Mining Minister Honourable Muguwa Dilu, has urged all landowners, impacted communities and stakeholders of the Porgera Mining Project, to fast-track the Community Development Agreement (CDA) process so that they could start receiving benefits.
The Minister was speaking in Tari on Friday April 26, where he addressed the Hides-Porgera Power Line landowners of the Porgera Mining project.
He said the Porgera Mining Project was a priority of the Marape-Rosso Government, adding that the government wanted to ensure that the mine goes into full operations immediately.
The meeting with the power-line landowners was the final one of a series of pre-CDA meetings, which the State Team has been conducting in the last few months, involving all landowners and stakeholders. The aim of pre-CDA meetings has been to provide the State’s response to the position papers, create awareness, clarify issues, prepare landowners and respond to specific pre-dominant agendas presented in position papers submitted by landowners and stakeholders.
The next step is to launch CDA proper in the coming weeks, after which, all parties and other stakeholders will convene at a venue to be announced soon, to negotiate benefits through the CDA process. Minister Dilu recently announced that the CDA proper would be held in May 15-30-2024.
The Minister told the power line landowners: "Yumi mas stretim olgeta hevi na wari blong yumi before long end of May-June."
He said all landowner groups were important stakeholders of the project, and that the government would ensure their position papers were considered.
He urged them to cooperate with the State Team and quickly find ways forward to addressing their positions on major potential benefit streams available to them such as equity and Business Development Grants.
He reminded the landowners however, that there were laws and policies governing the potential acquisition of benefits. He said the State would not negotiate benefits outside of laws and asked for understanding from landowners and stakeholders.
The Minister was accompanied to the meeting in Tari, by the Governor for Hela Province, Honourable Philip Undialu and the Managing Director of the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) Mr Jerry Garry, who joined the State Team that had gone to Tari earlier in the week to conduct pre-CDA meeting.
Governor Undialu said his government and his people supported the Porgera Mining project. However, he urged the State Team to clearly define the various benefit streams and how exactly his government and his people would benefit, taking into account the various laws and policies that govern benefits distribution. His landowners expressed the same sentiments.
