Landowners assure NFA of support

By JIMMY KALEBE
LANDOWNERS of Wagang fisheries port project in Lae have assured National Fisheries Authority (NFA) and Government of their support for the project.
The chairman of Busulum-Kamki incorporated land group of Butibam village, Danny Maliaki, informed NFA deputy managing-director John Chris Dotson that people were in support of the project.
“We want the project to eventuate as planned,” he said.
Maliaki said the common boundary of Busulum-Kamki and landowners from Wagang village needed to be addressed first.
He asked NFA to inform Lands and Physical Planning to come on board to identify the boundaries, as without that, the landowners may have tensions among themselves.
“The people from the Wagang side of the project have given their consent for feasibility studies to go ahead, but not the Busulum-Kamki clan of Butibam village,” Maliaki said. “We cannot let feasibility studies go on our land because they have signed.
“What they do is on their land.
“We have to do the same for our side of the land.”
Dotson said feasibility studies on the ground now did not guarantee the actual implementation of the project as yet.
“This is just to verify if the land is suitable for the project to take place,” he said.
“This information and others is needed to make an investment decision.
“At this stage, it is all preparation work going on.
“There is no survey plan for actual construction of the facility yet.”