ACTNOW's blog

Unrestrained Capitalism is a foreign idea that has been imposed on Papua New Guinea from outside. It is the root cause of many of the problems we face every day. We must find a better model for our development that relies on our Papua New Guinean Ways to enure a “Gutpela Sindaun Bilong Olgeta”.

Starting from the National Goals and Directive Principles in our Constitution, ACT NOW! has identified five key areas that will help create a gutpela sindaun bilong olgeta.

Vanimo Jaya Cluster (From"The New Timber Baron Report")

Landowners from the Ramu Block 3 area of Madang Province have accused the PNG Forest Authority of ignoring their wishes in allocating logging rights over their forests.

The landowners say the PNGFA has refused to hand over key documents for their inspection and they are suspicious about what the Forest Authority is trying to hide. The landowners also say the PNGFA has ignored a formal petition submitted by the group (copied below).

Reilly Kanamon | Social justice advocate | via The National

WE do not know why it was so difficult for the mining minister to respond to concerns from maritime communities in the Bismack Sea regarding seabed mining issues.

Since the new miner Deep Sea Mining (DSM) Finance started pursuing the reopening of the Solwara project, the communities opposed it.

A moratorium on new Forest Clearance Authorities, recently announced by the PNG Forest Authority, has been welcomed by community advocacy organization ACT NOW, but the group says the measure does not go far enough.

KK Connections Limited

• Number of concessions (1993-2021): 15
• Total Log export (2019-21): 991,615 m³
• Market share of log export (2019-21): 10%

KK Connection Cluster (From"The New Timber Baron Report")

WTK HOLDINGS

• Number of Logging Concessions (1993-2021): 19
• Total Log Exports (2019-2021): 1.3 million cubic meters
• Market share of all log exports (2019-2021): 14%

WTK Cluster ( from "The New Timber Baron Report") 

Map showing location of log exporting TRP projects 2019-21

More than thirty large-scale logging projects appear to be operating in defiance of a Court ban issued by the Deputy Chief Justice in June 2021. Together the logging operations accounted for 40% of Papua New Guinea’s total log exports in the twelve months from July 2021.

Papua New Guinea’s latest corruption score is a damning indictment of the government’s failure to properly fund anti-corruption agencies and it confirms PNG as one of the most corrupt country in the world.

THE NATIONAL (February 3rd 2023) 

By FRANK SENGE KOLMA (fskolma@gmail.com)