Upstream LNG Landowners ‘Left In The Dark’ On Benefits

There have been years of complaints of a lack of benefits coming from the LNG project. Photo: RNZI/Johnny Blades

Simon Keslep | Post Courier | October 30, 2018

The Paguale Kekero Resources Landowners Association of Southern Highlands province has raised their concerns regarding benefits of the Liquefied Natural Gas project.

Yesterday association general sectary Paul Kewai Ipakasa and chairman Simon Kayako told Post-Courier their people especially 11 major clans including a total population of over two thousand people are left in the dark on LNG project benefits (royalty and equity payment).

They were referring to statements by Mineral Resource Development Company managing director Augustine Mano and published by this paper last week (October 25, page 20) “PNG LNG pipeline landowners to receive benefits-MRDC.”

The two raised concerns on issues regarding no agreement signed by them under the Umbrella Benefits Sharing Agreement despite gas pipelines under the Greenfield and future generation’s benefits without guarantee.

“Since 2009 till now there were no agreements under Umbrella Benefits Sharing Agreement despite having gas pipeline passing through our land,” said Mr Ipakasa.

According to Mr Ipakasa they come under segment 4 and spin-off benefits for their future generations remains uncertain.

The two called upon MRDC to consider their issue and put business agreements in order especially to fully benefit landowners whose land has gas pipelines passing through.

In relation to Mr Mano’s comments in the article referred to, he explained that while the pipeline determinations have already been made by the minister in reference to the onshore 300 kilometres of the entire 400 km pipeline, those areas not in dispute are being processed and assisted for the flow of benefits.

“There are eight (pipeline) segments which ministerial determination has been made for those areas where there are no disputes.”

“These are the ones we are going to proceed with their preparations of opening up their account, appointment of their board and then start making payments,” Mr Mano said in the report.

He made comments in a previous interview that for upstream pipeline landowners it has been a huge obstacle and that MRDC was aware of landowner frustration, however, mentioned that the areas that are still in dispute will be overlooked and carry on with the ones that are not in dispute pending their outcomes.

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Industry to reveal real owners of mining companies by 2020

The National aka The Loggers Times | October 30, 2018

Papua New Guinea is set to reveal real owners of extractive companies.

This comes after the conclusion of an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) roadshow on beneficial ownership disclosure in Madang recently.

A beneficial owner in respect of a company means the natural person(s) who directly or indirectly owns or controls a corporate entity.

A beneficial owner is always the living, breathing human being who ultimately profits from the company’s activities, or controls the company’s activities. It is never a company, other legal entity, or a nominee/proxy.

A roadmap is being executed by KPMG – the roadmap implementation manager – to develop a reporting matrix to feature beneficial owners in PNGEITI reports starting 2020, as required by the EITI global standard.

Head of National Secretariat of EITI Lucas Alkan said: “By 2020, companies applying for or holding a participatory interest in an exploration or production of an oil, gas or mining license or contract in an EITI country must report the details of the beneficial owner, (ie the human beings who own, control or substantially benefit from these companies and interests), as well as identifying any ‘politically exposed persons’ with a direct engagement in regulating, setting laws, tax rates, negotiating contracts etc.

“More than 50 EITI member countries have published their plans for how to disclose the real owners of companies in their extractive industries, which will require establishing legal and institutional arrangements for application, including establishing registers of such real owners.

“The Madang roadshow was part of implementation of a BO roadmap to identify an appropriate reporting process to enable PNGEITI name beneficial owners in its reports.

“We had presentations from Mineral Resources Authority, Department of Petroleum, Bank of Papua New Guinea, Investment Promotion Authority, PNGEITI National Secretariat, Institute of National Affairs and the BO Roadmap Implementation Manager KPMG.

“I commend the MSG constituents and other relevant State agencies for their presentations and discussions on issues relating to revealing beneficial owners in EITI reports and the approach going forward.

