Ex-MP: Landowners act disgusting

A FORMER Southern Highlands MP has described the behaviour of LNG project landowners as “disgusting” and called for landowners to behave while pursuing their demands for funds.
Sir Matiabe Yuwi, former Tari MP said the prospect of the LNG project had made every landowner and their followers gone mad and brought disgrace to other decent Southern Highlanders.
“I think the LNG gas project is a poison that is making our people gone mad as most of their thoughts are on money alone,” he said.
He said money is the root of evil and people must not let money control them but they control money.
“Most of our once peaceful place has became a trouble zone where people dispute over landownership and vye for recognition in order to get themselves a few thousand kina,” he said.
He urged his people not to focus on benefiting from non-renewable resources such as gas and oil alone but look for other alternatives to sustain themselves.
He said agriculture was one of the major income generating sources that had sustained most of the people in the highlands region before the discovery of oil and gas and must be maintained.
Sir Matiabe urged all landowners in the area to look at other alternatives rather then focusing on the benefits of the LNG gas projects alone.