Landowners block access to gas plant

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – The operators of the huge ExxonMobil LNG plant in Papua New Guinea say work is continuing normally despite a protest by landowners.

The disgruntled landowners claim they have not received any of the royalties due to them as promised by the national government.

Stanley Mamu of LNG Watch said they had barred access to the Hides gas conditioning plant in Hela Province.

The landowners have given the government seven days to respond with outstanding royalty and equity payments or face a shutdown of the entire LNG operations.

In the meantime, the gates to the Hides plant have been forcibly blocked by landowners, who chopped down trees to prevent access to the project site for Exxon and its contractors.

However the company said its operations were continuing though it was monitoring the situation regarding the peaceful protest.

Mamu said the landowners have got nothing from what he says have been 250 LNG shipments since the project went on line two years ago.

“So all the 19 commitments signed by ExxonMobil and the PNG Government have not been committed and everything is chaos.

“The landowners were sitting there, idle, waiting for their government their shares but nothing had ever happened this far.,” he said.

In a statement the company said: “We respect the right of individuals to peacefully protest, but we also encourage continued dialogue between landowners and the government to resolve their outstanding issues promptly.

“We are committed to maintaining a positive relationship with landowners, the government and the wider community.”

Landowner representatives warned police that they were fully armed and ready to confront any security personal that confront them, with police also being warned to vacate the Hides site.

This comes amid reports that police are deploying extra security personnel to the Hides area to protect the project sites.

- RNZI