Haluya continues media war on Juha

By PATRICK TALU
JUHA Landowners Association (JLA) chairman Hengebe Haluya has called on John Sala and Stanley Piawi not to mislead the public, the government and LNG project operator ExxonMobil on matters relating to the Juha Petroleum Development Licence (PDL9) area.
He was responding to a report in which Piawi and Sala urged Haluya not to mix politics with the project.
Haluya said: “I am the legitimate and rightfully mandated mouthpiece for Juha PDL9 on all matters relating to LNG project issues with landowners.
“I don’t know who Piawi and Sala speak for and represent and what mandate they have to speak for Juha.
“They are in no way from the Juha PDL9 area or any affected clans from Juha.
“Both of them are from Koroba, which is outside the project impacted area.
“They came and settled three generations ago through intermarriage with Juha clans,” Haluya said yesterday.
He stressed he was the mandated chairman of JLA and represented them at the Kokopo umbrella benefit sharing agreement (UBSA) and the licence based benefit sharing agreement (LBBSA) at Juha.
“I was the team leader for Juha on the UBSA and LBBSA signing. The state and ExxonMobil recognise me as the legitimate leader for Juha on matters related to LNG issues with the landowners.
“I fail to understand what grounds they stand on to speak for Juha,” he said.
Haluya maintained he had no regret  in blaming Komo-Margarima MP Francis Potape and Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru for all the landowners issues in relation to memorandum of agreement commitments, ministerial commitments, seed capital and other benefits that the former Somare regime failed to deliver.
“Potape, Agiru and even John Kekeno should foot the blame for their inaction and inability to stand up for the people.”