Kaiabe: Laws have been encroached on, duplicated and hijacked

By HERON KANEMA

THE executive chairman of the National Gas Corporation Ltd (NGCL) Alfred Kaiabe is calling on the government to defer the proposed National Energy Policy (NEP) and proposed Organic Law and the Petroleum and National Energy Authority Bills.

He told a recent media conference that he objected the Bills and urged the government to defer the Bills giving the reasons that the proposed Bills; Petroleum Authority and National Authority Bills have been encroached on, duplicated and hijacked.

“The proposed laws encroach on standing laws-on the legislated mandate and boundaries of the National Gas Corporation Limited (NGCL) – the domestic gas producer, domestic gas operator and supplier in the country,” he said.

Mr Kaiabe stated that the bills not only duplicate but hijacked the legislated downstream processing mandate of the National Gas Corporation Limited (NGCL) under the Oil and Gas Act 1998 – a standing law.

“The law is clear in that NGCL remains the inviolable domestic gas operator, domestic gas producer, responsible for downstream processing of gas in PNG to ‘fire power for energy’ and meeting its Domestic Market Obligations (DMO) and no one else, but it happened that the politicians both past and present have colluded with the multi-national partners and wantonly omitted the NGCL form various project agreements,” he said.

He further added that there is no proper consultation between the government and the other stakeholders and for these reasons, all the landowners from the affected provinces are still in doubt.

“In majority rules in this country, there is always a minority voice and that is the voice of the landowners and regardless of where they are, we have to respect them, but it seems that their views are not on this proposed Organic Laws and Authority Bills,” he reiterated.

He points out that such a very important Energy Policy and Organic Law and Oil and Gas Authorities Bills were in a hurry and without consulting many of the stakeholders such as Department of Petroleum and Energy, PNG Power Limited and NGCL, among the many that have missed out in contributing to its drafting.

Mr Kaiabe however said that NGCL has served the letter (10 pages document) stating all reasons to why the deliberations of proposed Bills to the office of the Prime Minister on the 24^th of August 2020 was halted, and sent the copy to the Minister for Petroleum, but there has been a delay in the possible consultation between the Government and the NGCL, and he believed that as a delay tactic.

He said since there is no proper consultation between the Government and NGCL, he as the chairman of the NGCL had to take the concern to the media for public convenience.