Drawing attention to the statement of the Kyong Hoho, which had slammed the draft final report for framing modalities on oil and gas operations, the  Cabinet Sub-committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas (CSC on PNG) welcomed any clarification and suggestions to be incorporated in the draft proposals, said Convenor of the CSC and minister for Planning, Coordination and Veterinary & Animal Husbandry T.R. Zeliang here Friday.

Responding to the statement of the Kyong Hoho which had also taken exception to his press interview for purportedly referring to Article 371A as having become “redundant”, Zeliang said the room was still open to tribal hohos or organizations to ask clarifications or make suggestions to be incorporated in the final draft.

He said the guidelines in the modality would ultimately become a role model for any other state wanting to exploit petroleum and natural gas resources.

Zeliang however, expressed regret that the Kyong Hoho   had gone to the media with their grievances instead of addressing them  to the CSC adding, it was  “not healthy”.

He said with the draft modality approved by the cabinet and forwarded to the State Assembly for further debate and discussion  before the final regulation and guidelines are made, Zeliang said the Hohos and tribal organization were welcome for any construction suggestions or proposals.

The draft would be discussed during the assembly session which commences from September 21.
Clarification

This is to clarify that the news item under headline “CSC final draft may draw flak” which appeared on September 12 issue of this paper, the very word “redundant” was inadvertently misquoted/misinterpreted while filing the report.