A weeklong election program for the PDL7 leaders to elect their board representatives is well underway, in Hides, Hela Province starting today (19 March,2021)

A weeklong election program for the PDL7 leaders to elect their board representatives is well underway, in Hides, Hela Province starting today (19 March 2021).

The program facilitated by MRDC will see 91 major clan chairmen from Category A clans only participate in electing their representatives to the board of their trust company, Gas Resources Hides 4 Limited.

Today, the Electoral Commission of Papua New Guinea (ECPNG) takes over to conduct the first of six elections for the six regions of PDL7 to identify their leaders, starting with Keteranda and Parepare Region. The process will eventually see four directors appointed to thr board of Gas Resources Hides 4 limited.

The company will be responsible for deliberating on company matters including royalty and equity benefit payments.

MRDC Managing Director Augustine Mano during yesterday’s launching program explained to the chairmen that the law under Section 176 of the Oil and Gas Act, the Trust Company Constitution and Trust deed, prescribes the landowner director quota on the board.

He made the clarification after several leaders called for all six regions to be represented on the board. “I must follow the law and board decisions. I have to follow due process. The numbers of Directors on the board is made clear by law. “We have facilitated two board election processes both the Plant site and Pipeline areas, and those processes saw only four directors elected”

He said the most difficult was the Pipeline Landowners where beneficiaries are from five provinces in which the 700km Pipeline runs.

“These are completely different ethnic groups but they have had to be combined to get four directors because that was the requirement”. He said each board has a four-year term of office, after which the landowners directors must return to seek re-election or new directors can be elected.

The election program for PDL7 will conclude next Friday, 26 March 2021

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