Comments

Thank you for raising some important issues concerning youths in PNG. This statement, however, is questionable: “Young people, denied opportunities and with little to lose, often turn to civil unrest. This was evident in the violent student protests at the University of PNG against the O’Neill Government in June 2016.” It was the need to defend the national interest & rule of law, not the lack of opportunity that provided the impetus for protest. PNG has a long history of youth protest, esp patriotic university students, the causes of which are far greater & nobler than a struggle against lack of opportunities.

Hi John, My understanding is that Exxon did so the SMLISs required back in the 2000s, and that they were signed off by the government. The problem is that the government didn't then do the determination of landowner beneficiaries. If the government wasn't happy with the SMLISs it shouldn't have accepted them, and none of the parties involved should have allowed the project to go ahead before the government had made its landowner beneficiaries determination. Regards, Stephen

A refreshing DevPolicy piece on the resurgence, potential and enhanced role of development journalism in the digital media age. Western media blithely dismiss development journalism as govt-say-so journalism. Even in Fiji, the mere mention of concepts such as Peace Journalism (a derivative of DevJourn), even in academic discussions, sends some close-minded journalists into a panic and elicits frenzied accusations of 'pro-government' reporting. This indicates a blind faith in the western-standard formula of 'what is news' - perhaps as a result of custom and/or economics. The classical news reporting approach, which places a premium on conflict as a news value, can be quite reductive, even risky, in fragile societies and post-conflict situations, as Fiji's troubled past shows. The insistence on nothing but the classical reporting frame could betray the politicisation of sections of the news media corps in Fiji.The politicisation of media corps and media organisations is neither new, not confined to Fiji of course. This only re-emphasises the need for and relevance of development journalism. While concerns in Fiji about media capture under the guise of development are valid, development journalism is a far broader concept, with many possibilities. Ideas about different approaches in journalism should not be demonised or shouted down prematurely:

Stephen, Agree - the project is operating on assume social license and blackmail. The law states the "licensee" must do the SMLI (PRL - preliminary, PDL - Full-scale) SMLI. The question is who is the licensee, as the State (DPE) is the regulator. Obviously Exxon Mobil is the licensee. Thus, when Section 47 (5) of the Oil & GAs Act is enforced, Exxon Mobil does not have license now as currently SMLI is yet to be completed. A huge blunder and right now from a layman's perspective, Exxopn Mobil is stealing - period.

Thank you so much for the info. Sam.

Thanks Stephen - really useful analysis. I think that we should also reflect on the experience in Canada where, when there was a change in government, we have seen a Feminist aid policy and positive talk around aid but not the funding to back it.

Well said Dan!

Thanks for reading and for your feedback, always much appreciated!

Hi Samson, New Caledonia isn't part of the SWP so I don't think that will work. Regards, Stephen.

Thanks for the recent comments. It's too bad that the problem as we analyzed it more than a year ago still persists. As we say in our post, SMLIS studies were carried out in the late 2000s. But they are only an input into the beneficiary determination process. According to the Oil and Gat Act (Section 168) the determination of local beneficiaries of PNG LNG royalties by the PNG Government should have been made before the Development Forum for the project was completed. But that means it should have been in 2009! Unfortunately, that part of the law was not complied with. I'm sure back then no-one would have thought that eight years later most of the determinations would still not have been made. Kicking the can down the road might have seen like a good idea at the time (to avoid project delay), but in retrospect it seems like a huge mistake. Back in 2009, there were no court challenges. And no build up of expectations. How this issue will be resolved now is not at all easy to see.

HI John, Thanks a lot for your comment. We'd love to hear more about your experience at Childers. Regards, Stephen

Great predicament for 2018 coming ahead. Looking forward to read more of TNC articles and hopefully contributed to the comments and policy drifts in the region this year.