'We were conned'

Landowners frustrated over LNG participation

 

By JASON GIMA WURI

 

LANDOWNERS in the Southern Highlands province are becoming increasingly frustrated with the National Government over funds promised to them, and their lack of participation in the early works of the PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, The National reports.

Landowners were promised K120 million in seed capital funding to start up businesses for their involvement in

the massive project.

It was because of this, and other financial commitments including K600 million for impact projects in the province this year, that they signed the umbrella and later the licenced-based benefits sharing agreements.

The signing represented the “green light” from them for the project to go ahead. 

Landowner leaders and even Government MPs spoken to admitted that the Government had promised 20% of the seed capital up front, but has failed to deliver.

“It is very disappointing for them, and I can understand,” a Government minister said.

 “Even the Department of Petroleum is so disorganised and not helping the landowners,” the minister added.

With the engineering, procurement and construction contracts (EPC) already determined, the landowners feel they will be spectators in their own land.

Some quickly negotiated and formed joint venture partnerships with foreign partners were now bidding for sub-contracts from the EPC contractors.

Yesterday, one group of landowners demanded not only their share of the K120 million, but also wanted the seed capital increased to K500 million.

The landowner representatives said after the Kokopo signing, they had realised that K120 million was not enough to divide among all registered landowner companies.

Chairman of the meeting and landowner Albert Mokai said no agreement or nomination of umbrella companies were made in Kokopo.

“We are here to cooperate and participate, but we want the agreement to be in our terms also and the State must respect the people,” Mr Mokai said.

 

Abduction claim surfaces at inquiry

PAPUA New Guinean border crossers were involved in abducting an Australian woman at gunpoint in the Torres Strait Islands recently, an inquiry has been told, The National reports.

PNG nationals, who are believed to be traditional border crossers, were also accused of crossing into the Saibai and Badu islands in the Torres Strait at will, “at any time they like, any time of the day and stay as long as they like”.

They were also accused of moving in and occupying 30 of the new 100 homes built on Badu Island and were involved in gun-running and drug smuggling – mostly cannabis.

The claims were made in a senate inquiry into matters affecting Torres Strait islanders on Thursday Island early last week and then heard further reports in Brisbane during the week.

Concerned about the reports, PNG’s consul-general in Brisbane Paul Nerau told The National he would make it a priority to visit Thursday Island and collect first-hand information regarding the situation on the ground and recommend a set of proposals to the Government on how best to deal with the problem.

Torres Strait regional authority chairman John Kris told the senate inquiry that islanders were basically without Australian police presence, which allowed Papua New Guineans to move at will and, recently, abducted a Sabai woman at gunpoint.

Torres shire mayor Pedero Stephen told the inquiry police response times were too slow because of travel times from their base on Thursday Island.

The five-man senate inquiry heard that the islands were vulnerable to border-hoppers from PNG, unresolved crimes and foreign diseases.

Reports in the past also pointed to drug-smuggling and gun-running between PNG and the Torres Strait Islands.

A 1985 Torres Strait treaty between PNG and Australia allowed for certain freedom of movement privileges among traditional border crossers.

Mr Nerau said the problem could be associated with lack of services on the PNG side of the border, but he would have to visit the area before making recommendations.

 

 

ABG now accepting election candidates

WRITS for the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) second general election were issued last Friday by the House of Representatives Speaker Andrew Miriki upon the advice of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner Reitama Taravaru, The National reports.

This means nominations for the elections are now open and will close on April 2.

ABG President James Tanis was the first nominated candidate for the presidential seat.

Two candidates for the Atolls seat, one candidate for the Mahari seat and candidates for the Haku seats were also named.

Last Saturday, Hagogohe incumbent MP and Minister for Peace and Reconciliation Robert Hamal Sawa was nominated.

The Tsitalato seat saw the nomination of businessman Cosmas Sohia Ceetow.

Former Bougainville governor John Momis is expected to be nominated today along with with several other hopefuls.

Most candidates for the seats in central and south Bougainville will also receive nominations in their respective districts.

