Hides folks welcome Duma’s decision

By JEFFREY ELAPA
PNG LNG landowners of Hides PDL 7 have accepted  the government’s undertaking to deal with the grievances which forced them to close down the Hides 4 project operations.
Chairman of the Hides 4 landowners umbrella association Chris Payabe had received a letter from Minister of Petroleum and Energy William Duma on March 26 giving an undertaking that the government was taking control of the issues.
The landowners had shut down operations at the Hides 4 wellhead, landfill and the Hides gas conditioning plant in the Southern Highlands province.
The government has since approved a call-out of troops into the area as well as to Porgera in Enga province.
Payabe said the people had accepted that the government was going to address their grievances.
“These issues were raised in the original petition that was sent to ExxonMobil and they were not addressed, forcing the landowners to shut the project in Hides 4 after all avenues were exhausted,” he said.
Payabe agrees with Duma in the setting up of a working committee to analyse the issues under the department of Petroleum and Energy.
He said the issues needed to be jointly addressed by ExxonMobil, on behalf of its joint venture partners, and the national government.
He said it would be best if the government set up the committee by the end of this week with full funding, now that Esso Highlands Ltd had been allowed to resume its early works operations.
Payabe recommends that the committee should select two members each from the landowning clans in PDL 7 to allow meaningful participation in addressing the issues.
stated in the petition.