Secretariat head happy following amendment of MRA Act

Papua New Guinea Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PNGEITI) national secretariat head Lucas Alkan has commended instrumentalities involved in amending the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) Act.
Parliament last week passed the MRA Act 2017 (amended), with Mining Minister Johnson Tuke saying the amended legislation would enable enhanced Government regulation of the industry.
The changes relate to functions of MRA, membership of MRA board, reporting requirements, expenditure under the Public Finance Management Act, and financing and increased production levy amongst others.
Alkan said it was time for changes in rules governing the mining and petroleum sectors.
“Changes in technology and the way people do business are so swift today,” he said.
“The petroleum and mining industry have their own challenges and opportunities.
“Papua New Guinea now is in a very unique position to be a model country for miners and explorers around the world.
“The Solwara 1 Project in New Ireland and the Pasca projects are cases in point.”
Alkan said PNGEITI was of the view that the industry and Government were meeting obligations and this must be further strengthened to see better outcomes.
“If there is a need to fine tune certain legislation and policies, the timing is now right to make things happen,” he said.