Parkop blames LNG for high costs

THE PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is responsible for the high cost of goods and accommodation in Port Moresby, NCD Governor Powes Parkop said.
During question time in parliament last Friday, Parkop said since the ExxonMobil-led gas project came in, and the subsequent renting of office and housing in the city, rental rates had tripled.
It was making it difficult for ordinary Papua New Guineans
and city residents to afford
rental accommodation.
He said the high cost of living in the city, including an increase in the prices of goods and other essential items, was the direct result of the LNG project. This was really affecting the city residents.
Parkop, in a series of questions, asked the prime minister to tell ExxonMobil to quickly complete building its accommodation for its employees so that the cost of rental could be reduced.
He said NCD had also missed out on the benefits enjoyed by LNG landowner groups. It was missing out on GST because ExxonMobil and its partners were tax-exempted.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said although the government was fully supportive of what Parkop  was doing in the city, it was not possible for it to be a beneficiary to the PNG LNG project through direct funding such as the government grants the landowners were receiving.