LOs urged to work in unison to benefit

 A LANDOWNER group had urged others in the Hides 4 PDL 7 area to form a united front in pushing for issues to be resolved by the state and the developer of the PNG LNG project.

The Hides 4 PDL 7 Landowners Umbrella Association was reacting to threats by certain groups to shut down the Hides PNG LNG project site in  Hela.

Association chairman, Chris Payabe and  deputy, Erick Hawai said in a statement the association was the mouth-piece of the different landowner groups.

The association issued a petition to the State last April on behalf of the landowners and is still awaiting a reply.

Among the issues raised in the petition are resettlement and relocation of affected landowners, construction of a road from the Hides gas conditioning plant to Komo Airport, a permanent water supply for PDL 1 and PDL 7, installation of power supply to landowners, commitment of K100 million under the Hides LBSA agreement, infrastructure development grants, IDG payments from 2010 to 2013 be included in the 2014 budget, and the expenditure implementation committee to approve K10.7 million to PDL 7 landowner association for an office.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill had referred the association to the various departments dealing with the issues.