Kutubu locals want payment

By HENRY MORABANG
LANDOWNERS of the oil-rich region of Kutubu in Southern Highlands, have repeated their call for the government to pay their outstanding dues before the elections.
Aporo’urri Resources Owners Association chairman Paul Yawe made this call upon hearing that the national government will dish out millions of kina under infrastructure development grants (IDGs) to landowner groups in the province.
Yawe said his Kutubu landowners had missed out in the previous payout under ministerial commitments and Memorandum of Agreement.
He said they also did not benefit from many other funds paid out by the previous government.
He called on the responsible government departments to ensure payments are made to the rightful landowners and not “paper” landowners from Port Moresby.
Yawe said there should not be any problems in making the payment to Kutubu landowners as there had been social mapping work done and landowner identification before the project took place.
“Government should have a mechanism in place as Kutubu oil is the first project in the highlands region unlike the LNG project and there should not be any reasons for withholding the payments,” he said. 
Yawe said he believed many of the landowners who protested at Vulupindi Haus, Port Moresby for payments are not genuine leaders.
He reminded the responsible department to go to the villages to make payments instead of paying the money in Port Moresby..
He said landowners of Sirinumu Dam or Central-based companies could go to Vulupindi House to claim their monies but that had been dominated by Southern Highlanders.