Maru orders K38million repayment from resource group

The Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru has issued a directive to the East New Britain Resource group, demanding the repayment of over K38 million owed to oil palm farmers in East New Britain province.

The Minister has set a strict four-week deadline for the resource group to settle these outstanding debts, or the national government will take them to court. 

Minister Maru was in Kokopo yesterday where he met with oil palm stakeholders to discuss the recommendations made in an investigation report that looked into the unfair trade practices by the East New Britain Resource group.

The investigation was approved by the National Executive Council late last year, following a petition by local oil palm growers and landowners of Gazelle Peninsula and Wide Bay area, alleging exploitation and illegal price-fixing by the East New Britain Resource Group, a foreign joint-venture business owned by most companies of Asian origins.

Minister Maru has had one consistent message, and it's about Papua New Guineans taking ownership and being in control of their businesses.

Whether it's a small to medium enterprise or a multi-million-kina foreign investment, his message is always clear. The benefits have to meet the aspirations of ordinary Papua New Guineans.

He told those who gathered, mostly landowners, that Papua New Guineans need to take back a significant portion of businesses lost to foreign ownership, and they have the full support of the national government.

The recommendations made from the investigation are expected to chart a new future for the oil palm industry in the country, Minister Maru says.

A future where ordinary Papua New Guineans enjoy the benefits from the land they own and from foreign businesses that they choose to partner with.