PNG LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS PROJECT MAKES FIRST SHIPMENT
National Affairs Council of PNG
Finally the K45 billion PNG LNG investment project undertaken by Exxon Mobil and their investment partners including the Papua New Guinea government which invested approximately K9 billion to acquire its mandatory shares of 22.5 % as provided for in the Oil and Gas Act of 1998 had gone into production with the much anticipated return on investment.
The top brass of the PNG business leaders and government ministers had a week of champagne popping and excitement for the timely delivery of the gas shipment according to fixed project schedules given the difficult geographical terrain and the poor road conditions from the main supply port of Lae to the gas wells commonly referred to as Hides, named after colonial patrol officer Jack Hides who first patrolled through the area in what is now known as the Komo Magarima District in the Hela province.
The distinct difference between the signing of PNG LNG AGREEMENT and the commissioning of the first shipment of LNG was the notable absence of the Huli wig-man dancers whose omnipresence in all ceremonies to do with the project had been left behind up in the hills and substituted in name and spirit by a carrier vessel christened as the "SPIRIT OF HELA " which will carry their 'gigira laitebo ' over the 7 seas for many years to come bringing back money for us all to spend on our needs to progress as a nation.
On the Thursday 18 of March I was heading into Komo station when we passed this convoy of mine trucks leaving the Nogoli base camp to return to Lae for deployment elsewhere as the construction work at the oil and gas wells and the pipeline were completed.
Apart from the Nogoli base camp and the new airport at Komo used exclusively for the project Komo remained as the wayward and neglected government station with unkempt lawns and signs of neglect every where as Tom Bura, the Vice President of the Komo LLG was trying to explain that the District Administrative staff were operating from the company office doing company work.
The road network in Hela like the rest of the country does not indicate the status of the resource rich province it is even with the notable presence of one of the biggest road construction firms in Australasia,in Curtain Brothers.
It would seem obvious from the development on the ground that political leaders of the province were more concerned about their own pockets more than the welfare of their people.
Life will never be the same again for the Hela people who have seen a huge splash of cash with more than K500 million given as handouts which had been blown away with little or nothing to show on the ground that some form of enticement was paid out.
For the rural people in Hela it is back to school of hard knocks where you have to till the sweet potato mounds to survive as the American wage index for casuals has ended with no more work to do.
I wonder what the next cause of action would be as I advised earlier to the land owner groups demand equitable shares in the venture?
For now we will join the queue to push the government to flock its share equity to the PNG public and maintain its regulatory role, collecting revenue only through taxes and commissions.
The top brass of the PNG business leaders and government ministers had a week of champagne popping and excitement for the timely delivery of the gas shipment according to fixed project schedules given the difficult geographical terrain and the poor road conditions from the main supply port of Lae to the gas wells commonly referred to as Hides, named after colonial patrol officer Jack Hides who first patrolled through the area in what is now known as the Komo Magarima District in the Hela province.
The distinct difference between the signing of PNG LNG AGREEMENT and the commissioning of the first shipment of LNG was the notable absence of the Huli wig-man dancers whose omnipresence in all ceremonies to do with the project had been left behind up in the hills and substituted in name and spirit by a carrier vessel christened as the "SPIRIT OF HELA " which will carry their 'gigira laitebo ' over the 7 seas for many years to come bringing back money for us all to spend on our needs to progress as a nation.
On the Thursday 18 of March I was heading into Komo station when we passed this convoy of mine trucks leaving the Nogoli base camp to return to Lae for deployment elsewhere as the construction work at the oil and gas wells and the pipeline were completed.
Apart from the Nogoli base camp and the new airport at Komo used exclusively for the project Komo remained as the wayward and neglected government station with unkempt lawns and signs of neglect every where as Tom Bura, the Vice President of the Komo LLG was trying to explain that the District Administrative staff were operating from the company office doing company work.
The road network in Hela like the rest of the country does not indicate the status of the resource rich province it is even with the notable presence of one of the biggest road construction firms in Australasia,in Curtain Brothers.
It would seem obvious from the development on the ground that political leaders of the province were more concerned about their own pockets more than the welfare of their people.
Life will never be the same again for the Hela people who have seen a huge splash of cash with more than K500 million given as handouts which had been blown away with little or nothing to show on the ground that some form of enticement was paid out.
For the rural people in Hela it is back to school of hard knocks where you have to till the sweet potato mounds to survive as the American wage index for casuals has ended with no more work to do.
I wonder what the next cause of action would be as I advised earlier to the land owner groups demand equitable shares in the venture?
For now we will join the queue to push the government to flock its share equity to the PNG public and maintain its regulatory role, collecting revenue only through taxes and commissions.
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