Central Governor Robert Agarobe of Papua New Guinea said the (Central) government will support the Gulf in all aspects of the US$12 billion (K41.38 billion) Papua LNG initiative, especially in terms of community benefits.
He said this at the unveiling of many impact projects in Ihu, Kikori, including the Ihu Special Economic Zone (Isez).
According to Agarobe, the locals from the four impacted villages – Papa, Lea Lea, Boera, and Poerabada – earned royalties as a result of the PNG LNG initiative, but their standard of living remained poor.
“It is good to know that this part of the country is full of resources,” he said.
“But these resources will only benefit the people if it’s managed well.
“I can only speak from experience and with the experience I have with the PNG LNG project is that when we are trying to measure the benefits or the success of any project, I can only measure it by going back to the affected villages to see how my people are actually living with the development going on.
“If we go back to Central, where we have the four affected villages, we do get royalties as benefits and infrastructure development grants but in terms of standard of living of our people, it is still very poor.”