“As required by the EITI global best practice standard – to report the ‘beneficial owners’ in 2020 like other EITI implementing countries – I am positive that PNG will have been fully prepared by then to meet this important reporting requirement.”

Bougainvilleans want Filipino miner out of their ancestral land

Jarius Bondoc | The Philippine Star | October 29, 2018

A Filipino miner is causing social unrest in the Pacific island of Bougainville, the same way he stirred up Mindanao tribesmen against his mining. Tens of thousands of Bougainville natives are livid that SR Metals Inc., owned by Eric Gutierrez, is to log and consequently extract copper. Central authorities in Papua New Guinea are being asked why an outsider has been allowed into the Panguna forest. Foreign mining in Panguna had triggered a ten-year civil war, 1988-1998, that claimed the lives of 20,000 people. Since then Panguna has been declared a “no-go zone.”

Gutierrez’s SRMI up to recently was extracting nickel in the mountains of Tubay, Agusan del Norte. Dispossessed Lumad had opposed his 20 years of supposed small-scale mining that actually exceeded legal limits. It also denuded forests in and beyond its 128-hectare concession. Three thousand tribe folk and lowlanders had petitioned for SRMI’s closure, to no avail. Their lawyer was assassinated in broad daylight and a protesting priest falsely accused of rape. Violent clashes spread to other mines in other towns over the years, during which 68 tribesmen were killed.

SRMI claims to have received exploration rights from Papua president John Momis, a defrocked Catholic priest. Gutierrez’s partner, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice was reported to have said they are moving all their equipment from Agusan to Bougainville. Supposedly the government in that Papuan territory welcomes them into 183 square kilometers of forest and proven copper mines.

Bougainville tribe leader Cletus Miarama disputed them, however. “SR Metals did not have free and informed consent to go into our customary land and explore,” he declared. “They are going into our customary land without our permission. They are even also going into our sacred sites.” The battle scarred Bougainville natives never surrendered to the superior government forces. Their civil strife ended in stalemate, and can reignite for the same exploitation of Panguna natural resources.

SRMI gradually closed down during the first two years of the Duterte administration. At least thrice during the 2016 presidential campaign and five times thereafter President Duterte publicly denounced Gutierrez as a destructive, abusive miner. The BIR presently is investigating SRMI for unpaid taxes from P28-billion in ore exports to China. In 2008, the Supreme Court found the mine guilty of over-extracting nickel from its yearly 50,000-ton ore limit.

Gutierrez had found favor with the Aquino administration as financier of the then-ruling Liberal Party, and Erice as spokesman. President Noynoy Aquino reportedly signed as witness for SRMI to recompense original Tubay mine licensee Rodney Basiana P1 billion, a debt that was never paid. Aquino also twice awarded SRMI for supposed responsible mining.

Landowners oppose Lae’s coal-fired project

“We landowners of the Markham Valley, people of Papua New Guinea, we do not want coal-fired power or coal mining in our country”.

The National aka The Loggers Times | October 26, 2018

Markham Valley biomass landowners from Morobe have resisted the coal-fired project in Lae, spearheaded by Energy Minister Sam Basil and Lae MP John Rosso.

They travelled to Port Moresby this week to hold meetings with PNG Power Ltd and Government departments over the delay with the biomass project to which they have committed land.

Chairman Sam Meyab, of the Zif Faring Business Group, said yesterday the landowners wanted to show their support for the PNG Biomass project and to confront PPL, Energy Minister Sam Basil and Treasurer Charles Abel over the delay.

“The politicians think coal is the answer,” he said.

“We landowners of the Markham Valley, people of Papua New Guinea, we do not want coal-fired power or coal mining in our country.

“We want a clean, renewable, healthy future for our children.

“Coal has no place in PNG.

“We want renewable biomass to power our homes, not dirty coal.

“We want healthy lives, not a polluting coal-powered plant in Lae.

