Benefits of LNG pouring in

THE benefits of the LNG project are already pouring in.
Several PNG companies have now joined the big league as suppliers for the specialised needs of the pro­ject.
Workers are receiving training and hands-on ex­perience that will place them, within a few years, on par
with the rest of the LNG workforce globally.
Many millions of kina have been paid out under various guises to landowner groups and individuals.
Areas such as the Konebada Petroleum Park are undergoing transformation virtually overnight. The physical faces of Lae, Port Moresby and remote locations like Tari and Komo are undergoing huge changes so as to
make them unrecognisable within two years.
And, yesterday, the project promised US$1 billion (K2.33 billion) over the next five years for maintenance and repair work on the Highlands Highway, the lifeline to the populous highlands re­gion and all the major re­source projects there inclu­ding the LNG project.
The project has already pumped in K30 million for maintenance work on selected sections of the highway that are in dire need.
The government also yesterday parted with K40 million as counterpart funding to the Asian Development Bank for work on the Highlands Highway and as well as other arterial roads.
This was revealed during a consultative meeting at the Department of Works headquarters in Boroko between officials of ExxonMobil and Minister for Works Peter O’Neill yesterday.
The biggest worry here, and a question we have always asked, is: Will all this money be put to good use?
More than K300 million, and that is a very conservative estimate, will disappear in the hands of our people through the various schemes.
In most instances, there is nothing to show for them in the villages or towns. The people remain the same complaining mob who trudges daily to government offices with claims.
So much more has been committed before from so many other multi-million kina projects for which we have seen nil results. Even those projects, which were funded by multilateral and bilateral donor arrangements that, presumably, should have far stricter oversight and reporting structures in place, had gone to waste.
The LNG project will spend money and will ensure the roads and bridges are built to meet its expectations for the duration of the project. That is its main concern to ensure project supply lines are open until the gas is flowing.
After that, its attention will be turned elsewhere.
The responsibility of building and maintaining a super highway that can last over a long time rests directly with the government of PNG.
Delegated further down, that responsibility rests with Works Department and, further down, to the engineers responsible for ensuring quality structures are put in place.
Greeting works managers and engineers from throughout the province, a former works minister said: “We would have good roads if you concentrated on the works aspect of any road works pro­ject but you seem more concerned with the money aspect and your cut.”
It is, perhaps, an unkind statement with which to greet hardworking officers from the provinces and not all are bad managers or corrupt, but, it does give an indication of the kind of perception about quality of work that exists out there.
Some K64 million has disappeared for the stretch of road between Watabung and Wara Simbu in Chimbu alone, we are told.
That road is still not completed yet and will require many more millions.
Much of the disappeared millions are in false claims for non-existent developments on the side of the highway rather than for roadworks on the highway itself.
This just will not do.
The National has raised the point before and we repeat it. No amount of money will mean much if it cannot be managed properly, if it cannot be used for its intended purpose to improve the lives and conditions of people.
If K1,000 cannot be used right, K1 million or K1 billion will likewise not be applied right. It is not the amount of money that is important, it is the ability to manage the funds.
Managing those funds is PNG’s problem and, as more funds pour in for projects,
disciplined management re­mains the biggest challenge of the government.