Sode: PNGSDP is run by the people of PNG

Source: The National, Thursday,  February 7, 2013 

 

By MALUM NALU

PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP) Ltd chief executive David Sode said the company was controlled by Papua New Guineans for Papua New Guineans.
He said this after Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and the Ok Tedi Mine Impacted Area Association (OTMIAA) said that PNGSDP was still being run on remote control by BHP Billiton.
“We control our own destiny,” Sode said yesterday.

David Sode

“We are an independent company and we are not controlled by the State of Papua New Guinea or by BHP Billiton.
“However, we are committed to work with government’s development focus where we can find alignment.
“We have a board and management dominated by Papua New Guineans, all of whom are competent, professional directors and managers.”
Sode said PNGSDP’s sole objective was to provide social and economic development in PNG, and especially in Western.
It has a formal mandate from the state, BHP and Western people to carry out its “important and highly successful developmental work”.
“We are here for the long term,” Sode said.
“We are committed to serving the needs of people we can reasonably reach.
“All the value in Ok Tedi goes to the state and to PNGSDP.
“We remain committed to deliver our programmes to the very people we are mandated to serve.
“No third party benefits in any way from Ok Tedi.”
“The structure of PNGSDP and its processes, agreed to by the state and BHP Billiton under the Ninth Supplemental Agreement, are directed towards ensuring that the full benefits from Ok Tedi flow to the people and provides long term financial security to the people of Western province on a scale unprecedented in PNG.
Sode encouraged the state and BHP to deal with their issues themselves so that the maximum benefits continued to flow to the nation and to Western.
“We acknowledge the people who have welcomed us and continue to support our development programmes all over PNG and Western,” he said.