“We want our Government to honour its commitments – to us, to the developer, to the country, to the world.”
Meyab said the biomass project had all licences and permits, approvals and a signed power-purchasing agreement with PPL.

“We know that the biomass project sponsor Oil Search Ltd wants this project to go ahead,” he said.

Ministers and bureaucrats set for tax payer funded Xmas shopping in Sydney

Christmas shopping in Sydney for Ministers and mining sector public servants will once again be funded by the PNG tax-payer.

PNG’s Premier International Conference Set For December

Post Courier | October 25, 2018

PAPUA New Guinea’s premier international conference, the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference will be staged this year in Sydney, Australia from December 3 to 5.

Hosted by the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, this will be the 15th conference that has been held outside of PNG primarily for potential investors and major players in the mining and petroleum industry.

More than 700 delegates and exhibitors from resource and service companies, government organisations, landowner groups, international investors and financiers, and aid organisations are expected to attend the conference.

Themed PNG Resources Industry: Investment and Partnership to enable PNG’s Growth and Development, the conference will once again showcase the exciting developments occurring in PNG’s resource sectors, as well as highlights from PNG APEC 2018. It will also provide a comprehensive technical update on the current and proposed projects, new discoveries and exploration.

The event offers an excellent opportunity to meet all the players in the PNG mining and petroleum industry, including financiers, government, service companies and contractors, and for joint venture discussions, networking and promotions.

Highlights will include the performance and proposed expansion of the world class PNG LNG Project, progress of the planned Papua LNG project based on the major Elk-Antelope gas fields, as well as updates on the mega-sized Wafi-Golpu and Frieda River copper-gold prospects.

The conference comes directly after the APEC 2018 Leaders’ week.

Outcomes and successes of this global forum will be highlighted for the first time in the mining and petroleum conference and will be a feature of the overall event.

Key government Ministers will continue their post APEC partying in Sydney

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, will deliver the opening address followed by speeches during the event from Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel, Mining Minister Johnson Tuke, Petroleum Minister Dr Fabian Pok, Minister for Communication, Information Technology & Energy Sam Basil, Environment and Conservation Minister John Pundari and Minister Responsible for APEC Justin Tkatchenko.

In focus also will be the structure of the PNG resources industry’s fiscal regime and the management of landowner benefits and growth in business development opportunities.

Experiences from the international firm Arctic Slope Regional Corporation a locally owned Alaskan conglomerate will highlight their achievements and challenges in managing a sustainable community business.

Mr Tkatchenko will speak on the outcomes and successes of the PNG APEC 2018.

The conference will also feature an international guest speaker Professor Paul Stevens, a distinguished fellow at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

Prof Stevens will be providing valuable insight into the global oil and gas market, with focus on the outlook for PNG and its new developments. He is also a professor emeritus at the University of Dundee and has published extensively on energy economics, the international petroleum industry and economic development issues, among others.

Impact of Industrial & Economic Development on the Environment

 

“We do not inherit the earth from our parents; we borrow it from our children”….North American Indian proverb.

Pope Francis once said: “Destroying the Earth is Sin”. 

“Safeguard Creation,” he said, “because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us!”

“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude,”

Leo Nainoka | Social Empowerment & Education Program (SEEP) | 25 October 2018

The over-riding concerns of the Church and certain NGOs like SEEP has been centered on the inequitable distribution of the Earth’s resources.

We would like to focus our attention on the greatest victim of unjust decisions – the rural communities.

One of the themes of Social Justice is “Stewardship of Creation” and it is very important to take note of what Pope Francis said “Creation is a gift that God has given us so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all.”

There are still so many proposed extractions, gravel extraction on rivers and logging being planned in Fiji.

There are so many in the tenement list and maps by the mineral resources department. There is a plan to mine bauxite in Wainunu, Bua. There is magnetite mining earmarked for Sigatoka river by Dome and Gusunituba river in Votua, Ba by Amex. There is ongoing bauxite mining in Dreketi.

