Landowners want funding released

National

LANDOWNERS in Hela have called on the Government to fast-track the release of K3 million allocated in the 2017 Supplementary Budget for clan-vetting.
The leader of upstream landowners in Hela, Larry Andagali, said yesterday that the patience of people in the upstream areas are running out.
He said leaders were concerned, so the Government should immediately release the money to the Department of Petroleum and Energy to start the clan-vetting process.
He said most of the work has been done already and the K3 million was sufficient to complete the process.
“I have spoken to the Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Dr Fabian Pok ,and the Vice-Minister Manesseh Makiba who are pretty much involved in this,” Andagali said.
“The important thing is that money has been allocated in the Supplementary Budget and it’s there. Release it and separate the issues of normal clan-vetting and the alternate dispute resolution (ADR).”