Marape needs KPPA to realize his policy platform

By SEKINOLO SAWALA

MUCH has been said about the purported bad side of Konebada Petroleum Park Authority – KPPA, both in print and electronic media, which has been responsible for the series of actions (decisions) taken by successive governments to date. This negative reporting has proved detrimental to the authority to realize its purpose, intent and objectives, such that it has thwarted the overall progress and tainted the image of this important government entity as one of the nation’s engine-room for growth and modernization, specifically, among other activities, downstream processing of petro-chemical by-products of hydro-carbon resources.

The negative reporting of KPPA has not been crossed-checked for confirmation and verification with the Chief Executive Officer Donald Valu before been released for public consumption. One such bad publicity was the paper released by the National Research Institute (NRI) which was biased and lacked substance. In this particular report, the NRI sided with a disgruntled faction of villagers and failed to consult and liaise with the genuine landowners who had made their land available for development purposes to the State through KPPA.

Despite, all the bad publicity and reporting, the KPPA has made significant progresses in the planning and preparatory stages in its business development and investment plans in as far as consultation and liaison work with potential investors and financiers are concerned for all intents and purposes of the authority. To be able to realize this strategic maneuvers, it had to raise funds internally by leasing or selling 10% of the park to cater for related costs such as travel expenses to go abroad and knock at the doors of investors. The investors have been identified and are now readily awaiting PNG government’s approvals to tie the knots for business to take off the ground.

It has set in place the necessary requirements and groundwork to bring in the investors to operate and conduct their businesses in the park. It has created industrial economic zones. It has created its subsidiary holding company called Petroleum Parks Holdings limited to hold State’s share through KPPA as stipulated under the KPPA Act. The amount of stake PNG would hold shall fall within the Government’s policy framework. In this case, 51% to PNG.

Apart from the Petroleum Park located at the junction of Porebada and Papa/Lealea roads, the authority holds 5 Non-Conventional Hydro-Carbon Licenses which contains over 282 trillion cubic feet of Gas and two Oil & Gas Exploration Licenses of Greenfield. According to experts in the market, the current market-value of these resources in all the licenses put together are worth in access of US$10 trillion or K30 trillion.

The KPPA has thus remained as the custodian of PNG’s remaining extractive hydro-carbon resources hence avoiding fast depletion as a result of reckless and unmonitored exploitations and shipments carried out by multi-national corporations that have track records of having little or no care for the host governments and their peoples, as are the cases in their operations in other parts of the world.

KPPA is aware of certain industry experts in PNG and abroad who have been tirelessly working 24/7 to snatch or remove the hydro-carbon licenses currently in the possession of KPPA. They have been pushing their dubious interests and through politicians and public servants, and obviously that is exactly what they have been doing to dismantle KPPA in order to grab the licenses. They have been behind the bad publicity and Policy Submissions to abolish KPPA.

Prime Minister, if it is your policy platform and desire to take back PNG, KPPA is the perfect case in point for a start. Take back KPPA and you have taken PNG back and made it rich already. Right now, the KPPA Act is still effective and in force and just needs your urgent attention to put it back on its feet and revive it by way of giving executive directions to line agencies such as Department of Personnel Management and Department of Treasury to accord full support in terms of staffing, administration and funding.

Prioritize KPPA as one of the government’s key agencies to realize your policy platform of making PNG a rich black nation in 10 years. Rather than wasting hundreds of millions of kina on non-performing provinces, departments and agencies, divert some of the funds to support KPPA with a budget allocation of K100 million to K200 million annually to cater for its operational commitments with a view to bringing in the first batch of investors into the park by second quarter of 2021. The benefits of progressing KPPA are huge.

Later reforms will see the authority branching out to all the provinces affected by the Oil & Gas projects such as SHP, Hela, Central, Western and Gulf. The current one will be re-named ‘National Petroleum Park Authority’ (NPPA). That is why the authority must be parked under the Prime Minister’s care under his department. The NPPA will become the central authority responsible for coordination, monitoring and oversight whilst the branches will be responsible for operations, implementation, and reporting. It is important that the current transition contemplated by KPPA must factor this key aspect of the reforms when making amendments to the KPPA Act.

When implementing the reforms, the Central Province will have a choice to use the same name ‘Konebada Petroleum Park Authority’ (KPPA) or change it. Likewise, the one for Hela Province can be called ‘Hela Petroleum Park Authority’ (HPPA) Gulf Petroleum Park Authority, Western Petroleum Park Authority and so forth.

Prime Minister, we need not look further for your government to take back PNG. KPPA is the answer and the perfect agency readily available to be fully utilized to realize our national dreams to make PNG a rich black nation in 10 years. Now it is becoming possible through the KPPA project.

The government just needs to set the Konebada Park alive by making the factories rolling in motion for the manufacture of Petro-chemical by-products and most importantly, bring into development the extraction of the petroleum resources currently under the custody of KPPA which are worth in access of US$10 trillion or K30 trillion.

It is therefore important that the KPPA as a crucial government agency must be anchored under the Department of Prime Minister & NEC for the Prime Minister to give the care and attention it requires.