Expectations among local communities about the benefits of Papua New Guinea's LNG Project are clearly divergent to what has been happening on the ground.
PNG's landmark 19 billion US dollar project, whose gas fields are in Hela province, is lead operated by ExxonMobil PNG and started shipping exports to Asian markets 2 years ago.
However this month the project has hit a snag with disgruntled Hela landowners deciding to block access to the main gas conditioning plant in Hides over what they claim are hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding project benefits owed to them for the past few years.
They have threatened to shut down the entire LNG project this month if the government doesn't respond adequately with payments pay up.
Johnny Blades spoke to a Hela-based observer, Isaac Pulupe, who told him about local perceptions that the government has not honoured its promises over benefits from the project.
Transcript
ISAAC PULUPE: Last week some government officials visited the landowners. These government officials came there but they didn't really fully meet their (landowners') requirements. They just came and made promises and then promises were the same old promises that they have been giving. That's what some of them are saying. But they haven't taken another action to break the wellhead again. I don't know what might happen by now or the coming days.
JOHNNY BLADES: Have people seen any benefits from the project yet?
IP: Yes, the project itself is like... almost every village living around the project site were employed during the construction phase. everyone has been employed and they were paid some good amount of money and when their properties or gardens have been destroyed, some sort of (compensation) payment was made. In terms of infrastructure, it's just all in the roads leading towards the company's own sites - they were not paved but cleared up for the vehicles to travel back and forth. They haven't had much benefits, just only employment they received, but now they are laid off after the construction phase is over, and people are just living as their normal life back in the past even prior to the project itself. And they are saying, oh the sort of money we thought that we would be holding for our lifetime and it's only two years and it's gone and they are having a lot of negative thoughts in their minds now.
JB: Are some of these landowner representatives, are they going to take up arms? Some have guns, don't they?
IP: Yes from what I have heard and even for several tribesmen who I have seen. This construction phase, when they were employed by the company, because they have a lot of money, they purchased weapons. The purpose of the weapons that they possess now is not really to fight against the government but they have sort of tribal enemies between themselves which they normally fight, even prior to the project coming to the area. So they have bought high-powered weapons to defend themselves against their tribal enemies. But if government continues to deny the rights of the people and break their promises, and it gets worse, then I believe that they might use the weapons they bought.
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