PDL5 landowners to talk vital issues

A MAJOR landowner group in Southern Highlands province has gone to court to force other stakeholders in the Moran PDL5 petroleum project to honour their commitments in the memorandum of agreement signed on Aug 11, 2005.
Among the orders sought by plaintiffs’ chairman Paul Yawe, and his Aporo’urri Resource Owners Association, is that the State and its clients must stop further payments of money due under the agreement until the landowners meet among themselves, and then with the State, to solve outstanding differences.
Mr Yawe said under the court order, the landowners would meet in conference at Holiday Inn next Tuesday at 9am to work resolve the  problems in implementing the Moran PDL5 agreement between central Moran development project, the State, Moran project area landowners, Huli local level government and the Southern Highlands provincial government.
The Tuesday meeting would agree on landowners’ position to put to the State on how the memorandum of agreement should be implemented, including payment of funds and the implementing of projects.
He said the landowners and the State would meet at the same venue on May 4.
Mr Yawe said if the parties were not able to reach an agreement through negotiations, they would appoint a mediator to assist with negotiations and discussions between the landowners and the State.
If they do not appoint a mediator, they would return to court for a court-appointed mediator.
Apart from the State, other defendants included the departments of Finance and Treasury and Petroleum and Energy, Bank South Pacific and the Homa Paua People’s Association.