There is also plan to mine Namosi of Gold and copper but the Tikina Namosi landowners Committee are holding up well and of cause there is a plan to mine gold in Tuvatu, Sabeto.

Before every mine plan is given the green light there needs to be proper EIA – Environment Impact Assessment process conducted by independent consultants and Fisheries Impact Assessment for gravel extraction and harvesting code of practice for logging

We must first of all examine our ideas on development. Those who are proposing these kinds of development must first of all understand the meaning of development. What really does development mean to us?

Women of Votua selling crabs

While it is true to say that buildings, equipment and money are useful and necessary for development purposes we must be really careful to remind ourselves that development must focus on human beings and not things like infrastructure and so forth. The core of development has to be people centered.

Early French Philosopher, writer and historian – Francois Marie Arouet, well known as Voltaire once said “Don’t think money does everything, or you are going to end up doing everything for money”

In a Globalized world that we are living in, there is more hunger for more money instead of focusing more on human beings.

The focus of every development initiative should be people. Sustainable development is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future generation’s.

The village of Votua, Ba are not really happy on how their “qoliqoli” will be used to extract black sand or magnetite.

In the Fiji Times of 9^th July, 2018 it was reported that “Villagers are still in the dark on black sand extraction”. It went on to say that “some villagers of Votua in Ba claim they have been in the dark regarding black sand extraction in Ba River which according to locals the real name of the river is “Gusunituba”

The village of Votua has three clans – Yavusa Narai , Yavusa Nadua and Yavusa Balavu. The heads of these three clans told us, Social Empowerment & Education Program – SEEP that “they said yes only to exploration” not extraction.

The location of the extraction site is a food bank and livelihood for the people of Votua, Ba. It has contributed to their daily sustenance, education for their children, their community hall, their church and their school.

Proposed extraction site

The three heads of clans are asking the Government to put a stop to this project for the sake of their people, not only for themselves but for their future generation as well.

Awareness raising and community education are extremely important in relation to conservation of fresh water and sea water resources.

This topic also warrants attention in school curricula and adult education programs, including health awareness programs. Again the Churches should play a leading role in encouraging understanding and commitment.

There were no proper due diligence conducted with the people of Votua, Nawaqarua and nearby settlements. There was no free, prior and informed consent.

Free Prior and Informed  Consent is an extraction of UNDRIP for all Indigenous peoples of the world and the right of all Indigenous peoples to be fully informed and to reject or give their consent based on their own collective decision making process to any project that concerns them.

All facts must be shared to the communities where they can base their decision and agreement by the people is without force or manipulation by outside parties or the State.

The indigenous people have their right to their land and their resources and must be free from hazardous materials. They have the right to redress.

According to the people of Votua Village, their Marine resources are very important to their daily needs.

They also said that if these extraction project is given the green light it will drastically threatened their livelihood and very disruptive to coral reefs nearby. Several saltwater and freshwater species are endangered by this unsustainable practice. According to experts extraction causes profound effects on biodiversity.

Makereta Ranadi and Mikaele Seru – looking for crabs to sell

Mangroves are largely found on both sides of the river bank in Gusunituba, Votua, Ba. If these mangroves are lost or if there are mangrove canopies, this will result in diminishing the values of subsistence and commercial fishing by the community of Votua, Nawaqarua and nearby settlements.

Fish, crabs, land crabs, reef fish, prawns, mud crabs, turtles, ark shell, freshwater mussels and other varieties of resources from the river and the seafront can all be threatened if this project is given the green light to go ahead. The environment and the economy are two sides of the same coin.

Most local communities all over the world are resisting environmental destruction of their local habitats and communities but it will be good for the Government and companies to engage with communities like Votua, Ba and provide awareness and bring them on board to understand the effects of this project on their culture, their social lives, the degradation to their environment and their livelihood and how it will have an impact on our weather patterns.

