THE New Porgera Mine Development Forum scheduled for Monday, 21 Aug, 2023 has been stopped by the Court.
Not only that the planned forum was “sub-judice” but it has also been slapped with a K1 billion demand on its face by Hides PDL 1 Council of Chiefs.
Private lawyer, Mr. Ralph Saulep of Saulep Lawyers had successfully sought an injunctive order in Court on Friday effectively stopping the planned Forum to proceed.
In a statement circulated on the Court website, Mr. Saulep stated: “IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL PARTICIPANTS OF THE NEW PORGERA DEVELOPMENT FORUM.
“Deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi this afternoon (18.08.23) issued an interim Order restraining the Development Forum from proceeding on Monday 21st August 2023 until the ruling of the Injunction Application in SCA 96/2021 (currently pending before the Supreme Court) or until the Court Further Orders.
“The matter returns to Court at 9.30AM on Monday 21st August 2023. By virtue of s.155 (6) of the Constitution.
“All Citizens and Officers of the Government (both National and Provincial) must abide by the Restraining Order.
“Kandakasi DCJ went on to remark from the Bench that the Government must begin to respect the Courts Jurisdiction whilst important matters and issues regarding the New Mine are pending (Sub-Judice) before the Supreme Court and allow the Courts to exercise their jurisdiction.
“All Parties and Stakeholders must take note. More importantly, if your Lawyer was at the Court today in Court Room 8, then please confirm with him as to the accuracy of this Public Announcement.
“(Approved for Release). RALPH. A. SAULEP. Saulep Lawyers – Lawyers for Porgera SML1 Landowners Nelson Akiko and Ruben Loli Nalepe,”.
The Enga Provincial Government had taken out a full color page public notice in the newspapers on Friday welcoming the arrival of the Prime Minister, James Marape and Mining Minister, Sir Ano Pala to Enga to preside over the New Porgera Development Forum schedule for Monday, 21 Aug.
Also on Friday, the Hiwa-Tuguba Council of Chiefs (HTCC) gathered at Gerehu Rainbow Estate, Port Moresby at the Office of their lawyer, Jerry Kama of Jerry Kama Lawyers and expressed their grievances and opposition to the planned forum.
In a media statement, HTCC Chairman, Chief Ekawi Tayanda said: “there shall be no new Porgera deal until the State and the project operators acknowledge, accept and pay a total of K1 billion for breaches of the terms and outstanding benefits in the 1993 Compromised Agreement and the 1996 MOA respectively”.
“This, among other demands is contained in the Position Paper dated 2nd August, 2023 that was already submitted to the respective offices of Government as well as project operators and is pending responses and actions”.
Hiwas (9 clans) and Tugubas (8 clans) reign from Komo sub district of Hela province whose land host the ‘gas to electricity’ (GTE) project that cater for the operations of the multi-million kina Porgera gold mine in Enga province.
The same Hides ‘brown field’ also host the multi-billion kina PNG LNG project operating under one and same Petroleum Development License (PDL) 1.
The Chiefs also demanded that:
The Secretary of the Department of Petroleum and Energy, Mr. David Manau respect the November, 2022 orders of the National Court and pay K27 million of the K40 million GTE capped funds forthwith to the Hiwa-Tuguba Council of Chiefs which funds to be held in a National Court Trust Account until such time it is appropriate to utilize it on its intended purposes;
The Secretary of the Department of Petroleum and Energy, Mr. David Manau to explain the K13 million balance of this money that disappeared in thin air; andMineral Resource Development Corporation (MRDC) to explain their other funds that was approved by the National Executive Council in December, 2010 under the Infrastructure Development Grants (IDG) and Business Development Grants totaling some K300 million.
“The signatories in the 1993 Dispute Settlement Agreement which consented to the State and the developers to enter our land are chiefs of Hiwa and Tuguba tribes. Some have died and have next of kin in place while others are alive today to oversee the operations of this Agreement.
“Unfortunately, the State and developers had ignored us for 30 years – 1993 to 2023. We remind the State and the developers again that there are no other landowners except us – the Hiwas and Tugubas. We are the original legitimate landowners of this land as captured in the 1993 Dispute Compromise Agreement. It is not you land. It is not your resource. You are guilty and must be ashamed if you do not include and involve us in all matters relating to landownership of Hides 1 double projects.
“For 30 years, the Chiefs and their people have been waiting for services and development to arrive in our area but to no avail. Instead, greed and corruption crept in and had hijacked the process resulting in total neglect of Hiwa Tuguba people.
“We are tired of waiting and have lost trust in the system. So today, we the 17 Chiefs of Hiwas and Tugubas have come in persons to Port Moresby to collect our money and what other benefits that rightly belongs to us. We wrote letters after letters to relevant authorities asking for meeting so we can receive our rightful benefits. No one responded. We were not even invited for a cup of coffee. But you forget, it is us that gave you the permission to enter our land and operate your business and extracted our resource and have made billions, if not trillions, while we suffer in silence.
“And while we are here in Port Moresby pursuing these outstanding issues, you the State and project operators are trying to escape through the back door to go up to Porgera and Tari to hold Development Forums. There is no one up there to talk with. We are here in Port Moresby if you want to talk? I am the one who will give you the passport to enter my country. Right now you have no passport to enter my country therefore, you are not authorized to enter my country, talk with my people, access my land, and exploit more of my God-given resources,” Chief Tayanda said.
