By David Fedele

For nearly 50 years the people of West Papua have suffered under brutal Indonesian colonial rule and up to 400,000 civilians have lost their lives in Indonesian military operations.

Thousands have fled across the border to seek sanctuary in Papua New Guinea.

The footage below was taken on Wednesday 16th February 2011, in the jungle near Vanimo, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea - less than 50km from the West Papua border.

Bikpela Bagarap is a new documentary film revealing the human face of logging in Papau New Guinea.

PNG is home to one of the richest rainforests in the world but today remains one of the few countries that still allows the export of raw logs, and this is greatly exploited by Asian logging companies. The World Bank estimates that 70% of all logging in Papua New Guinea is illegal, although most unofficial sources put the rate even higher than that.

By Ganjiki D Wayne

It is becoming much clearer now. Our social reforms and legislative reforms, together with the learned opinions of “enlightened” Papua New Guineans, indicate an increasing line of thinking that PNG must no longer remain God-conscious if it is to be a modern State. Sentiments are creeping in that we no longer need God to prosper; that man is the Superior Being and must save himself without subscribing to a “make- belief, invisible being” to bail him out.

By Luana Paniu

The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Special Purpose Agriculture and Business Leases (SPABL) will use relevant court documents and information from research institutes and various organisations including landowners to begin investigations. 


Director for CoI and Investigation branch of the Prime Minister’s Department, Mathew Yuangu said this will be a foundation for the CoI, which will include visitation to specific SPABL sites in the country.


PMIZ Watcher

The latest meeting of the Madang Chamber of Commerce has thrown up more questions than answers about the government's controversial Pacific Marine Industrial Zone, as this report by Nancy Sullivan reveals:

By Luana Paniu (Post Courier)

THE Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Special Purpose Agriculture and Business Leases (SPABL) was recently announced and is scheduled to be completed by September but it has come under fire by a civil and legal rights organisation and a former academic.


The former academic, who was a lecturer at the University of PNG and is also a naturalised citizen, said that references within the CoI were ambitious for the government to achieve.


PMIZ Watcher

Landowners from the villages of Rempi, Kananam and Karkar Island in Madang have applied to the National court in Madang for an immediate injunction stopping any further construction of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone.

The government recently announced a $72 million loan from the Chinese ExIm Bank to fund the construction of the PMIZ but landholders oppose the project which they say is a 'con job' and they are asking the court to stop any loan funds being drawn down by the government.

PMIZ Watcher

Local communities affected by the proposed Pacific Marine Industrial Zone in Madang have filed a formal complaint in Washington about the role of the International Finance Corporation in promoting the project and in developing Special Economic Zone laws in PNG.

The communities have filed their complaint with the International Finance Corporation Ombudsman. The IFC is a part of the World Bank Group which is based in the United States.

By Phil Fitzpatrick*

One of the most important policy documents to come out of the Haus Tambaran in years is Community Development Minister Carol Kidu’s policy on the informal economy (see pdf attachment below).

Just what is the informal economy and who runs it?

Among others, it’s the people who sell buai and mustard on the streets of Port Moresby.  It’s also the people who run stalls out on the Magi Highway selling the day’s surplus catch of fish along with vegetables and fruit.

By Martyn Namorong

This post is dedicated to Effrey Dademo na ol bata long Goroka Secondary School; Slaytox, JayAshK59, JWK59,GRimz, Lycans, C-Red, Snake, CasterMai and Twing