PNGBLOGS

ONECOUNTRY The problems of LNG Landowners are long time in the making, not just of this LNG Project. The attitude of government in not conducting social mapping and sitting down with its own citizens and determining land boundaries, trupela landowners, exact nature of and bundle of rights applying to various groups in respect of project areas and pipeline corridor, is not new. In the past it has been just shoving matters down the throats of people. The Kutubu and the Gobe Projects are clear examples. In respect of the Gobe project, the government instead of resorting to social mapping prior to granting Development license, it bulldozed it and forced the people to camp in Port Moresby fighting over who owns what. They never had a chance to negotiate their equity or royalty rights. It then locked up their meager royalties and forced the people to enter into serious debt living in the corridors of court houses trying to determine who owns what- something the government should have done as

ONECOUNTRY The problems of LNG Landowners are long time in the making, not just of this LNG Project. The attitude of government in not conducting social mapping and sitting down with its own citizens and determining land boundaries, trupela landowners, exact nature of and bundle of rights applying to various groups in respect of project areas and pipeline corridor, is not new. In the past it has been just shoving matters down the throats of people. The Kutubu and the Gobe Projects are clear examples. In respect of the Gobe project, the government instead of resorting to social mapping prior to granting Development license, it bulldozed it and forced the people to camp in Port Moresby fighting over who owns what. They never had a chance to negotiate their equity or royalty rights. It then locked up their meager royalties and forced the people to enter into serious debt living in the corridors of court houses trying to determine who owns what- something the government shoul