By Lester Seri

Minister Lucas Dekena’s denial that “there is no scam, con or land grabbing in PNG” is the worst denial of the century made by any Minister in PNG. To make statements of denial while there are scores of documented evidence on land fraud starring at him is beyond comprehension.


I understand that the Minister responsible for Lands is only recently appointed but I caution him to make better judegment on such a sensitive issue dear to the hearts of many Papua New Guineans before making such questionable political statements that further put into question the already damaged reputation of the Ministry and the Department of Lands.


There have been many cases of con and scam land dealings published by journalists already that put beyond any questions about fraud in the Lands Department.


The land court cases of Collingwood Bay, Musa – Pongani in Oro Province, Mekeo in the Central Province and Kamulo Doso and Wawoi Guavi in Western Province, that have been won by landowners are testaments to Sir Julius claims that cannot be refuted. 


The landowners took the State to court over illegal alienation and use of their customary land and won. There is no political point scoring in any way that the issues Sir Julius is raising about. Absolutely nothing hence, Dekena is not only wrong but unnecessarily downplaying the seriousness of the problem!

We cannot afford to have a Government Minister responsible misleading the public on such a serious problem reported many times over in the recent past.
I personally have reviewed the Musa – Pongani and Collingwood Bay Land matters before the landowners went to court and my findings confirmed beyond any shadow of doubt of many breaches of the Land, DAL and Forestry Acts.


Furthermore, to alienate five million hectares of land among which many are customary land in such a short time period (less than six years) is solid evidence that Minister responsible and his officers cannot deny. Alienation of customary land can take up to five or more years to complete.
The Minister cannot simply downplay or brush aside the seriousness of the issues being raised by various commentators including Sir Julius Chan on land fraud in PNG. He would be making a terrible mistake.


If he is not careful, his current stance of being indifferent could be viewed as careless and condoning the current state of play by the Lands Department officials with regards to the problem at hand affecting innocent customary landowners.