A/HRC/18/35/Add.6 form of joint venture centred around the construction of the Koniambo nickel-processing plant, a project that reflects the rebalancing emphasis of the Nouméa Accord (discussed in para. 40 below). Ownership of the plant is shared by North Province – through a wholly owned public-private corporation – and a private-sector corporation, with the province holding 51 per cent. 40. This project has created significant opportunities for employment and for Kanak clans to leverage their customary lands for associated economic development. The three largest communes in the area, Voh, Koné and Pouembout, joined together in a publicprivate partnership (société d’économie mixte) with the mining company to invest in a limited liability corporation (société par actions simplifiée) for land development. This corporation has partnered with Kanak clans to lease plots of customary land to a variety of service and retail businesses that have emerged to service the growing industrial area of the province, as well as to high-end housing development. Kanak clans receive rental income on the property, and the expectation is that once the private creditors are paid (after 15-20 years), the clans will own and manage a profitable commercial zone. Apart from the profits to be gained by the Province from the joint venture and the revenue generated for Kanak owners of the leased plots of customary land, the project benefits the local, mostly Kanak, population in a number of ways. The construction force for the plant is 82 per cent New Caledonian, including 52 per cent from North Province, and local companies were constituted to bid for contracts connected to the construction. Plant operators estimate that it has already generated over 37 billion CFP francs (US$450 million) in economic benefits in North Province, and expect future benefits of five times that amount (as the plant begins its operations).17 D. Kanak language 41. It goes without saying that language is a critical marker of indigenous identity, and this is certainly the case for the Kanak people. The Nouméa Accord (art. 1.3.3) declares Kanak languages to be, alongside French, the “languages of education and culture in New Caledonia,” and it calls for increasing the prominence of Kanak languages in school curricula and media, developing university courses on Kanak languages, training primary and secondary school Kanak-language teachers, and establishing a Public Academy of Kanak Languages. However, it was repeatedly brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur that there has been limited implementation of these directives. 42. A number of Kanak languages are in danger of disappearing. The Academy of Kanak Languages lists 28 spoken languages and a handful of additional dialects, including four with less than 100 reported speakers.18 At least one of the languages listed in the 1996 census – Zire – no longer appears on the Academy’s list. The Customary Senate expressed alarm at the decline in speakers of Kanak languages, and numerous Kanak individuals and organizations expressed concern to the Special Rapporteur at the lack of attention given to preserving and acknowledging Kanak languages, particularly in the educational setting, and the need for immediate action to counter the threat of future loss. 17 18 Voh-Koné-Pouembout, Grand Projet VKP, (provided to Special Rapporteur, 9 February 2011); see Koniambo Nickel, “Retombées économiques,” available at http://www.koniambonickel.nc/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=79. Académie des langues kanak, “Langues,” at http://www.alk.gouv.nc/portal/page/portal/alk/langues; see also Ethnologue, “Languages of New Caledonia” (for numbers of speakers as at last census), at http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=NC. 13