LNG contract with Total to be signed after clan vetted

THE Government will only sign gas agreements with Total, the developer of the Papua LNG project, after proper clan-vetting and landowner identification process are completed, Petroleum Minister Dr Fabian Pok says.
Pok’s comments came in response to questions from Karimui MP Geoffrey Kama who wanted to know if gas agreements for the Papua LNG project had been signed by the State, landowners and developers and if not, what was the progress.
Kama said the project would affect Kikori, in Gulf, and Karimui, in Chimbu, and it was important the Simbu government was also consulted on any negotiation and project agreements.
Pok said the government had not signed any agreement with the developer yet.
“We are hoping to have the agreement signed in November during the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit here in Port Moresby because the president and vice-president of Total will be coming,” he said.
“But the agreement will only be signed after the proper clan-vetting process and landowner identification are completed by the developer Total.”
Pok said the government had learnt from its past mistakes and would not repeat it again as in the PNG LNG project in which proper landowner identification and clan-vetting were not done and that resulted in landowners not receiving their rightful benefits.
“So Total was tasked to carry our proper clan-vetting and landowner identification and is currently in the process of doing that,” he said. “So Total will have to do clan-vetting and identify proper landowners first before we could enter into any agreements.”