The Social Empowerment & Education Program – SEEP together with communities of Votua, Nawaqarua and nearby settlements believes and hope that good sense and wisdom will prevail, allow for proper consultation and let the communities understand the effects on their environments, their social lives, culture and give them the space to properly discuss these and make their own decision whether to mine or not to mine.

Communities reject planned Frieda river mine

Ambunti on the the Sepik River

“most of the river communities in Ambunti, Wosera-Gawi and Angoram have responded negatively”

By Clifford Faiparik | The National aka The Loggers Times | 22 October 2018

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, pictured, says many communities along the Sepik River have expressed concerns about environmental impacts that will be brought about by the Frieda River mine.

Bird said this yesterday in response to reports of a team from the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) carrying out awareness on the mine along the Sepik River.

“Most of the river communities in Ambunti, Wosera-Gawi and Angoram have responded negatively to a team of officers from Mineral Resources Authority who were there to do awareness on the mine,” Bird said.

“Villagers tend to become suspicious of government officers conducting awareness on a project that will affect their environment.

“They are also suspicious that they will not get economic benefits from such impact projects, although the government officers had portrayed a promising economic and social benefits package to them in the awareness.

“MRA officers had been conducting awareness for two weeks amongst villagers along the river about the economic and social benefits from the Frieda mine.”

The mine is at Telefomin in West Sepik.

Meanwhile, the MRA officers said they had encountered some “misunderstandings” while conducting awareness.

“We were advised not to conduct awareness in those villages,” one of the officers said.

“This misunderstanding was created by a non-government organisation that was there earlier on conducting awareness on the mine.”

China takes baby steps in the bottom of the Mariana Trench

The chubby, fish-like Qianlong-2 submersible is lowered from its mother vessel prior to a dive in the Indian Ocean. Photo- Xinhua.jpg

According to China’s oceanic authority, the next step for the country’s deep-sea technology is developing and testing a drilling facility named Shenlong, plus a mining platform named Kunlong and an information-sharing system called Yunlong.

Asia Times | October 22, 2018

China is getting closer to exploring the bottom of the ocean after a research mission deep in the Mariana Trench, the largest crack in the Earth’s surface that is more than 10 kilometers deep in the Pacific Ocean.

China’s oceanic research vessel Tansuo-1 returned to its home port of Sanya in southern China’s Hainan province last week, wrapping up a 54-day, 7,292-nautical-mile deep-sea research mission.

During the mission a team of 59 researchers remotely piloted and grabbed some close-up looks into the Mariana Trench.

Researchers from the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences tested deep-sea equipment for geophysics, marine geology, geochemistry and marine biology.

Deep sea exploration vessel the Tansuo-1. Photo: Xinhua

During the expedition, two 7,000-meter-class deep-sea gliders operated continuously for 46 days, making it the only abyss-class glider in the world proven to be able to work continuously for an extended period of time under the sea.

A magnesium seawater fuel cell carried out two tests as the world’s first new metal seawater fuel cell tested in the 10,000-meter abyss. In addition, researchers also used a remote-controlled robot to complete high-definition live-streaming 10,000 meters down near the bottom of the trench.

Earlier this year, Chinese media reported the development of underwater platforms to be launched after 2020 to take samples on the bottom of the South China Sea, as well as plans to probe the Mariana Trench.

The People’s Daily has reported that China’s most advanced manned submersible, the Jiaolong, or “flood dragon” in Mandarin, was undergoing a retrofit at the National Deep Sea Center in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao.

Its next dive will be in the deepest part of the South China Sea, a central basin with an average depth of five kilometers. The Jiaolong can dive up to seven kilometers deep.

The launch of the Jiaolong is a landmark in China’s deep-sea exploration as scientists will be able to reach the sea floor for a closer look and complete refined sampling missions.

China is also developing a manned submersible that can dive to 11km and withstand the immense pressure with its sea trial scheduled in 2021, to “scour the bottom of the 11,034-meter-deep Mariana Trench,” according to the People’s Daily.

