One PNG LNG worker dead another injured, after Mobile Squads use live ammunition

The deceased, a PNG LNG worker from Tari

Details are emerging about a shooting which took place on 3 April, at a PNG LNG camp in Moro.

The victims were not in fact landowners, but two PNG LNG workers.

According to posts by a local resident, the two workmen - one from Tari and the other Poroma - were discussing recent landowner protests. The landowners had been asking ExxonMobil for a greater share of project benefits, including employment, business spin-offs and community development, like water supply. ExxonMobil, it is claimed, rejected these demands.

Mobile Squad officers ordered the PNG LNG workers to stop debating the landowner issue, as it served to  reinforce the claims of local residents. The workmen challenged the Mobile Squad officers and a fight broke out.

The Mobile Squad officers employed tear gas and live ammunition. The workman from Tari was shot and died on the spot, while the Poromo workers suffered minor injuries when a bullet grazed his head.

Truckloads of Taris are heading to the project site to hold a Haus Krai for their relative, it is expected that a compensation demand will be issued. As a result, the site has gone into lockdown.

It is reported that Mobile Squad reinforcements have been flown to Moro on two chartered planes. They are 'armed to the teeth'.

We will post any more updates as they come to hand. It must be stressed these are only preliminary reports,  the exact details have yet to be confirmed.