State holds talks with LOs on Porgera project

THE State Negotiation Team working on the community development agreement (CDA) for the Porgera Project provided responses to landowners’ benefits in a meeting last week in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands.
It was attended by 25 Special Mining Lease (SML) landowner agents, and ward councillors of the Porgera Rural local level government, where the Porgera mining project is located.
Landowner’s benefits were submitted to the Government last year in Alotau and Wabag.
The Government has already responded to papers from the Enga provincial government.
Position papers are documentation that capture the development aspirations and benefits of landowners, provincial governments and other stakeholders’ development aspirations and benefits.
Joe Kak, the Mineral Resources Authority coordinator for the Porgera project, said the aim of the meetings was to prepare the landowners and stakeholders for the CDA forum soon.
The Government at the meeting responded to propositions relating to benefits including equity, royalties, business development grant and special support grant.
Porgera Land Owners Association chairman Mark Tony Ekepa welcomed the outcome of the meeting, and looking forward to the CDA talks.
Porgera district administrator Jerry Maku thanked the Government for inviting the Porgera Rural LLG to be part of the talks for the first time. The project is jointly owned by the Government and the Barrick Niugini Limited (BNL).
The Government and its partners own 51 per cent equity while BNL owns 49 per cent.
The 51 per cent comprises 35 per cent owned by Kumul Minerals Holdings Limited, 10 per cent by SML landowners and five per cent by the Enga government.