Government gives assurance to process royalty payments

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THE Government will ensure that royalty payments are processed quickly for landowners and provinces, says Petroleum and Energy Minister Kerenga Kua.
Komo-Margarima MP Manase Makiba asked in parliament when clan-vetting would resume at the PNG LNG pipeline-impacted areas so they could be paid their royalties.
“We still have legacy issues relating to the existing PNG LNG that we need to fix of which clan-vetting is one of the big problems,” Makiba said.
He said the past government had allocated funding and had set up a special clan-vetting team to go ahead and do the job which the operator had failed to do 10 years ago.
He said as a result of the clan-vetting team being set up, vetting was completed for seven segments, which included both the upstream and downstream areas inside the green fields and also for upstream PDLs one and seven.
“After the clan-vetting, special ministerial determination was signed for each block inside PDL one and seven. But around early last year, clan-vetting was stopped due to lack of funds and court proceedings. When will the clan vetting resume?”
Makiba said he has ongoing complaints from landowners because they have not received their equity and royalties since production began some years ago.
He also said there should be resolutions made to make it easy during court proceedings to enable undisputed blocks within a certain PDL to receive their payment if an issue arose and a disputing block took the matter to court.
Kua said it was true that there were delays in payments to PDLs one and seven and although disputes tended to be in one sector, if an injunction was taken, it covered everyone which was the current problem.
He said his department would take note by trying to isolate sectors that were in dispute by quarantining them and putting their benefits aside and enabling payments for the undisputed segments to flow to the beneficiaries.

2 comments

  • Now the sate and the company are blaming the landowners for the undone clan vetting and other strategies causing the delay of the Equities & Royalties for the Landowner. The locals who initiated with valuable information have died while waiting. The company and the state were on the ground before and during the construction phase of the PNGLNG and were given all necessary information they required of the social setting system in the communities. This shows that if you cannot settle a small issue at the earliest, you will not settle a bigger issue as it blows up. Where are you strategies and plans to settles such issues? If you cannot, raise your hand and get someone qualify take your seat. Please do not bog down because of one person, think, it will only cause inconvenience for the multitudes.

  • If that the case of being delaying of paying Equities and Rayalties for PDL 1 and 7 , how about Juha PDL 9? Juha PDL 9 has no problem and Clan vetting has done long and needed Ministerial determination yet delayed.
    Furthermore, PDL9 is green field but its under PDL licinse. Developer or Government of PNG before you come to deverlop Juha Landowners will equiities and rayolties paid first as our clan vetting done already haerd no problem yet delaying. God bless

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