ACTNOW's blog

Recent lease cancellations in PNG prompts call for action on SABLs

Source: Pacific Beat, ABC 

Activists in Papua New Guinea say the cancellation of two leases in Port Moresby highlights the government's inaction in scrapping other controversial leases covering millions of hectares of customary land.

Last week the Secretary of the Lands Department cancelled two leases over Ela Beach after the local MP publicly alleged they'd been obtained corruptly - a claim disputed by the lease holder.

Vision 2050 'grossly misrepresents' our National Goals

The government's long-term strategic plan, Vision 2050, grossly misinterprets the National Goals and Directive Principles in our Constitution.

This is the major finding of a new study conducted by Patrick Kaiku from the University of Papua New Guinea.

"Vision 2050 ignores the visionary work of the Constitutional Planning Committee and does not embrace the five National Goals and Directive Principles enshrined in the Constitution", says Patrick Kaiku.

Pacific protest: Australians walk-on to Newcastle coal port in solidarity

Source: 350.org

While Tony Abbot, John Key and leaders from Pacific nations are locked in a leaders retreat for the Pacific Islands Forum today, a group of 30 Australians have walked onto the site of the world’s biggest coal port in Newcastle in solidarity with Smaller Island States in the Pacific, who have called for a moratorium on new coal mines and a global climate agreement that can keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees in a fight for their very survival.

Come celebrate 40years at the Goroka Show, EHP

The Goroka Show is on again this weekend, 11th to 13th September 2015, at the National Sports Institute (NSI), and this year celebrating 40years of Papua New Guinea Independence.

ACTNOW! will be putting up a stall giving away show bags, information on the Special Agricultural Business Leases (SABL), Experimental Seabed Mining, the Model of Development and more. 

Political Science Seminar Series : Vision 2050 Analysis

Act Now has commissioned an Analysis of PNG Vision 2050 on the question of whether the Vision is consistent with the National Goals and Directive Principles (NGDP) in the PNG Constitution. The Report was compiled by Mr. Patrick Kaiku a lecturer in Political Science at UPNG. The findings will be discussed at a public seminar on Friday 28 August 2015. See below for details. The Report itself will be publicly available during PNG's 40th Independance celebrations...
#‎PngWays#

The National Provident Fund Commisssion of Inquiry

Papua New Guineans continue to demand the return of K780 million found to be stolen in the Finance Department Commission of Inquiry, which has again gone quiet. Now the National Provident Fund fraud issues have again come to life, with the present Prime Minister leading the country after a misappropriation charge and numerous others identified as involved in fraud and corruption.

Source: PNG Exposed

Issue of 99-year leases still unclear

Source: The National

Lands Minister Benny Allan admits that the issue of the 99-year land leases has not been fully understood. He made the admission in Parliament yesterday when answering a question from Kairuku-Hiri MP Peter Isoaimo about colonial leases and what was being done about them.

"There's a lot of confusion with the leases," Allan said.