He was speaking at the opening of the 212-room, five-star Hilton Hotel and 3900-square-metre Kutubu Convention Centre on Friday.

This is the first stage of the Star Mountain Plaza project. The gala event saw landowners, ministers, MPs, diplomats and other guests come together.

“This is a landowner investment in its own right,” O’Neill said.

“They are investing for the future of their children. It is a testament to the goals that Mineral Resources Development Company is trying to achieve for our landowners.

“Trustee company MRDC is worth over K6 billion in assets.”

O’Neill said while oil and gas continued to play a major role in economic growth and development, “broadening the economy by investing in tourism, agriculture and people is the right step in nation building”.

MRDC managing director Augustine Mano said that over the past 30 years, Ok Tedi mine and Kutubu oil project had been the backbone of Papua New Guinea’s economy.

“Both projects have paid billions in dividends, royalties, compensation, government grants to landowners and provincial governments,” he said.

“Yet there is very little to show from the massive wealth extraction from the land, except hopelessness and missed opportunities. The Star Mountain Plaza project is a beacon of hope and rejuvenation of that lost time.

“It is a symbol of national pride. It shows what we can do and achieve if landowners spend less time fighting among themselves and look beyond their tribal differences and think big.”

Source:
The National - https://www.thenational.com.pg/landowners-involvement-in-hilton-hotel-praised/

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