LNG-affected provinces agree to work together

 Hela Governor Anderson Agiru says the five provinces impacted by the PNG LNG project have agreed to work together to get a better deal in the 4.27 per cent Kroton equity issue.

He told Petroleum and Energy Minister Ben Micah at the State and landowner issues meeting in Port Moresby that governors from Western, Gulf, Central, Southern Highlands and Hela had signed an agreement last week.

Agiru said Prime Minister Peter O’Neill told the governors that he did not want money to pay for the 4.27 per cent to add to the debt of the country.

“We have four months to do that,” he said. 

“We’ve started the process.

“We want to thank the Prime Minister for giving us that and also that he will consider discount on the price.”

Agiru said when he signed the Umbrella Benefits Sharing Agreement in Kokopo in 2009, there was no mention of “price” per share, only “rate”.

“That was the value of each of the shares at the time,” he said.

“So having gone through the economic agreements, financial agreements, prime minister has finally agreed that there’s a discount.

“He has appointed the Treasurer (Patrick Pruaitch) to take lead with the assistance of the Minister for Finance (James Marape).”

Agiru said signing of the communiqué by the five governors last week had set the framework for them to move forward.

“That will avoid things like the NPCP (National Petroleum Company, now Kumul Petroleum) committing 4.27 per cent to borrow through sovereign bonds,” he said.