Over 400 landholders have filed a court action challenging the Papua New Guinea government's plan to build the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone on their land north of Madang.
The government plans to borrow $71 million from the Chinese government to build the PMIZ which it hope will attract up to 10 tuna canneries and 30,000 jobs. The PMIZ will be declared PNG's first Special Economic Zone under laws being drafted for PNG by the World Bank.
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.
While government Ministers are pressing ahead with plans for the controversial Pacific Marine Industrial Zone, despite considerable opposition from local communities, official documents show there is complete confusion about how much money the project will cost.
The stormy events at the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone forum last Friday have received plenty of media attention, but one question remains unanswered: what has happened to the K25 million of public money allocated in the 2007 national budget for PMIZ preparatory works?
This question was put directly and publicly to government Ministers Gabriel Kapris and Arnold Amet, by Sumkar MP Ken Fairweather on Friday.
A heated racial slur exchange between Attorney-General Sir Arnold Amet and Sumkar MP Ken Fairweather [see video below] marred a public forum in Madang attended by senior national ministers to discuss the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project with the local people.
When three senior government ministers arrived at Alexishafen on Friday for a public forum on the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ), they didn’t expect the kind of anger they got from the Rempi and Kananam communities.
Francis Gem, from the Kanamam area took the stage in front of 300 people and in one swooping motion said:
Francis Gem, from the Kanamam area took the stage in front of 300 people and in one swooping motion said:
