MRDC against royalty idea

 By SHIRLEY MAULUDU

THE custodian of landowner equities, Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) Ltd, does not agree to have part of landowners’ equities from resource projects in the country be put into Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), an official says.

Managing director Augustine Mano said the Government already collected taxes from projects and should not interfere with the “little money” that landowners received from projects in their areas. 

Mano was responding to questions from The National following a recommendation to have part of landowners’ royalties put into the SWF for rest of the country to benefit from. 

In a recent meeting, the National Research Institute (NRI) in its submission on the creation of a SWF, 

said that the institute is of the view that every Papua New Guinean owns the resources, one way or another. 

Outgoing director Dr Thomas Webster said part of the royalty payments should be put into the fund for the benefit of all citizens.

“In PNG we have landowners but we have greater Papua New Guinea … everybody is the collective landowner,” Webster said. 

SWF technical team member and Bank of PNG Governor Loi Bakani said: “That is a good suggestion but that depends on how the landowners will like it.”

However, the Mano disagreed with Webster’s suggestion.

“The Government has the tax, which is for the people of Papua New Guinea, and they have the national state entity, which is for the people of this country,” he said. 

“Royalty is the only free money that comes in as a result of ownership of those resources. To be 

blunt, I think that idea would be unfair and they should leave royalties alone.  Royalty is the only recognition for the ownership they (landowners) have over the resources so leave it, don’t touch it.”

Mano said if the recommendation was to be taken on board then it had to be discussed with landowners to get their view if that was fair.

Bakani had clarified that funds for the SWF excluded anything that was paid to the landowners such as royalties.