Gas landowners welcome Duban as new minister

THE Tugu Pepe Mbele Landowners’ Association chief and chairman welcomed and congratulated the appointment of Nixon Duban as the new Minister for Petroleum and Energy.
Chief Mathew Iruka said as landowners of the LNG projects areas in Hides and Juha, they acknowledged Duban’s appointment as timely.
Iruka said Duban had a hard task ahead as the LNG project was 90–95 per cent complete and gas would soon be exported.
He said when Duban was the Minister for Police he had done an excellent job and they trusted him to do the same and deliver .
 On behalf of the landowners, Iruka said they were prepared to collaborate with Duban to help address the unresolved landowners’ issues. He said: “We have great faith in his leadership and hope to see the LNG project progress without the delay by the customary landowners’ claims as per the benefit sharing agreements (LBBSA and UBSA)”.
He urged Duban to look into what the former minister did not address, especially to achieve the maximum benefit commitments made by the previous government, former ministers and the developer.
Iruka said they understood that the clan vetting carried out last year was about to be released by the department.
“If there are any changes to the clan vetting data, the landowners should know about them. And that should be witnessed by the department, stakeholders and the minister will have his input before endorsement”, he said.