In a bid to establish their authority as the voice of the PDL 8 landowners in PNG LNG project, chairmen of three Angore clans have established a leadership committee.
Yesterday they launched this committee while signing a memorandum of understanding which showed that they are united in their efforts to be recognised as the legitimate leaders of the Angore people, who host the three wellheads of the PNG LNG Project.
The leadership committee is made up of the chairmen of the four clans that host the 3 wellheads in the area.
Chairman of the leadership committee, John Akipe, says the lack of collaboration in the past has meant they missed out on certain benefits in the first part of the LNG project.
The leaders said they have been recognised under the alternative dispute resolution as the Chairmen of the genuine landowners of wellhead tenement area.
They say the establishment of this leadership committee will mitigate disputes.
The PNG LNG project has been plagued with landowner disputes from the beginning. There is a backlog of court cases lodged in the national courts over landowners’ rights over the project. As an alternative solution, the Chief Justice initiated the alternative dispute resolution which is led by Judge Kandakasi, which has come to a standstill.
The initiative by Angore Landowners show how the people are looking for innovative ways of ensuring genuine landowners are still recognised while the national government struggles to catch up with their formal recognition.
