Landowners up in arms over debts

LANDOWNERS from the petroleum development licence area five (PDL5) in Moran, Hela province, have cried foul over the treatment given to them by officers at the Department of Petroleum and Energy.
Following a report in The National on Monday,  the landowners met in Mendi, Southern Highlands, and warned that the next oil forum, after the formation of government, would face problems if their outstanding hire car and other bills in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands province, were not settled.
The bills were incurred during the May oil review forum. They were to be settled by the department through a K5 million government allocation for the forum. The funding was kept at the department and managed by DPE officers Collin Kalimba as the Moran PDL5 director, coordinator Panda Timo and his assistant Chris Koi.
Landowners’ spokesman John Kila yesterday said have all agreed and urged department secretary Randall Rimua and Kalimba to order an immediate audit of how the K5 million was expended.
“We cannot stress enough on the importance of state entities protecting landowners’ interest and ensuring progress is made at all levels.
“Timo and Koi must explain how they spent the K5 million and, especially, why the hire car and other bills in Mt Hagen were not settled for more than a month,” Kila said.
“We also want the secretary and his Moran PDL5 director to appoint new officers to manage our interests from August onwards.”
The next oil forum and venue would be confirmed after landowner leaders from the 14 oil heads meet with the new minister in government.