Prime Minister James Marape said the National Government is supposed to pay K100 million per year for Infrastructure Development Grants (IDG) and Business Development Grants (BDG) to Wafi-Golpu landowners and the Morobe Provincial Government.
However, he said that now all this money has been disbursed.
He said K34 million was released in 2021, K18 million in 2022, and K80 million in 2023.
Prime Minister Marape revealed this on Friday, August 2nd, when presenting a K50 million dummy cheque to Morobe Governor, Luther Wenge.
Governor Wenge said K25 million will go to the six landowner groups, and the other K25 million to the Morobe Provincial Government.
The presentation and announcement took place in Lae, where Prime Minister Marape addressed landowners, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge, and a gathering of key figures, including Deputy Prime Minister and Lae MP John Rosso, State Negotiating Team Chairman Mr. Dairi Vele, Mineral Resources Authority Managing Director Mr. Jerry Garry, Kumul Mineral Holdings Chief Executive Officer Mr. Sarimu Kanu, Mineral Policy and Geohazards Management Secretary Mr. Harry Kore, and Morobe Provincial Administration.
Mr. Vele and Mr. Garry provided comprehensive updates to the landowners on the progress of the Wafi-Golpu Mine, followed by remarks from Governor Wenge, Prime Minister Marape, landowner representative Mr. John Nema, and Deputy Prime Minister Rosso.
Following the prime minister’s revelation, he further assured that he will find out details as to the rest of the IDGs and BDGs.
“I will get a full report of where all this money has gone to and present it to you, as a matter of transparency, because this is public money,” Prime Minister Marape said, further revealing that, “You have an envelope of about K1 billion programmed to come ahead of the project so you can prepare schools, youth, landowner companies, and others.”
“At the forthcoming Development Forum, we will indicate the business development grants, which will come ahead of the project like the infrastructure development grants.”
He was referring to the Community Development Agreement (CDA) forum which will take place after a Mine Development Contract (MDC) agreement is reached between the State Negotiating Team and the Wafi-Golpu mine developers.