The signing of the ministerial determination for the pipeline segments of the PNG LNG Project will now await a 28 day window for any objections.
Mineral Resources Development Company Managing Director, Augustine Mano, says the Ministerial Determination for the pipeline segments is the first step to realising the payment of royalties and equities.
He said if there are no objections then steps to begin payments will be initiated.
“The royalties are with the Central Bank, the only one that has been paid out to the plant site landowners,” Mano said.
“All the equities are with MRDC and we are just waiting for the clan vetting process to be done.
“Now we have the first stage where the Minister has done the determination. After the determination we’ll wait for 28 days. After 28 days if there are no disputes then we will go ahead and open the accounts.
“After we open the accounts, we are talking about K400 kilometres of pipeline where all the beneficiaries are,” said Mano.
“So what we are trying to do is getting their representatives elected so they’ve got representation. After they have representation for the pipeline then we will do all the payments.”
(Petroleum Minister Fabian Pok, centre, leading the signing last week)