From Dependency to Sustainability

A Case Study on the Economic Capacity Development of the Ok Tedi Mine-area Community

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. 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.