Ramu NiCo, landowners settle compo

THE recently-signed agreement between Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) and resource owners determines how compensation is going to be paid upon occupancy, according to Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).
Managing director Jerry Garry said yesterday said that once the agreement was agreed upon and accepted by both parties and signed off, it went to MRA for registration to become official.
He said the memorandum-of-agreement (MoA) process had not started.
“The compensation agreement entails destruction to land surface, cash crops or plants on the land, either within the mine or along the footprints where infrastructure will be built, and also the provision of access to land,” he said.
Garry said those agreements were strictly between customary landowners and the company.
“Stakeholders who have missed out on benefit-sharing agreements in Ramu must know that the process has not commenced yet.”
Garry said there were various agreements in all mining projects that most people did not fully understand, such as:

• Mining development contract between the State and the developer;
• MOA negotiated between all affected stakeholders; and,
• Compensation agreement negotiated between landowners and the company.