Without clan vetting, PNG LNG pipeline clans to be paid

PNG’s largest extraction project, the PNG LNG project will pay royalty and equality to the impacted landowners along the 292km onshore pipeline from Hides in Hela Province to Omati landfall in Gulf.

This was announced through PNG media by the PNG Government, Department of Petroleum and Energy via Mineral Resource Development Company (MRDC) recently in Port Moresby. According to MRDC, there are 37 clans who has 44% interest will be paid.

PNG Govt is planning and coordinating through ExxonMobil, Oil Search, Bank South Pacific, MRDC and Electoral Commission to open up bank accounts for each clan to process the payments.

Clans who have current court orders and disputing clans will not be paid, according to the PNG’s Oil and Gas Act.

According to landowner sources, the PNG Government is yet to complete its clan vetting exercise to identify clan landownership for the PNG LNG project. Meanwhile, Hela Governor Philip Undilai has strongly blamed ExxonMobil and Oil Search Limited for not paying royalty and equality for the indigenous landowners amounting to well over K2-billion. – Via Garamut News.