In April last year, the Jiaolong finished three dives in the South China Sea. It normally carries three people, a pilot and two scientists.

A dive usually starts around 7am and takes 10 hours. The three people inside can only move in a round, cramped space that has a diameter of 1.4 meters, said Gao Xiang, a senior engineer at the center.

According to China’s oceanic authority, the next step for the country’s deep-sea technology is developing and testing a drilling facility named Shenlong, plus a mining platform named Kunlong and an information-sharing system called Yunlong.

This equipment is expected to be finalized in 2020 and put into the South China Sea sometime after that.

Australian company pushing to open Papua New Guinea’s first coal-fired power plant

PHOTO: A new 60 megawatt power station would have the ability to burn coal as well as use renewable biomass. (ABC News: Peter Giafis)

An Australian company is pushing ahead with plans to open a coal-fired power plant and coal mine in Papua New Guinea, despite the recent call from the world’s most authoritative climate science body to completely cut greenhouse emissions by 2050.

Key points:

• Mayur Resources plans to open a power plant and possible coal mine in PNG
• A new power facility is expected in just over two years, the Energy Minister says
• Activists say the move would be counter to PNG’s commitments under the Paris accords

Yara Murray-Atfield | ABC News | 19 October 2018

Australian-based and PNG-focused Mayur Resources is proposing the establishment of an “Enviro Energy Park” in the industrial hub of Lae in PNG’s Morobe province.

Mayur has been in talks for the project since at least 2014, but now a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) has been signed between the company, the Lae City Authority, and the Morobe Provincial Government.

The MOA details plans for a new 60 megawatt power station, with the ability to burn coal as well as use renewable biomass, solar energy, and by-product heat.

Mayur Resources’ managing director Paul Mulder told the ABC the company was essentially at the stage of being “construction-ready” for the project, which he said would significantly reduce the energy cost for Papua New Guineans.

On Tuesday, Mayur released a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange detailing further non-binding plans to work with coal exporter Square at a coal mine in another province, touting the “low-ash, low-sulphur coal” found at Gulf Province’s Depot Creek.

If the projects are built, they would mark the first coal-fired power plant and coal mine in the country.

Coal generates mixed reaction

The project has attracted high-profile supporters, including Energy Minister Sam Basil who did not respond to an ABC request for comment, but said in a Mayur press release that “we can expect a new power facility in just over two years from now”.

“Whilst there are always those that will criticise, I take this opportunity to outline that Australia enjoys its first world developed lifestyle with 70 per cent of its total energy coming from coal,” Mr Basil said in the release, adding that this project would only be a much smaller fraction of PNG’s total energy.

PNG is a signatory to the Paris Agreement and, like Australia, recently signed the Pacific Islands Forum’s Boe Declaration, which says climate change “remains the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security, and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific”.

An assessment from PNG’s Conservation and Environment Protection Agency has given its endorsement to the plan, but it still faces community backlash.

“Our neighbours are really facing an existential crisis from sea level rise,” Christian Lohberger, head of anti-coal activist group Nogat Coal, told the ABC.

“So we think it’s irresponsible for Papua New Guinea to invest in coal, especially because there are many, many alternatives in Papua New Guinea for energy generation,” added Mr Lohberger, who also works for the Astra Solar company in PNG.

In 2016, World Bank data suggested only 23 per cent of the population had access to electricity, and even larger, electrified cities like the capital Port Moresby and Lae experience severe and frequent power outages.

Mr Mulder of Mayur Resources said PNG was an “energy-starved nation” and that the proposal “reduces the emissions footprint of what is currently the state of play in Papua New Guinea.”

Most prominent businesses in Lae use diesel-powered generators, which can produce carbon dioxide and other particulate emissions, and are known to reduce air quality.

“We’ve got the emission thing, but by the same token, if you lived in Lae, you would understand,” Lae MP John Rosso told the ABC.

