Central will support Gulf, says Agarobe

CENTRAL Governor Robert Agarobe says the (Central) government will support Gulf in every aspect of the US$12 billion (K41.38bil) Papua LNG project, especially in terms of benefits to the people.
He said this during the launch of several impact projects which included the Ihu Special Economic Zone (Isez) project in Ihu, Kikori, yesterday.
Agarobe said from the experience of the PNG LNG project, the locals from the four impacted villages – Papa, Lea Lea, Boera and Poerabada – received royalties, however, their standard of living was still poor.
“It is good to know that this part of the country is full of resources,” he said.
“But these resources will only benefit the people if it’s managed well.
“I can only speak from experience and with the experience I have with the PNG LNG project is that when we are trying to measure the benefits or the success of any project, I can only measure it by going back to the affected villages to see how my people are actually living with the development going on.
“If we go back to Central, where we have the four affected villages, we do get royalties as benefits and infrastructure development grants but in terms of standard of living of our people, it is still very poor.”