Pacific Choice: From Dependency to Sustainability: A Case Study on the Economic Capacity Development of the Ok Tedi Mine-area Community

Abstract

"The Star Mountain Investment Holding Limited (SMIHL) is a Papua New Guinean (PNG) landowner holding company operating in Western Province, in the shadows of the huge Ok Tedi mine. From Dependency to Sustainability documents how the mine area community, with the help of experienced PNG facilitators, mobilized three generations of mine stakeholders and enhanced their capacity to support sustainable economic development in the years leading up to and beyond the closure of the mine. The initiative drew on a Future Generation Fund and was, for the community, a response to years of frustration with wasted opportunities for economic development which were attributed to a lack of organizational and economic development capacity, capture of benefits by local elites, and the absence of a consensus on how to address the community’s long-term interests. Among other things, the case highlights the value of locally-led and facilitated change processes, and the understanding of local cultural dynamics and capacity issues that goes with it. This sub-series is published by the Asian Development Bank to provide the governments of its Pacific developing member countries (PDMCs) with analyses and insights on key issues and lessons learned with respect to capacity development. Cases studied highlight a range of experiences throughout the region by sector, theme and source of external support, revealing approaches to capacity development that work best and the conditions that have been conducive to their success. They also explore the unique challenges faced by PDMCs in addressing capacity constraints as well as some of the opportunities facing governments and the people in the Pacific islands. Among other things, the case studies underline the importance of PDMC leadership, engagement of local partners, strategic attention to long-term capacity issues and effective use of external resources. It is our hope that the findings in these reports will help to guide future capacity building efforts in the Pacific."