NOUMEA (Pacnews) — Traditional clans in the Southern region of New Caledonia’s main island have been awarded the lucrative transportation contract on the site of the planned Goro nickel plant, daily newspaper Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes reports.
Two clans joined forces with a local businessman, Yannick Pantaloni, in order to bid for the initial international tender.
Now that both local clans have won the market as a result of their partnership with Pantaloni’s companies, Prestige Marine and Transports du Sud, close to 100 locals should be recruited.
The two clans have formed into a so-called “specific local law group,” that allows local clans to be recognized as outside mainstream French law.
The status, halfway between legal and traditional, is designed to boost local initiative while recognizing New Caledonia’s Melanesian chiefly system.
“Our search for the best option was not easy. But for Goro, this is a symbol that means everyone has a part to play in this project, according to each one’s possibilities and skills,” Goro Nickel plant chairman Pierre Alla said.
“This partnership is like a marriage with strong custom meaning. Our big chiefs have come from the Southern region. This canoe is a symbol, it is good for the future and it is a bunch of flowers for our multi-colored children,” Tito Trekure, one of the participating high chiefs, said.
He added he now believed that “custom is not an obstacle to development.”
