The Chief Secretary has announced the government has a new way forward on implementing the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the Special Agriculture and Business Lease land grab.
But community advocacy group ACT NOW! says the government's statement lacks any substance and is just the latest in a long series of excuses and delays.
Community advocacy group ACT NOW! has welcomed the suspension of Lands Secretary Romily Kila Pat but says his replacement, Luther Sipison, must act immediately to cancel the unlawful SABL leases.
"We are pleased to see the government finally taking action by suspending the Lands Secretary but we are still waiting for the illegal SABL leases, many of which were signed off by Kila-Pat, to be cancelled" says Effrey Dademo, ACT NOW! Program Manager.
The government's long-term strategic plan, Vision 2050, grossly misinterprets the National Goals and Directive Principles in our Constitution.
This is the major finding of a new study conducted by Patrick Kaiku from the University of Papua New Guinea.
"Vision 2050 ignores the visionary work of the Constitutional Planning Committee and does not embrace the five National Goals and Directive Principles enshrined in the Constitution", says Patrick Kaiku.
Community advocacy group ACT NOW! welcomes the government’s announcement it will be hosting the Third APEC Meeting of Forestry Ministers in Port Moresby in October.
“This is the first APEC Ministers meeting to be held in Papua New Guinea and will be an excellent opportunity to remind the region of our government’s terrible record on the SABL land grab and illegal logging” says ACT NOW! Campaign Coordinator, Eddie Tanago.
It has been 655 days since Prime Minister Peter O’Neill was informed the SABLs were unlawful and should be cancelled. But instead of taking action to reverse the illegal land grab the government is now blaming landowners for creating the problem and claiming it has to defend the interests of foreign logging companies.
The Prime Minister must take decisive action to ensure those implicated in the K780 million Department of Finance fraud are brought to justice and the monies recovered, says community advocacy group, ACT NOW!
The Finance Department Commission of Inquiry uncovered massive fraud involving law firms and senior bureaucrats. K780 million of public money was stolen over a five-year period but nobody has been prosecuted for their crimes and none of the monies have been recovered.
This Thursday, March 5th, the community advocacy group, ACT NOW! is staging a “Birthday Bash” at the Holiday Inn to mark the fifth anniversary of the Commission Report being tabled in Parliament.
Community activist group ACT NOW! is supporting a call from the United Nations for a moratorium on new mining activities in Papua New Guinea but says the analysis and policy changes recommended by the global body do not go far enough.
Forest Minister Douglas Tomuriesa needs to ensure all logging in SABL areas is immediately stopped says community activist group, ACT NOW!
This follows assurances from the Minister that 74 Special Agriculture and Business Lease that were illegally obtained have been revoked and customary landowners would retain their land.
"The Minister is claiming the leases have been revoked, but logging still continues in many of the areas", says Eddie Paine, Campaign Coordinator for ACT NOW! "The Minister needs to ensure the logging is immediately stopped as it is illegal."
The Asia Pacific Rainforest Summit being hosted this week by the Australian Government, must address the serious problems of land grabbing and illegal logging in Papua New Guinea and the rampant corruption that underpins them, says community activist group, ACT NOW!
The forests of Papua New Guinea form part of the third largest remaining tract of tropical rainforest left on the planet - but ACT NOW! says this forest is quickly disappearing thanks to land grabbing and illegal logging by the Malaysian dominated logging industry.