ABC Asia Pacific - Work Resumes on PNG LNG

Work has resumed on the construction of a gas condensing plant in Papua New Guinea for the country's $US16 billion dollars PNG Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project following a landowner protest.

Hundreds of disgruntled landowners at the Hides gas field in the PNG Highlands forced Australian based international contractor, Clough Curtain Joint Venture to stop work on the project.

Landowners demanded more than $US2 million dollars in Business Development Grants from the Government.

The grants were promised to them under an agreement with the government and the developers.

Landowners claim the funds were paid to false companies in Port Moresby while genuinely affected landowners missed out.

Spokesman Eric Hayule says they have allowed work to resume after construction work on the gas condensing plant was shutdown after three days.

He says Hides landowners want the $US2 million dollars to be paid to individual clans and not one landowner company.

The lead developer of the PNG LNG project ExxonMobil says work has resumed.

Impacted landowners have halted early works on certain project sites in protest over the business development grants and spin off activities.

People Rise Up in Hides for a Small Piece of the Action

LNG WATCH: As the below article demonstrates, when you pump enormous amounts of capital into massively underdeveloped regions, communities are going to use all their customary power and political might to claim a tiny slice of the wealth.

Unfortunately, as we have seen in natural resource developments throughout PNG, this gradually gives way to uneven development, as some households get access to rents, grants and contracts, while others are overlooked.

The former then are able to grow more crops, buy machinery, open small businesses, monopolise the local service industry, while the latter struggle to subsist, often having to sell their labour to clan-mates. Someone then asks, 'why is my uncle able to own a truck, sell coffee and run a security firm, when I can barely get enough land to support my family'.

That is when these types of resource development truly begin  to divide communities and set kin against kin. In the Southern Highlands where high powered weapons circulate  freely, this is a potentially explosive dynamic!


LNG Work Stopped
Post-Courier 19/1/2011

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20110119/wehome.htm

EARLY works on the multi-billion kina PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at Hides in Tari, has now come to a complete standstill.

As early as 8:00 am yesterday, angry Hides landowners numbering over 1000 people mobilised and staged a peaceful sit-in protest at the gates of the proposed LNG conditioning plant site at Para village and on the access road that leads to the Hides 4 (petroleum development license -PDL 7) wellhead.

Developer Esso Highlands last night acknowledged the problems but said the project has a formal process to manage these dialogues.

“We are aware of the business development grant issues in the Highlands. The PNG LNG project encourages continued co-operation between communities, government and the project to constructively address issues as they arise, without impact to ongoing project activities,” Public Affairs Manager Miles Shaws said in a statement.

The protesting clans are from Taguali, Hagu, Tagobali, Aya, Warabia and Honaga clans that live at Para and Hides 4 area. Police mobile squad (MS) 13 from Lae and MS10 from Mendi ensured that the protests were peaceful and non confrontational. The landowners forced international Australian contractor Clough Curtain Joint Venture (CCJV) to stop work and withdraw all workmen, machines and equipment. CCJV is engaged by LNG project developer ExxonMobil to develop the conditioning plant sites including other early works including engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) stage.

The Post-Courier visited the site yesterday morning and saw machines, equipment and over 300 CCJV workmen ‘asked’ to stand down while the landowners gave 14 days to the State and ExxonMobil to respond. Landowner leader Tony Lambiawi from Taguali/Tagopali clan said the landowners were frustrated that their application for K10 million from the business development grants (BDG) have been turned down while some ‘paper landowners’ based in Port Moresby were paid by the Department of Commerce and Industry. “We the landowners have our own landowner company called Hides 4 Holdings Ltd but our BDG application was rejected. If the government thinks that these ‘paper landowners’ in Port Moresby are legitimate Hides 4 landowners and own the land, then the government can ask them to come to Hides 4 and re-open the project.

“Otherwise, we the genuine landowners here are shutting down the project until we have a round- the table discussion with Petroleum and Energy Minister William Duma and Commerce and Industry Minister Gabriel Kapris to explain to us why we missed out on the BDG,” Mr Lambiawi said.

Another landowner chief Robert Angoya also demanded the State to pay out the ministerial commitments with proper social mapping and landowner identification studies for incorporated landowner groups. He also said currently, they are mere spectators on their land and they want to participate in business spin-offs. They also demanded that if not, ExxonMobil, the State and landowners have to do away with the umbrella benefit sharing (BSA) and licensed based benefit sharing agreements and come up with another one as the State had failed miserably. The landowners also demanded proper resettlement program for the affected landowners as currently, the resettlement package offered by ExxonMobil like K30,000 per traditional houses is unrealistic for a project of such magnitude of world class.

“We want proper housing, electricity, water supply, health care and other social services. Work has already begun and when are we going to have these basic services needed for human life,” Henry Taguali, another landowner leader said.

