Staff Reporter
Dimapur, October 11
The Lotha Lower Range Public Organization (LLRPO) and the Changpang Land Owners Union (CLOU) during a press conference have appealed to Nchumbemo Tungoe to consider the matter of permitting Metropolitan Oil and Gas Pvt. Ltd. and to withdraw the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the interest and welfare of the people to avoid mistrust and undesired consequences in the near future.
Meanwhile, the decision to oppose the move by Tungoe was resolved in a joint meeting of LLRPO with CLOU at the resident of CLOU president, Mhao on October 10.The members of LLRPO and CLOU during the press conference held at Theja Ford, Burma Camp, has resolved that any issue within the jurisdiction of the Lotha Lower Range shall be handled only by the organization and no agents or mediators shall act on its behalf; unless the situation so demands.
During the press conference, CLOU general secretary, Y.Kikon said that that the Article 371 (A) should not be done away. He also expressed that ‘land owners’ rights should not be suppressed at any cost’.
The members expressed their failure to understand why certain individual has filed to cancel the permit of Metropolitan Oil and Gas Pvt. Ltd. from entering the area who had agreed to accept in principle during the resolutions made in a joint meeting of Lotha legislatures and Lotha civil bodies during the final discussion on ‘Nagaland Petroleum & Gas Regulation 2012’ on September 12, 2012.
The members of LLRPO and CLOU pointed out that Nchumbemo Tungoe has petitioned to cancel the permit based on the criteria of the concerned company which according to him is not qualified enough to enter the said area.
The members of LLRPO ad CLOU also highlighted the sequence of events involving various Lotha leaders before coming into agreement with the company and Government of Nagaland wherein the petitioner of PIL, Nchumbemo Tungoe, was one of the signatories of the final draft that took place at Kohima on September 28, 2012. Under the initiative of the Kyong Hoho Wokha, No Objection Certificate from all the villages of Lotha Lower Range was obtained and handed over to the NPNG Board which itself shows that the citizens and people of this region has no objection whatsoever for exploration of oil and gas in the region, the Lotha leaders stated. They also said all the four legislators of the previous Government all the frontal organizations’ of the Lotha appended their go-ahead signatures. “The covert interest of oil and gas has led us to a stage within the Lotha community where people to people relations have been tremendously damaged and no decision whatsoever in the interest and welfare of the people could be arrived at,” they added.
