Halujah: Landowners must be on the ground

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Monday 13th Febuary 2012

THE only legitimate umbrella landowner company for PDL 9 is the Juha Landowners Association (JLA) and is recognised by the State and developer ExxonMobil, an official said.
And landowners in the LNG project areas must be on the ground taking part in the construction phase of the project, Juha Joint Venture chairman Hengebe Haluja said.
Haluja was responding to media comments by a Lape Tomiala of Port Moresby accusing Juha landowners of being self-proclaimed leaders.
Haluja said there were “paper landowners” who were misleading others and creating animosity between landowners.
He said the Juha landowners were signatories to the umbrella benefits sharing agreement and the licence-based benefits sharing agreement.
Haluja said, under the Oil and Gas Act, JLA had the rights over the PDL 9 area.
“The JLA comprises of 23 clans of PDL 9 who are shareholders of the Juha Joint Venture and we have been involved in early works since the start of the construction phase of the LNG project,” Haluja said.
“Tomiala must have been away on another planet and does not know that early works are well under way and into its mid-construction phase and Juha Joint Venture is very much part of that project.”