The provincial governor of Oro in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has urged national parliament to introduce a new legislation to explicitly cover geothermal energy development in the country.
The Mineral Resources Authority that is responsible for awarding geothermal licenses does so under the Mining Act. However, Governor Gary Juffa stated that geothermal licenses should not be covered under Mining Act, since it is not a mineral.
Juffa said specific legislation is needed to cater to all aspects of its development, including landowner benefits, according to rnzi.com citing The National.
The governor further claims that the landowners hold no benefits under the Mining Act that only accounts to interests of foreigners and developers and added that he didn’t want to witness the same setting in geothermal energy.
Earlier, PNG has sought the investments from New Zealand companies in the development of its geothermal power resources.