Prime Minister: InterOil Gulf LNG project to go ahead

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says Interoil Corporation's LNG project development in PNG's Gulf province will go ahead when all pre-conditons set by government and the 2009 Project Agreement are fully satisfied. Mr O'Neill said today there was no National Executive Council decision rejecting the Gulf LNG project. The Prime Minister reiterated his earlier statement in August last year that the government under his watch would assist InterOil to secure a strategic operating partner, rescope the project agreement to enable phased LNG development, and to locate the project in Gulf province.

Prime Minister O'Neill has directed the Ministry and Department of Petroleum and Energy to cooperate with InterOil and desist from confusing the investment community and Gulf Province government and landowners with media statements about rejection of the project.

Kokoda trekking industry grows 70 years on

By MALUM NALU
The Kokoda trekking industry has become a major money-spinner over the last 10 years and is something the country can be proud of, according to leading national tour operator Narai Billy.
He said this as the world-famous Kokoda Track becomes a mecca for international trekkers, mainly Australians, this year with the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign of World War 11.

Kokoda tour operator Narai Billy

Billy said since the 60th anniversary of Kokoda in 2002, when then Australian prime minister John Howard visited, the Kokoda trekking industry had grown like never before.
“The Kokoda trekking industry is growing and growing all the time,” he said.
“It has become a famous international trekking icon.
“As the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign is commemorated, the Kokoda Track itself should also be celebrated in a big way.
“People are willing to come and do the challenge of the Kokoda Track.
“They feel that it’s part of WW11 history, and enjoy the flora and fauna, as well as the sheer adventure of the track.
“Villages along the track are benefitting from regular income, better health, education and communication services that they have not had access to before.”
Billy, one of the first local tour operators along the Kokoda Track, said there would be major commemorations when the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign falls later this year.
A local from Depol village in Sogeri, where the Kokoda Track begins, he has been involved in the trekking industry for the last 20 years.
Billy’s company, Kokoda Icon, is an established trekking company that brings trekkers for the Kokoda Track.
It started as Koiari Tracks and Tours until the name change.
Kokoda Icon caters for long or short Kokoda treks, as well as sightseeing in the local Sogeri area.
Many of its clients come from Australia, especially Brisbane and Melbourne where it has agents.

PMIZ to be high impact project

By MALUM NALU
The Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Vidar, Madang province, will be one of the biggest impact projects the country has ever seen, says Commerce and Industry Secretary Stephen Mera.

Commerce and Industry Secretary Stephen Mera

He told The National after launch of the engineering concept design for the US$95 million (K216 million) PMIZ on Wednesday that the project would be of massive proportions.
The PMIZ is located at Vidar Plantation, along the North Coast Road outside Madang town, and comprises a total of 215ha.
“The first phase alone will cost about K400 million,” Mera said.
“This is a regional project.
“By the time we complete the project, we would have spent up more than K1 billion.
“When the investors come in, you’re looking at more and more money coming in.”
Mera said the project would start immediately with the launch of the engineering concept design on Wednesday, and payment of K10 million PNG government counterpart funding by Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel to China Shenyang International Economics & Technical Cooperation Corporation (CSYIC).
“The design will take about six months,” he said.
“We are at the detailed design stage now
“We expect construction to begin by the end of this year.”
Mera said of the US$95 million, the PNG government would contribute US$21 million while US$74 million would come from the Exim Bank of China.
The project is the biggest soft loan project from the Chinese government to Papua New Guinea.
Funding for the project was secured through bilateral arrangement between China and PNG.
A framework arrangement was signed in November 2009 which allowed for PNG to access the concessional loan from Exim Bank of China.
The condition of the concessional loan was for the main contractor to be a Chinese company selected by the bank through its own selection process.
The aim of PMIZ is to create a regional tuna processing centre which will provide an opportunity for regional member countries and PNG tuna industry to set up processing plants within the zone, add value to their tuna catches and supply export markets.

Abel: PMIZ landowners must be respected

By MALUM NALU
Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel has told stakeholders in no uncertain terms that landowners of theUS$95 million (K216 million) Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project in Vidar, Madang, must be respected.

Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel…landowners must be respected

Abel’s strong message came during presentation of PMIZ’s engineering concept design by Korean engineering consultants Deco to the PNG government, and the payment of K10 million PNG government counterpart funding to project consultants China Shenyang International Economics & Technical Cooperation Corporation (CSYIC), on Wednesday.
The PMIZ project has been the subject much controversy since it was first mooted, with landowner issues high on the agenda.
“The issue is for landowners to be engaged meaningfully in the project,” he said.
“We must try to engage them as much as we can.
“There must be a socio-economic package for local landowners.
“We must address their concerns.”
Abel said the government gave K1 million to project landowners last October to prepare them to participate in the development and construction phase of the PMIZ.
Even former Environment Minister Benny Allan, who was present on Wednesday, admitted that he had a very hard time with PMIZ landowners.
“We went through ‘rough seas’ when confronted by landowners,” he said.
Last May, landowner issues came to a head when government ministers were branded "conmen and thieves" at a public rally organised by then Justice Minister and Madang Regional MP Sir Arnold Amet.
The rally, at Alexishafen, saw angry landowners and villagers expressing their frustration over outstanding land issues and refusing to let the PMIZ project go ahead until all issues were resolved.
All and then Commerce and Industry Minister, Gabriel Kapris, were present while then Fisheries Minister Ben Semri was absent.
Issues highlighted then included organising of incorporated land groups and infighting among executives and clan members of the two umbrella companies, Kananam Investment Ltd and Rehammb Holdings; absence of a working memorandum of understanding and agreement; exclusion of any legislation protecting people's interest regarding long-term effects to their environment, health or land; government's failure to conduct awareness exercises in discussing boundary issues concerning underwater leases already marked and taken over by the project; and equity for the people and provincial government.
Francis Gem, an NGO representative and landowner, incited a scuffle on stage and started the name-calling.
He pointed at the ministers' faces, and said: "Yupela olgeta konman (you are all conmen)".
This was after Gem asked the crowd if they wanted the PMIZ project to continue and the crowd shouted "nogat (no)".
His outburst did not settle down well with Allan, who stood up to confront Gem, which brought police on stage to calm things down.