“We have huge power fluctuations and we [sometimes] go a week without power.

“Our factories are suffering, our consumers are suffering, and I had to make that call, because we can’t keep sitting in the dark and letting our kids sit in the dark.”

The plan does have some resistance within government circles, with the Minister for Lands and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Justin Tkatchenko telling the ABC “for me personally … I am against coal fire, 100 per cent”.

Final hurdle is ‘unsolicited’ power agreement

The recent MOA is not an official contract, but Mayur said it had completed a feasibility study, selected a site, secured environmental approval, and received bids for the construction of the facility.

The plan also details a commitment to fully fund a research institute at the University of Technology, and provide $130,000 per year for 25 years to a local charity.

The sticking point for the project is now getting national provider PNG Power to sign a Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) before energy could be sold to the country’s grid.

PNG Power’s acting managing director Carolyn Blacklock said they had received four “unsolicited” PPA proposals from Mayur over several years, without a public tender process, and that it was unlikely a deal would be signed without a competitive bidding process.

But Mr Mulder said the company received a written request for a PPA and was provided with PNG Power documentation to submit, which they did in March 2016.

The ABC has sighted a letter that appears to be from then-director of strategic planning and business development Chris Bais dated October 2015, which “welcomes” Mayur to submit a PPA proposal.

Ms Blacklock took on the acting managing director job earlier this year following a reshuffle of the company’s board and has overseen a massive restructure of the company.

She said regardless of what correspondence the company had engaged in to date, PNG Power had no obligation to accept any PPA proposal.

“In PNG we have very high costs over power, in part driven because what has been done at PNG Power: uncompetitive processes that have led to uncompetitive prices that leads to uncompetitive tariffs for our consumers,” Ms Blacklock told the ABC.

Meanwhile Energy Minister Sam Basil was quoted in the press release as saying “there is no cheaper alternative ready to be built” and that it was time for PNG Power to “act swiftly” to finalise the agreement.

“It doesn’t mean just because there’s pressure applied, that the PNG Power board or myself or management are going to be swayed,” Ms Blacklock said.

A month ago, Mayur resources was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange and raised $15.5 million in an over-subscribed initial public offering — money they say will go towards developing further projects in PNG.

Wafi-Golpu Project To Lift Economic Growth, Says O’Neill

ECONOMIC GROWTH DOES NOT MEAN BETTER LIVES FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE

Benny Geteng | Post Courier | October 16, 2018

The Wafi-Golpu project in Morobe province and Papua LNG in Gulf province will help PNG experience a 3 per cent economic growth when productions begin, said Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

Mr O’Neill said the two projects, when they start producing will boost the economy of the country at a sustainable rate.

“PNG will experience a medium growth of 3 percent. 3 percent is a sustainable growth for a country.

“The Wafi – Golpu mine will be the basis to deliver infrastructure to the province,” he said.

Mr O’Neill said with the Papua LNG Project there is good progress to deliver the project and the negotiation team is at fiscal terms of project signing and closing to pass concessions.

He said the economy is looking bright at a good economic projection of 2- 3 per cent growth.

He also said there will be no fly in fly out for employees of Wafi -Golpu.

Mr O’Neill made this statement last week during the swearing in of the Lae City Authority interim board following a recent strong stance by Morobean parliamentarians who have made it clear they do not want the practice of fly in fly out in the Wafi – Goplu project.

Mr O’Neill said the country will not repeat the same mistakes of the billion dollar LNG Project deal in Hela Province to the new projects and the leaders have now learnt from their mistakes.

“We built an international airport in Hela and that airport is only used once every month,” he said.

He said these are some instances of missed opportunities that the Government will try to avoid in the upcoming mining projects of the country.

The Prime Minister said the new Wafi – Golpu mine is a bankable project for the country to embrace.

The construction phase of the Wafi – Golpu is valued at K5 billion and is set to be one of the biggest revenue earners for Morobe province when gold production starts.