Report says many excluded from PNG LNG’s billion dollar windfall
The lead author of a new report into the social impacts of Papa New Guinea’s multi-billion dollar LNG gas project says there are fears the project’s substantial earnings are being wrongfully captured by local authorities. One of the report’s authors from the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at New Zealand’s University of Otago, Dr James McIlraith, joined a coalition of leading NGOs in Canberra today to launch the report. Their findings suggest that in the rush to capitalise on the nation’s natural resources, many landowners entitled to a share of the project’s $16 billion windfall are missing out on its cash benefits. While raising concerns about the potential for corruption, Dr McIlraith says the report also points to greater social instability and future clan infighting that could threaten the peace of the nation’s small highland communities.