Split benefits

WHILE the uplifting of the restraining order by the National Court was good news for the stakeholders of the Wafi-Golpu gold and copper project, it is quite saddening that the all-important land boundary issues herein remains to be adequately addressed by both the national and provincial governments.
It is equally disturbing that the project and other stakeholders’ hope in the Land Titles Commission’s number of hearing attempts to address the issues, had unfortunately resulted in failure to hand down any decisions, leaving the issue in status quo.
A number of unqualified local and district land court case decisions made some 39 years ago has also made it quite complex to resolve the issue of land boundary between the three parties having interests in the project area.
We cannot afford to have these three parties continue to be at logger heads between themselves at this time of project development.
There is urgent need to address this issue as a matter of importance for both short and long-term security of the project as well as for benefit of all stakeholders.
A number of respected leaders from the three parties had raised the issue of where their common land boundary between themselves are located, each claiming outright ownership of Wafi and Golpu areas.
With the outstanding landownership boundary still unresolved, how will the three parties be able to discuss freely their benefits sharing components, come the development forum?
There are also signs of small splinter groups, whom had registered their own incorporated land groups popping up from within the three parties which will impact the development process and outcome.
With no further prospect of the LTC adjudicating over the land boundary issues, can the responsible authorities undertake, although this may be late, a landowner identification study within the project area?
With this outstanding issue hanging over the current development phase of the project, the only hope available to all stakeholders, especially the three parties, is to agree to split their benefits sharing in equal percentages. I hope I am preaching to the converted.

Lorenitz Gaius,
Ketskets village