By S. Gigi Aupong

Papua New Guinea is unashamedly dancing to the tune of multinational corporations. We are willing to break our own laws to make money for the rich. 

Sir Arnold Amet has a right to be angry at how colonizers tricked us in the past into giving up our resources for nothing. However, he fails to see that the same thing is still happening in PNG, this time through multinational corporations. 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank group, is drafting laws in Papua New Guinea to create Special Economic Zones - tax free enclaves where foreign corporations will receive special incentives to set up factories - but the World Bank's own Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), its internal watchdog, has published an evaluation which finds the IFC is failing in its mission to assist vulnerable communities and alleviate poverty through its projects and investments. 

Local leaders representing communities around the site of the proposed Pacific Marine Industrial Zone in Madang Province have issued a signed declaration of their opposition to the project. The PMIZ will be Papua New Guinea's first Special Economic Zone under laws being drafted by the World Bank.

By PMIZ Watcher

While the Papua New Guinea government has recently reaffirmed its commitment to the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project in Madang, despite some vociferous local opposition [1], it seems major international companies are rejecting the project and choosing instead to invest in Lae.

The government claims that the PMIZ will become a major hub for tuna processing in the Pacific region with up to 10 processing factories that will create 30,000 jobs.