A Papua New Guinea landowner group has reportedly advised the government that it must resolve a dispute over unpaid LNG gas project royalties by July 18 or the venture would be "closed permanently".
LNG Project facility, Hela Province, Papua New Guinea Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
This comes after a spate of attacks on the ExxonMobil-led LNG Project's infrastructure at Angore in the Highlands province of Hela last month.
According to Mongabay, in recent days, the Angore Tiddl Appa Landowners Association travelled to Port Moresby to negotiate with Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.
Negotiations with the government failed to ease tensions.
A spokesperson from Exxon said all impacted personnel at Angore were in the process of being demobilised or reassigned.
The association is demanding from the government an "infrastructure development grant" of 32 million kina, equity shareholder certificates for traditional landowners, 2 percent royalties every month, and for the government to complete official clan vetting for the PNG LNG project.
The long drawn-out clan vetting process was what the government had previously said needed to be completed before outstanding royalties and benefits could be paid to the landowners.
The government offered 20 million kina to the landowers who it told to halt the protesting and unrest in Angore.
However, the landowners are still threatening to permanently close the LNG Project by blockades and destruction of its pipeline and other infrastructure, if their demands aren't met.
It's expected government representatives will travel to Hela in the next two weeks to negotiate further with the aggrieved landowners.