A total of 40 seats are up for grabs in this general election.

There are 33 single constituency seats, three seats for women representatives for north, central and south Bougainville.

 

How could Australia help Papua New Guinea break their 'Gordian Knot'?

From PAUL OATES

In ancient times, the Macedonian Greek prince Alexander, later called 'The Great', led his army into Asia and encountered a city whose doors were held together by a knotted rope. The knot in the rope was so complicated that legend had it that whoever undid the knot would be the city's ruler. Clearly a man who possessed 'lateral thinking', Alexander reportedly drew his sword and cut the knot to pieces and went on to take the city.
So what could be done to break the current impasse where it seems, nothing is happening to improve PNG's domestic woes? Continual complaining about the metaphoric knot holding up improvement will clearly not produce any change to the 'status quo'.
An impartial observer however, often finds it easier to highlight a significant problem than people who have already been grappling with it for some time. It seems a human trait that the more one is immersed in trying to understand the problem, the greater the risk is of losing objectivity.
It's a bit like looking at something from atop a mountain and, having become interested, walking down to have a closer look. After a while, you end up climbing over fallen trees and losing sight of whatever it was that caught your eye.
Solutions are also easier to understand if they are kept simple: that's the KISS principle; 'Keep it simple, stupid'.
To use yet another analogy, in Tokpisin a tok piksa, what might be the 'helicopter view' of what is happening in PNG at the moment?
Put simply, there is a lot of input of resources but few results. One could say that much of the effort to make things work better seem to vanish. Why is this so? as old Professor Julius Sumner Miller used to ask.
Clearly the well intentioned efforts and significant resources of entities such as AusAID are misdirected. The time has come when a change in direction is warranted.
While many PNGians despair at where their country is going, no real connection seems to exist between the vast majority of voters and those leaders who are determining PNG's priorities.
The sophisticated, urban elite is doing very nicely, thank you. But the urban poor are increasingly turning to crime to survive. And the rural subsistence farmers are almost totally disconnected from day to day events.
So what's the answer? Why not have some of the AusAID millions sponsor an effective communication program for the vast majority of PNGians? Roll out community radio and television facilities to each local area.
How would this work in practice? Well, each, self identified community would be required to specify a public meeting place where that community could meet each evening.
This could be a Local Level Government hall or perhaps an NGO or Church building. The community would elect a volunteer committee to apply for an equipment grant.
The application must specify who the volunteers were who would be held accountable for the equipment and guarantee the security of those who may freely attend. The program must also be self sustaining and would therefore require provision for ongoing maintenance and supply of subsidised items like a solar generator and batteries, light globes, etc.
An essential and significant point would be that this program must not be in any way associated or linked to any government body or authority. Each community would have understand that they, themselves were responsible for the security and upkeep of this public facility. There must be public ownership to ensure people will value what they themselves own.
This would not be a PNG government run arrangement and those who were required to run this program could well be recruited by AusAID from Service Clubs and Church organisations on a purely volunteer basis. School principals could for example, effectively use this program to help their students.
So might this work? Surely it couldn't be less effective than the current arrangement.
Any comments or suggestions?

Query of the week

From PAUL OATES

In last night's local news there was an expose from the Queensland government on how much the health services currently being provided to PNGians travelling to Australian facilities in the Torres Strait are costing the Queensland government. The estimated cost was in the many millions of dollars. The Commonwealth government is now being asked to help with funding.

Now why isn't this assistance being funded by AusAID?  Afterall, it is overseas aid and directly being applied to our immediate neighbours. At least the expenditure of these funds could be accountable under the Queensland government and not under a very fluid and extremely murky PNG government program as revealed by the recent PNG Commission of Inquiry (COI), into government finances. Only five PNG authorities were exonerated by the COI from the many other government bodies expending funds.

But what might happen if PNG people from all over the country start travelling to Australian facilities in the Torres Strait for treatment?What happens if the trickle becomes a flood? Would these people then be shipped off to Christmas Island to be ultimately accepted as
permanent residents? Many PNG people would welcome the opportunity.

