangais. He said Wau police moved into Eddie Creek.
However, they did not make any arrests but moved the rowdy crowd out of the company’s premises instead.
Wau police commander Allan Gutin and four of his officers moved into the area to apprehend possible suspects.
Neither Gutin nor Niuminco management could be contacted for comment.
