Finance Minister and Member for Tari Pori James Marape has deploredthe manner in which Hela Governor Anderson Agiru has presented a petition tothe government.
Agiru wasthe lead spokesman duringthe Umbrella Benefits Sharing Agreement negotiations in Kokopo for the various Licensed Besed Benefit Sharing Agreements.
Minister Marape expressed surprised that Agiru suddenly realized that Hela province has missed out on benefits.
He said K69 million kina which is sitting inthe IDG trust accounts will be paid out as soon asthe Hela Provincial government’submits its projects.
Given that,the minister said he does not seethe rationale behindthe governor’s outburst inthe media.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has already receivedthe petition and is set to outline allthe monies remitted to landowners and provincial governments next week.
Governor Agiru has giventhe state and developer Exxon Mobile 30 days to addresstheir issues or face legal action to shut downthe project.
This ultimatum was contained inthe petition which highlighted failures onthe part of Exxon Mobile andthe government to honour commitments made duringthe Umbrella Benefits Sharing Agreement andthe Licensed Besed Benefits Sharing agreements respectively.
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