Limestone locals want to deal directly with minister

RESOURCE owners of a proposed limestone project in Finschhafen do not want the direct involvement of the Morobe provincial government.
They have instead opted to deal directly with the Department of Trade and Commerce and Industry.
Interim chairman of the Simbang Zaguing landowner group and project officer Sarry Mesa made this known in a press statement last week after the groups met in Finschhafen.
Their meeting followed an earlier audience with suspended Morobe provincial administrator Kemas Tomala and mayor of Finschhafen Manase Laina in November 2011, where the two leaders told them of the Morobe provincial government’s position on the project.
The landowners said all negotiations must be done with the approval of the provincial government, which would appoint the landowner chairman and consultant and there should not be any middleman.
They want the provincial government to appoint members of  two steering committees from the provincial and district levels.
The meeting unanimously resolved that:   Morobe provincial government should not take ownership and play the leading role in planning, negotiations and development of the project;    Minister for Commerce and Trade to assume direct authority over the project to ensure planning and negotiations with landowners and the department to handle and manage the development;  Negotiations to be performed by project officers directly with the landowners;
 Provincial government be banned from acting as the middleman as it did not want the involvement of politicians;  The landowner group be called Simbang Zaguing landowner because the resource was located on their land;    Other members of the landowner group living outside Finschhafen to be involved in the project and who would be invited to attend meetings in the future, and,    Members of the landowner group who aspired to lead must exercise care, responsibility and maturity to ensure the pro­ject gets off the ground.