The Community Development Agreement (CDA) for the Central Cement and Lime (CCL) Project located in the Hiri-Koiari District of Central Province was initialed on February 6, in Port Moresby, the parties involved said in a statement.
A CDA is a government process and is basically a mine-derived benefits package, negotiated between concerned parties in any given mining project. The agreement, which outlines the distribution of benefits and responsibilities among CCL’s stakeholders, was signed by the following parties:
- Kido Landowners Association – CDA initialed by Chairman Hegoi Igo
- Rearea Landowners Association – initialed by Chairman Vai Aia
- Hiri Rural Local Level Government - initialed by the LLG President Hon Haoda Rogea
- Central Provincial Government - initialed by Governor Hon Rufina Peter
- State – initialed by Officer-In-Charge of the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), Nathan Mosusu
- Mayur Resources Limited – initialed by the company’s Managing Director Paul Mulder.
The initialing follows a week of negotiations, which began on January 30 in Port Moresby. Local landowners, government representatives, and the project developer, Mayur Resources Limited, engaged in discussions to finalize benefit-sharing agreements.
During the negotiations, Governor Peter and Hiri-Koiari MP Keith Iduhu reaffirmed their support for the project, emphasizing its potential economic impact on the district, the province, and the nation. They assured stakeholders of their commitment to securing benefits for the local people.
The CDA, a government-mandated process for mining projects, ensures that landowners and impacted communities receive equitable benefits from resource extraction. Key benefits negotiated include:
- Royalties
- Special Support Grants (SSG)
- Tax Credit Scheme
- Business Development Plan – spin-off benefits and contracts for landowners
- Infrastructure Development
Next Steps: Government Clearance and NEC Approval
The initialed copy of the CDA document will be put through the government process, where the various responsible government departments will give clearance.
- The Department of Commerce and Industry will give clearance on Business Development and Supply & Procurement plan.
- The Department of Labour & Industrial Relations will give clearance on Training & Employment.
- The Departments of Treasury and the Office of the State Solicitor will give fiscal and legal clearances respectively, before it is submitted to the National Executive Council (NEC) for final approval.
Once approved by the NEC, the agreement will be formally signed, and all parties will begin implementing their respective commitments.
The National Government has indicated that the formal signing of the CDA is expected within the first quarter of this year. It is set to be a significant milestone alongside other major projects, such as the Porgera Gold Mine and Wafi-Golpu mining developments, as PNG celebrates 50 years of independence.
