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; 


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 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.