The Government will amend legislations on ownership of resources in the country, Attorney-General Kerenga Kua said in Parliament yesterday.He was responding to questions raised by
Kabwum MP Bob Dadae on bringing to parliament his people’s concerns on resource ownership, foreigners owning exploration license and why the Government could not make locals as partners. He asked if the Government had in place a law that would govern the changes in these ownership. East Sepik Governor Sir Michael Somare also raised a supplementary question and said there was already one law in place where resource owners/landowners should be given 5 percent of equity. But Mr Kua said over more than 40 years there has been a leakage in ownership and the Government was now moving to amend the leak. "This has been a question for the generations as to how we could deal with it in Parliament," Mr Kua said. "And in equity that arises from a situation where the government owns the resources on behalf of the people but somehow, somewhere along the way, it looses the ownership and swayed back into it again. That has been the problem which we have not been able to find the solution, not able to identify the cause. "With no provision being made from compensation, that has been the very point where we have been dispossessed of our ownership rights. We have been disposed for appropriate compensation for that loss, now this is where the leakage has been, so we are now moving to plug the leakage. "The Government is earnestly in the process to deal with it systematically, firstly by reforming the participatory vehicles or nominee in mining and petroleum – to prepare the platform firstly. "There will only be one vehicle for mining and likewise in petroleum so they come through one door. "The best vehicle to use is to involve a production sharing arrangement. What it means is this, when a developer comes in and makes a commercial discovery; it will pay for all the development costs." Comments are closed.
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