Basil accused of not doing enough

By FRANK RAI

The three landowner villages of Hidden Valley Gold Mine in Bulolo District of Morobe Province have cried foul over basic services delivery in the district by Bulolo MP Sam Basil.

Through their Nakuwi Landowners Association, Winima, Gwembu and Nauti villages aired dissatisfaction that the 2012 National General Elections was just a few weeks away and nothing much had been done in their area. The local landowners raised this concern at Winima village during the Benefit Sharing Agreement (BSA) presentation of a 4 x 4 three tone truck, a portable sawmill, two chainsaws and two 700 liters fuel drum last week.

 

During the occasion, Councilor Yaning Bataturana presented four sawing machines on behalf of Mr. Basil to Women's groups of Winima and Gwembu villages but the villagers refused to accept these items, saying the MP should do better than distribute sawing machines. The womenfolk demanded Mr. Basil to bring better services or even buy three trucks for the women's groups in the three landowner villages than giving them sawing machines. Association president Rex Mauri, who was there at that time also aired dissatisfaction that as landowner villages, the Government should compensate their resources with better development and not sawing machines.

 

Mr. Mauri said Wau was still a 'ghost town' while Government services had been centered around Buang and Mumeng Local Level Government (LLG) areas respectively over the last four years. He said basic services into the three villages had not been forthcoming even though the gold mine had paid millions of kina as royalty to the LLGs and the Government.

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Basil refuted that the landowners did not include the district in the signing of the Hidden Valley memorandum of agreement (MOA). He said they should not complain about having trucks and other projects because Government funds were limited. Mr. Basil, who is also the Minister for National Planning and Monitoring, said as local landowners, the developer – Morobe Mining Joint Venture (MMJV) was closely looking after the three villages with basic services. He said other remote villages in the district were suffering and as the local MP, it was his obligation to ensure that basic services like health, education and agriculture were delivered. Mr. Basil said the Hidden Valley royalties were kept by the Morobe Provincial Government and he was still fighting to get the money back, adding that the landowners should talk to the Governor Luther Wenge for the royalties. He added that the district was focusing on the least developed LLGs and Wau Rural was one of those that would receive K1m worth of services this year.