THE continuous illegal grabbing of land in Port Moresby must stop and the offenders be brought to justice, says former Customs Commissioner Gary Juffa. 
Mr Juffa, who recently quit his job to contest the Oro Regional seat in this general election, said there was a syndicate existing in government departments that conspire and manipulate official documents to satisfy certain individuals and foreign companies they favour without considering the local people that are often devastated by their actions. 

By ADRIAN MATHIAS

THE National Court has granted Turubu landow­ners of portion 144C a restraining order to stop any further logging on their customary land.

They were not happy with the improper acquisition of their land by the state and the developers for Special Agricultural Business Lease purposes.

The order restrains Sepik Oil Palm Plantations Ltd, Limavo Holdings Ltd and Wewak Agriculture Development Ltd from carrying out any further logging over the whole of the Turubu customary lands until the final determination of the proceedings.

via Post Courier p. 17

Landowners are committed to fight against the Pomio SABLs despite a court ruling yesterday. Pomio landowners are disappointed at yesterday's Supreme Court ruling that upheld the appeal by Memalo Holdings, the landowner company holding the two disputed  SABLs in West Pomio, but have resolved to continue their fight.

The full bench of the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Memalo Holdngs in their appeal against the Judicial Review by landowners opposing the SABLs, due to the delay in making the Court application.

THE National Court has quashed a decision by the National Lands Board and the Minister for Lands in awarding a company, Vitroplant,three agriculture leases to plant palm oil on Woodlark Island.


Professor Andrew Lattas responds to criticism from Australian National University academic and industrial logging advocate, Tim Curtin, of his expose of the land theft and violence experienced by communities in PNG at the hands of foreign logging companies.... 

Professor Andrew Lattas*

THE Umi-Atzera and Onga-Waffa people in Markham Valley, Morobe, are urging the government to repeal the Special Agricultural Business Lease (SABL) policy because it “regards landowners as mere slaves”.

“In Markham district, we will never invite and entertain government’s SABL policy,” provincial agriculture chairman and Umi-Atzera president, Daki Mao said.

More than 5,000 people gathered at Mutzing station to witness the launching of pioneer Morobe palm oil project last Friday.

via The National

SOME landowners want all logging operations in the Turubu log pond area in East Sepik province to stop until the Special Agriculture Business Licences (SABL) report is completed and the government makes its recommendations.

They want to know why the report into SABLs is still pending and logging operations going on in areas not consented to.

Andrew Lattas gives an account below of logging, lawlessness and a crisis of legitimacy in one (out of a hundred other) areas of Papua New Guinea, where local land grab, has left a group of aggrieved locals intimidated and brutalized by members of the Royal PNG Constabulary.

State Agencies that are supposed to be Regulators of foreign investment activities, are actively facilitating human rights abuse in defense of foreign interests.

By Grace Tiden

TEN Pomio landowners were arrested by police few days ago for blocking a stream that flows through their customary land.