Honour all agreements: MP

AGREEMENTS signed between the State and people must be honoured, Education Minister and Tari-Pori MP James Marape said on Tuesday.
Mr Marape assured the project developers and partners of the security record of resource projects in Southern Highlands province that shipment of oil had been on schedule since 1990.
He said this after the signing of the PNG gas project inauguration at Parliament House.
Mr Marape called on all parties to continue to uphold the spirit of the umbrella benefits sharing agreement and the licence-based benefits sharing agreement.
“Landowners and provincial governments are important custodians of resources and their views and aspirations as sanctioned in agreements must be honoured by the Government today and governments for the next 30 years.”
As a minister, MP and landowner, Mr Marape said he looked forward to staying around in the next 30 years to see the results of four weeks of intense negotiations and sleepless nights.
“We were able to shepherd our people into signing and Monday night was the final signing by PDL1.
“I told my people that Hela and Southern Highlands had won through increased equity and infrastructure funding totalling K2 billion, including the UBSA undertaking,” he said, adding that another K2.4 billion worth of infrastructure was from the National Government commitment.
Mr Marape said major infrastructure projects penned in the agreements include the Hela city development stage one (K100 million), Gulf to Hela to Sandaun province highway (K100 million), Tari to Komo to Koroba road (K180 million) and Tari international airport (K100 million).