Security warning for PNG poll

Sydney Morning Herald

THE federal government has been urged to arrange a regional security force, backed by a US Navy helicopter carrier, to secure the peace during Papua New Guinea's coming elections.

"We should expect the elections to be violent" ... a man demands suffrage as thousands of Papua New Guineans protest against the government's plan to delay national elections during a rally in Port Moresby on April 10, 2012. Photo: AFP

The elections, due on June 23 at the end of the Parliament's five-year term, are seen as a critical moment, with the politicians of the 1975 independence era retiring and a $15 billion liquefied natural gas project coming on stream in 2015, delivering huge revenue flows to the government.
''PNG faces generation change at the same time as the biggest resources boom in its history,'' the Gillard government's parliamentary secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, told a conference at Deakin University, in Geelong. ''This is why the next elections are so important and why it is so important that they happen on time.''
Scott Flower of Melbourne University has seen campaigning already under way in the violent highlands provinces in January, with money and home-made shotguns flourishing openly.
With the police diverted by states of emergency declared in two provinces last week, and the defence force down to 2000 soldiers, he doubted security resources available inside PNG were up to preventing violence, intimidation and ballot hijacking.
''I really think they will be overwhelmed,'' he said.
Dr Flower suggested Australia urgently consider organising a regional security force, possibly with helicopter support from a US Navy carrier, for the duration of the elections.
Because of local sensitivities about Australia, particularly after the earlier warning by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, of sanctions if elections were not held, Dr Flower suggested a broad regional composition, a time limit to prevent it being seen as a Solomon Islands-type of long-term intervention, and personnel coming under a joint panel of PNG and Commonwealth judges in case of any legal problems.
Nicole Haley, a specialist on Melanesia at the Australian National University, said the impending election was shaping up as worse than the malpractice-ridden 2007 elections.
''There is every indication that the level of malpractice will increase in 2012, not least because the stakes are higher due to the LNG project,'' she said.
With just over two months left before the vote, it would not be possible to remedy the flaws.
''In the weeks and months remaining it will not be possible to produce brand new rolls, nor to undo the messages deriving from the 2007 experience, nor to depoliticise the military,'' Dr Haley said.
''Based on the current situation, we should expect the elections to be violent, we should expect them to be marred by fraud and malpractice on a scale never before seen and we should expect the security personnel to be both partisan and politicised.''

PMIZ project set to roll in Madang

By MALUM NALU
The engineering concept design for the US$95 million (K216 million) Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Vidar, Madang province, was yesterday (Wednesday) handed over to the national government by Korean engineering consultants, Deco, The National reports.

An artist’s impression of the PMIZ project

Minister for Commerce and Industry Charles Abel took delivery of the design and also paid K10 million to project consultants, China Shenyang International Economics & Technical Cooperation Corporation (CSYIC), as the first tranche of the PNG government’s counterpart funding.

Abel (right) receives the engineering concept design for the PMIZ project from KPT Group of Companies managing director Jason Lee, who is associated with Korean engineering consultants Deco.-Picture by MALUM NALU

Abel said since taking office last year, the government recognised the economic importance of the project as a strategic economic corridor infrastructure project” that would stimulate increased economic growth”, particularly in the northern region.
“When the O’Neill-Namah government took office, we quickly realised the strategic, economic and national interest that a project of this magnitude and scale would bring for PNG,” he said.
“As minister responsible for the project, I ensured I was not going to let this important opportunity for international business slip by without giving it the full support it deserved, bearing in mind the net gains the PMIZ would reap for PNG and her people.
“I made sure it got off the ground quickly, as an enabling infrastructure necessary for the government to realise the much talked about economic corridor concept.”
Abel, when giving K10 million to CSYIC deputy general manager Terry Wang, said it was the first tranche of the PNG government’s counterpart funding.
This is on top of the K1 million government gave to project landowners last October to prepare them for participating in the development and construction phase of the PMIZ.
“This is a demonstration of the firm commitment by government to ensure the PMIZ project gets off the ground quickly,” Abel said.
“This US$95 million PMIZ project is indeed a major resource impact project.
“The PNG National Fisheries Authority and my department have fully appraised the project.
“Both direct and indirect economic returns are enormous in the long run.
“The PMIZ project will have a massive pull-in effect of foreign fisheries industry participants that settle on our shores to do business in this strategic resource sector.
“It will no doubt become a catalyst for change for many of our coastal fishing provinces.”
Abel said the winning concept design was chosen following three submissions by engineering consultants, Deco, which had on March 13 this year presented to the government three concept designs for final selection.
Yesterday’s unveiling of the engineering concept design of the MPIZ project puts in motion the construction phase of the project.
Abel thanked all key stakeholders of the PMIZ project for bringing into reality a pilot concept design “that looks set to graduate PNG’s fisheries industry infrastructure to world-class attention and standards as PNG strives to be on par with the best industry participants in the world”.

A bird's eye view from 4-Mile Overhead Bridge

A bird's eye view from 4-Mile Overhead Bridge.
Things look so good from up here, however, it's so filthy on the ground with buai pekpek (betelnut shit) and other litter.