Massive oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) projects in the Highlands region of Papua New Guinea have not yet delivered any meaningful assistance to the people of the region, says Peter Korugl, and worse, have promoted greed and corruption while making the people mere spectators on their own land.

By Peter Korugl

Despite the rhetoric or ‘mauswara’ that most politicians would have the public believe, nothing really significant happened to improve the quality of life and standard of living for the majority of the estimated three million Highlanders in the past 12 months.

Some landowners in Southern Highlands will remember 2010 as the year they received their windfall millions from the LNG project, but many of them are still waiting to receive their share. For the majority of Southern Highlanders in particular and Highlanders generally, they may not see any tangible benefits and continue to remain as mere spectators of this biggest resource development project in their province, region and the country.

“We can’t deny the fact that we can benefit a lot from what God has given us, and He has blessed PNG abundantly. We should always be thankful for our blessings, but let’s not rush into developing our resources until we are ready,” the head of Gutnius Lutheran Church, Bishop David Piso, echoed the sentiments of many people during an interview in August.

“The LNG project is a big monster (and) is already affecting us spiritually. People are being led astray with their love of money. Things will only get worse and many people will forget their (Christian) beliefs altogether. In fact it is already causing serious problems for the people and the government must do something now before it’s too late.”

The head of the 160,000 Catholics of the archdiocese of Mt. Hagen, Bishop Douglas Young, agreed:

“(For Highlanders in the past), the temptation was tribal warfare and the creation and amassing of wealth. But in many ways, it is still the same today. The LNG project is an example. Other forms of greed and corruption have come to the fore and taken the place of the real God; that true life is found in Christ. People really have to tanim bel.”

Of the 89 open electorates or districts in the country, Nipa Kutubu in Southern Highlands is the richest in terms of its wealth and contribution to the national purse from the proceeds from the extraction of its resources, but it is one of the poorest and remotest in the country according to social indicators.

“There is nothing to show for here (in Nipa Kutubu). We are still living primitive lives and struggling to survive. We do not know where all the proceeds from our vast oil fields have gone,” district administrator Robin Pip told about 1500 people at Nipa station two weeks ago.

Warner Shand Lawyers filed a Supreme Court reference in November on behalf of 24 clans of Tuguba in the Hides gas project area challenging the validity of section 6 of the Oil and Gas Act and the powers of the State to compulsorily acquire customary land under the Land Act for the benefit of outsiders or non-landowners.