Naru to name Morobe govt team to be named

 BY GABRIEL LAHOC

A NEW team representing the Morobe provincial government to review the Hidden Valley mine memorandum of agreement will be named after a permanent provincial executive council is sworn into office.

The team will be headed by a senior politician after Morobe Governor Kelly Naru intervened and disbanded an earlier group representing the provincial government.

The provincialgovernment is a party in the MoA review process apart from Mineral Resources Authority as state representative, developer Morobe Mining Joint Venture and Nakuwi Landowners’ Association representing the landowners from Nauti, Kwembu and Winima, in the Watut local level government area in Bulolo.

Naru said once a 16-member cabinet was appointed replacing the five-member caretaker PEC, they would decide on the best candidates to represent the MPG.

“At this point in time, I have appointed a caretaker cabinet already, five ministers, now I am looking at endorsing a full cabinet pretty shortly,” he said.

“The new review team will be headed by a politician who’s going to be either myself or the deputy governor or one of our members. We still have to iron that one out but that’s all centred around the constitution of a full cabinet,” he said.

“As soon as that is done, we will rename the review team and take on the task of reviewing the MoA,” Naru said.

He disbanded the former review team representing the provincialgovernment last month citing unfair representation of the provincial government.

The other stakeholders like MRA and MMJV are waiting for the appointment of  the review team.