Landowners get K1.3mil settlement

A SUB-contractor for the LNG project in Central province, Leighton PNG Ltd on Tuesday paid K1.3 million in an out-of-court settlement to Veadi Holdings Ltd, a landowner company at Papa village.
The settlement stem­med from a court case initiated at the National court by Veadi against Leighton for breach of contract.
The case was filed on Aug 8 this year.
However, this did not stop both parties from coming to an out-of-court settlement, which took place five months later.
Veadi chairman and paramount chief of Papa village Nao Nao des­cribed the negotiated payment of K1.3 million as “very important settlement”.
“I would like to thank the directors and management of Leighton PNG, Leighton Australia and Wagners for their time, efforts and recognition of Veadi Holdings as a landowner company and for entering into a contract with it,” he said.
Nao said in any contract, there would always be disputes and disagreement. “However, you will not find many disagreeing parties who can agree to settle a matter out of court on terms acceptable to both parties.”
Nao thanked the representatives of Leighton for their patience and understanding in negotiating and reaching a settlement deal with Veadi.
Leighton director Dan Kakaraya said the settlement was basically on rates on quarries and piped water to the village.
The current water supply was extracted from different sources.
“It is basically a misunderstanding on some parts of the contract but I am glad it was resolved amicably among us and the landowners from Vea­di Holdings,” Kakaraya said.