Landowners beneficiaries of the PNGLNG Pipeline are a step closer to receiving their long awaited benefits from the PNGLNG project as the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) pushes on to set up clan bank accounts and have the board of the trust company in place.

BSP officer from Moro branch opening the Waidobo Clan from Tubage Village (segment 4) bank account.

Landowners beneficiaries of the PNGLNG Pipeline are a step closer to receiving their long awaited benefits from the PNGLNG project as the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) pushes on to set up clan bank accounts and have the board of the trust company in place.

MRDC as the state nominee tasked with managing the benefits of the pipeline landowners from segments one (1) to eights (8) under the PNGLNG Pipeline licence NO. 4, has successfully facilitated the opening of 58 clan bank accounts and delivered a second director elect from segments four (4) and five (5) to the board of the trust company Gas Resources PNGLNG Pipeline Limited, last Friday (19 April, 2019).

With the support of stakeholders, Department of Petroleum & Energy (DPE), Kumul Petroleum Holdings(KPHL), Exxon Mobil PNG (EMPNG), Oil Search (OSL), Bank South Pacific (BSP) and the Electoral Commission of PNG (ECPNG), and the police, MRDC carried out a four week exercise which saw the opening of 58 clan bank accounts in which the outstanding benefits will be paid to and conduct the election of a director to represent the two segments.

During the first two weeks exercise the MRDC team led by MRDC General Manager for External Affairs and Sustainable Development, Imbi Tagune conducted awareness on how the benefits would be shared per the oil and gas act, preparing them for the opening of the bank accounts and election of their director, and importantly educating them about the trust company and its processes once it was fully set up.

In the third week, the 58 (20 major and 38 sub-clan) bank accounts were set up through the Moro Branch of Bank South Pacific (BSP). MRDC also photographed all clan signatories to go on benefit certificates which will go into a database to be used by the DPE, BSP and MRDC to identify the beneficiaries which issues arise.

The final week of the exercise saw the Electoral Commission of PNG (ECPNG) conduct a non-parliamentary election of the director for segments 3 & 4 in which Mr. Telabe Babena was elected last Friday. Despite minor disputes over clan signatories to the bank accounts, the team with the support of its stakeholders helped the clans resolve their issues, seeing them successfully set up their accounts.

Mr Imbi Tagune thanked the two segments for allowing for a peaceful exercise by cooperating with his team on the ground. “I thank all our partners, and all those involved in helping to successfully complete this program for segments 4 and 5. This is not the end, we have a four more segments to complete before we can see the benefits flow to the people”.

This exercise is the half way mark in setting up the process for benefits to flow as well as seeing the trust company set up. Segments eight (8) seven (7), four (4) and five (5) are complete, leaving segments one(1), two (2), three (3) and six (6) to follow in the next few months in a similar process.