Photo: PNG Government Secures 60 Percent in Wafi-Golpu Mine Project, PM Marape announces
The Papua New Guinea Government has finally settled on the total benefit sharing at over 60 per cent from the Wafi-Golpu project.
Prime Minister James Marape, in addressing the Morobe Tutumang in Lae, said the total benefits sharing included taxes, equity, royalty and also an additional social fee for the environment around the project area.
“The framework that was signed in Port Moresby recently is a guide on how best the Government, the developer and the resource owners will be working with each other to take the project from this point on,” he said. Marape added under the recently signed MoU framework, the Government had secured a “better defined royalty”.
PM Marape also explained that according to the law the developer could only pay two per cent.
“This is the case with resource owners from other projects in the country.
PM Marape said there were three layers of deductions on that two per cent.
The Prime Minister said that was why the Morobe government had pushed for the royalty percentage to be taken up to five per cent and reduce the equity to 20 per cent. He said considering the demand from the Morobe government, the State had to adjust the numbers to add up the monetary value of the total benefit and settled for 3.5 per cent.
PM Marape explained that the 3.5 per cent that was settled for was just K100 million less compared to the original five per cent.
“The Government also secured an additional 10 per cent equity on total benefits sharing because the previous government’s agreement was to forfeit 10 per cent of the benefits as royalty to settle for just 20 per cent equity,” Marape said.
PM Marape explained that was why former governor Ginson Saonu took the matter to court.
“So through the court, we recouped that 10 per cent in equity,” Marape said.
PM Marape confirmed that the financing of that additional 10 per cent would be done similar to the Porgera project.
“Seventy per cent of that additional 10 per cent equity will be raised by the developer while the government balances it,” PM Marape said.
"This additional 10 per cent has been fully secured and is for the people of Morobe.