Some might also say that PNG people have an equal or better claim toAustralian citizenship than others from elsewhere.

Indian group eyes LNG slot

Gail India Ltd wants to tie up with InterOil on second gas project

 

By YEHIURA HRIEHWAZI in Brisbane

 

INDIA’s state-owned oil and gas company Gail India Ltd is considering joining InterOil Corp to develop the second LNG plant in PNG, The National reports.

InterOil office in Port Moresby yesterday confirmed that the company is in discussions with Gail.

“Yes, InterOil is in talks with Gail, but we do not comment on discussions until any transaction is complete,” spokesman on behalf of CEO and chairman Phil Mulacek said.

Gail’s chairman and managing director BC Tripathi made the announcement during a sideline press conference where a regional gas conference is in progress this week.

It received wide coverage by local media including the Calcutta Daily Telegraph and major financial websites like Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

He said Gail was planning to invest in gas infrastructure globally and is looking at projects in Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt.

“We are examining the possibility of having a stake in the Papua New Guinea LNG terminal,” Tripathi told reporters.

The state-owned firm is talking to Canadian firm InterOil Corp to buy a stake in its proposed liquefied natural gas project (LNG) in Papua New Guinea.

“In Nigeria, we, along with partners Total and Shell have been shortlisted as one of the companies to develop the Nigeria gas master plan worth about US$7 billion (K`19.4 billion),” he said.

Nigeria is estimated to hold 184 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, most of which remain unexplored.

The short-listed companies would be invited to build three major gas gathering plants and pipelines that would supply fuel to power firms.

Tripathi said: “In Ghana, we are talking. Once gas production starts, we will process the gas and transport it to the desired location.”

The firm has a presence in city gas distribution projects in Egypt and China.

“We are also exploring the possibility of expanding our city gas operations in Egypt,” Tripathi said.

 

Flying high in Asia-Pacific

LNG forces Jackson International Airport to plan K1.4bil expansion, upgrading

 

PORT Moresby’s Jackson International Airport will be expanded and upgraded into an international-class aviation facility in the Asia-Pacific region, The National reports.

The development is estimated to cost K1.4 billion.

The airport expansion follows pressures from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which will increase passenger and aircraft traffic volume into and out of Port Moresby tremendously.

National Airport Corporation (NAC) managing director Joseph Kintau yesterday accepted the Port Moresby International Airport (PMIA) master plan from Jacobs Consultancy.

Mr Kintau said the current demand for aviation services had put a strain on the existing facilities.

 “The LNG project, expansions by airlines and booming economic activities are factors that forced us to come up with the plan to raise the airport’s standards to meet the expectations of the air industry,” Mr Kintau said.

“The airport is also strategically located in the region where LNG project developers and consumers from the United States, Europe and Asia can have a convenient transit and exit from Port Moresby to other destinations.”

He said the current airport, constructed in 1989, was designed to serve an annual capacity of 300,000 passengers.

“After 20 years, we are now serving 1.4 million passengers a year.

“That’s a significant strain on the airport’s facilities and infrastructure.”

Highlighting one of the key objectives of the organisation’s reforms, Mr Kintau said the 2010 project was to ensure infrastructure development was based on a comprehensive master plan which PMIA was giving priority.

The plan covers the development of infrastructure and facilities over the next 20 years – from 2010 to 2030.

“It is based on passenger and aircraft movements’ forecast and growth in the aviation industry,” he added.

Mr Kintau said the new airport would feature dual domestic and international terminals, extension of runways, redevelopment of apron and taxiways and also the commercial development of the aerodrome land.

Asked how it would be implemented, he said: “The most probable implementation method NAC will be pursuing is a possible public-private partnership arrangement.

“We are looking at a possible concession agreement to implement the capital programme to deliver the infrastructures, management capacity building and improved financial viability for regional airports through PMIA.”

He said the plan also covered the scope of work and, after deliberation by the NAC board, it would be submitted to NEC for approval.