Madang landowners get K25m payment

BY DOROTHY MARK
Landowners of the Ramu nickel and cobalt mine in Madang receive their royalty payment of more than K25.5 million on Friday.
The payment was part of more than K80 million from Ramu exports last year.
The payment was made available by Department of Mining last week and presented at the People’s Labour Party Oval in Madang on Friday.
Landowners from Bundi mining area and Raicoast processing plant witnessed the cheque presentations of K25,537,210.13 by Ramu Nickel president Yongxue Gao to Mining Minister Johnson Tuke.
Tuke presented two separate cheques to landowners and Madang provincial government.
Of the K25,537,210.13: Tuke presented K17,620,674.99 to the landowners and K7,916,535.14 to Madang Governor Peter Yama for the provincial government.
This was received by Kurumbukari Landowners’ Association chairman Tobby Bare, Coastal Pipeline Association chairman Steven Saud, Inland Pipeline Association chairman Peter Tai and Basamuk Landowners’ Association Sama Mellombo.
Yama encouraged project landowners to invest their payment in business that would grow their money.
The same sentiments were shared by Tuke, Minister assisting the Prime Minister William Samb, Usino-Bundi MP Jimmy Uguro and Raicoast MP Peter Sapia.
Uguro was the mine’s liaison officer at the provincial government and served under John Bivi, who at that time was the Ramu Nickel project coordinator. He is now MP of Usino-Bundi while Bivi is acting provincial administrator.
Yama was Usino-Bundi MP when the Ramu Nickel mining development contract was signed in Beijing, China.