In a show of frustration over the nonpayment of the Business Development Grant, the Angore landowners in Hela Province, Papua New Guinea have burnt down all LNG machineries on PDL 8 site.This includes an excavator as well as the drilling machine while cutting sections of the highway leading to PDL 8.
Sources from ground revealed that the Angore Landowners particularly from PDL 8 are angry over their outstanding business development grant (BDG) which is kept in the trust and is not being released.
While the government of the day see fit to release recently a K35 million as project security fees to Hides landowners of PDL 1 and PDL 4, the Angore landowners particularly in Hides PDL 8 area are frustrated in the way Exxon Mobil and the government of day has dealt with this issue.
Spokesman Max Ekeya said various claims on the social media about asking the Prime Minister to step down and others were rubbish as it was not the true information that caused the riot and burning down of the machineries at the PDL 8 site.
“The Angore landowners are showing their frustration because they have not got their BDG while other landowners from Hides PDL 1 and 4 just got K35 million as project security fees in which K20million went to PDL 1 and K15million to PDL 4,” Ekeya said.
“The landowners are not asking the Prime Minister to step down but are asking the government to release their Business Development grants,” Ekeya said.
In an exclusive phone interview with Tom Homake, a civil engineer with Hides Gas Development Company confirmed on ground that the all machines including an excavator at the PDL 8 site were all burnt down in the early hours of today.
“Information on setting alight the Eneria pipeline is not true and those are just hear say but I cannot confirm that,” the HGDC civil engineer Homake said when asked if the pipelines were also set on fire.
“Other Hides areas including the PDL 1 and PDL 4 up to PDL 7 area are okay as I speak. WE are on site doing a road projects from Takali to Komo and I can confirm on ground,” Homake said.
Homake said this can change as time goes but what he can say from now is that the Angore PDL 8 landowners are now asking the National Government and Exxon Mobile to come down and make their payment.
“The Angore landowners are saying that the K35 million given to Hides PDL 1 and 4 must also be given to them and they will not stop until their claims are being met,” Homake said.
“Yes there were machines burnt down to show their frustration and this has got nothing to do with the SHP issue on hand. This is specifically their landowner issues showing their frustration,” Homake said.
Meanwhile Ekeya has called on the government to quickly intervene as he believes opportunists might take the law into their own hands and this may cause another destruction altogether
Kevin Tema | Post Courier |