The landowners now ask the State and the ministers concerned to come to Hides 4 and meet with them within the next 14 days or else the project at Hides 4 and the conditioning plant site would still remain shut. The landowner leaders then told the public to turn the entrance of the condensation plant site and Hides 4 wellhead soft drinks.

Police Force Splitting Up

Post-Courier 18 January 2011

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary is cracking up.

And the split is apparent between the Special Services Division (SSD) and the new special task force established by Acting Police Commissioner Tony Wagambie.

Yesterday, members of the SSD serving in the mining and petroleum sites in the Highlands demanded Acting Police Commissioner Tony Wagambie and Deputy Commissioner for operations Fred Yakasa to treat their counterparts fairly and stop the divide and rule tactics.

Mr Wagambie could not be reached for comments last night, however, both him and Mr Yakasa last week said that the stand-off was based on mis-information and blamed the problems on lack of discipline and not on management.

SSD membes however, described their statement as a "blatant lie", and claimed that they out to protect their sons ordered to execute their interests.

The officers in the Highlands deployed for the LNG project have demanded the arrest of two dismissed policemen who Mr Wagambie reinstated and promoted.

This is if Mr Wagambie wants to have normalcy returned and allow the traditions of the constabulary to remain, they said.

The officers told the Post Courier that Mr Wagambie should put away his differences with suspended Commissioner Gary Baki and concentrate on what he can do to improve the constabulary.

They warned that if Mr Wagambie and Mr Yakasa were using their men to fabricate evidence against the members of the SSD, they had no choice but to call for a mass withdrawal from the project sites.

"We will withdraw and see what the two top bosses will do.

"If they want to apply the divide and rule tactic, than we guess we should decide what we can do because they are there with the first priority to shoot us down," the SSD members from the highlands said.

Report on Violence and Insecurity in the Southern Highlands

From Oxfam.org.nz

This report presents the results of a study conducted in the Hela region of the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea over a 16-month period (October 2007 – March 2009). The study had the broad aim of exploring perceptions of insecurity, looking at the scale, nature, triggers and impacts of interpersonal and tribal violence. The main purpose of the study was to generate information for advocacy and to inform the policies and programme development of Oxfam and its local partner in the region, Hela Community Care.

Download report: http://www.oxfam.org.nz/resources/onlinereports/tari_report_final_dec6.pdf

Selling Exploitation IPA Style

"Affordable labour" and a "pro-business regulatory environment", see how Papua New Guinea's Investment Promotion Authority sells PNG to foreign multinationals (and yes PNG LNG takes a centre stage!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZB-yh1LMzg

Acting PM Launches Investigation into LNG Grants

By Neil Ashdown, Global Insights.

5 January, 2010.

Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal has today ordered an investigation into the payment of grants related to the country's flagship liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Abal stated that the investigation was only being launched "because there are allegations and innuendos in the media that payments have been made to a few groups who are well outside the ... areas [covered by the scheme]".

The local Post-Courier newspaper today ran a report stating that payments had been made to companies outside the area. The business development grants (BDG), worth US$25.8 million in total, were paid out to over 50 landowner companies at the end of last year. Landowner companies are companies set up by local customary landowners and represent one of the government's primary vehicles for ensuring that Papua New Guineans feel the benefits of the massive LNG project.

This is important because disgruntled landowners have protested and on some occasions attacked development work related to the project. In November last year protesting landowners forced the closure of a key airport. Today Minister of Internal Security Mark Maipakai called on disgruntled landowners not to take the law into their own hands. He said that "threatening the government and the developers is not the way forward".

Significance: The investigation is intended first and foremost to answer concerns on the parts of aggrieved Papua New Guineans. Corruption is a major problem in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and one that damages the perception of the country in the eyes of its own citizens and foreign investors. The issue of payments related to development on land related to the LNG project is particularly sensitive. While it is unlikely that the investigation will lead to any significant developments, the fact that it is taking place at all represents an increasing awareness on the part of Papua New Guinea's leaders that they need to be seen to take a strong stance on the issue.

ABC Asia Pacific - PNG Minister appeals for calm over LNG payments

Papua New Guinea's Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations, Mark Maipakai has appealed to disgruntled landowners of the multi-billion-kina liquefied natural gas (LNG) project not to take the law into their own hands over delays in payments.

"There are proper processes and procedures to follow, and threatening the government and the developers is not the way forward," he said.

Maipakai said landowners should think about the long-term benefits of the project and not invite police to use force on them.

He said police manpower at the project sites was intact and additional assistance would be given if there was a need.

Three police mobile units, comprising about 100 men, were at the LNG sites.

He urged landowners issuing threats to approach the issue as matured adults because their actions now would affect the future of their children and grandchildren.

Mr Maipakai, however, could not say whether there were strategies in place to curb any escalating lawlessness.