By Jo Chandler*

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says the government supports the Commission of Inquiry into Special Agriculture and Business Leases, launched this year, and has extended the timeframe from the Commission to complete its work by 5 months.


The inquiry was established by the former acting Prime Minister Sam Abal in July, for a period of three months and which was due to expire on Oct 25.

By Roderick Kanama

The Commission of Inquiry (COI) into Special Purpose Agriculture and Business Leases (SPABL also referred to as SABL) will commence its provincial visits as part of its preliminary hearings on Monday 24/10/2011. The COI is yet to commence substantive hearings and the time it was allocated to complete and make known its findings is almost over. 

By Jo Chandler

Developers hover as 5 million hectares, and national pride, are signed away in 99-year leases that have raised fears of corruption, reports The Age.

A LAND grab of 5 million hectares of Papua New Guinea, 11 per cent of its territory, has taken place quietly and apparently bloodlessly since 2003, half of it being signed over in the past two years.

The time frame of three-months for the Commission of Inquiry into SABL ends on October 21, but so much has yet to be done, reports the Post Courier.


The enormous number of irregularies discovered in many of the SABLs during preliminary findings as part of Terms of Reference (TOR) has seen 75 cases now before the Commission of Inquiry.


Since files were opened for mention two weeks ago, submitted evidence from all interested parties in the 75 SABL’s files revealed activities of; 


By Roderick Kanama

Rod will be providing daily updates from the Commission of Inquiry on this blog from October 10, in this article he provides an overview of SABLs and the issues confronting the CoI.

Land acquisition for developmental purposes has been a Government policy since 1979 when the instrument for Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABL) was established, later incorporated into the Land Act in 1996. Its application had honourable intentions and was designed to achieve two main objectives;

Reports from Rovang village in the Pomio area of East New Britain say that young men protesting against logging have been beaten by police with fan belts and tree branches, according to the PNG Exposed blog.

It is alleged that an aircraft from Tropic Air, operated by notorious Malaysian logging company Rimbunan Hijau, flew the police into Palmalmal from Kokopo. Kokopo police said they were not aware of this.

By Jimmy Kalebe


Landowners in East Sepik have called on the national government to do away with special purpose business lease agreement (SPABL).


In a forum conducted by Turubu Eco Forestry yesterday, many landowners said they were not fully informed of the agreement and its implications. 
The landowners said much of their land had been alienated through SPABLs without their full consent for nearly a century. 
They feel this is “totally wrong and must be returned”.

By Luana Paniu

Inconsistencies and flaws found during the preliminary stages of the Commission of Inquiry into the Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABL’s) found that almost all Departments lacked basic logistics, management and coordination to effectively carry out what was required of them. Findings also included lack of proper monitoring of officers and file movement, funding and manpower.