A proposed legislation to transition the Papua New Guinea Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative National Secretariat into a statutory body is ready for public consultation beginning next month.
This follows the successful conclusion of a series of consultation among legal and technical officials of key government institutions, mining and petroleum companies and civil society organisations on the elements of what is proposed to be the Papua New Guinea Extractive Industries Transparency Commission.
PNGEITI Head of National Secretariat Mr. Lucas Alkan thanked instrumentalities involved in the progress made so far in shaping an appropriate legislation that will be a best fit for the replacement of the PNGEITI National Secretariat which is currently placed under Department of Treasury.
“When enacted into law, the PNGEIT Commission will function as a statutory body for the implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Standard and principles through the publication of EITI Reports,” Mr. Alkan said.
“The push for the establishment of the PNGEIT Commission is part of a bigger policy drive to institutionalise and systemise EITI reporting anchored into the PNG legal and policy framework.
“PNG has made considerable progress with the publication of seven flagship PNGEITI Reports since PNG subscribed to the EITI Global Standards in 2014 to promote transparency and accountability in mining and petroleum sectors to enhance good governance and better management of proceeds from these important sectors of the economy.
“Seven years into implementing the EITI Standards through the publication of EITI Country reports and considering the fact that PNG is endowed richly with mineral and petroleum resources, PNGEITI is maturing into its next stage to meet the evolving challenges of the industry.
“What the PNGEITI Multi Stakeholder Group is doing is to legally establish an entity to render administrative services for effective EITI implementation in Papua New Guinea.
“I am pleased to note that considerable progress has been made so far with a draft bill in our hands and also pleased to note that the PNGEITI is comfortable with this piece of legislation which will undergo further public consultation in the coming months.
“A technical team conducting consultation on the draft bill will commence next month and I encourage all stakeholders to participate in the consultation so that we get a final product that has the inputs of the wider public.
“First consultation will be held in the New Ireland Province for the New Guinea Islands region and then proceed to the rest of the regions in the country,” Mr. Alkan said.
Caption: PNGEIT Commission Bill Technical Working Group Team Members from left; Eva Boas (Department of Personnel Management), Vanessa Asivo (Internal Revenue Commission) Channan Kumalau (Department of Petroleum) and Lois Stanley (Constitutional Law Reform Commission) at a consultation for the proposed bill mid-June in Port Moresby.
