Stop work notice highlights government inaction on SABL

Source: Post Courier Editorial

THE Government finally acted yesterday on a case that has been at the centre of illegal logging allegations.

Stop work orders have been issued to the logging companies Yema Gaiapa Developers Limited and Viva Success Limited with investigations now underway into alleged breaches of the Environment Act.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said that the actions of the two companies warrant further investigation.

“A range of concerns have been reported by landowners including allegations that Yema Gaiapa Developers Limited and Viva Success Limited, at the border of Oro and Morobe Provinces, have acted in a way that warrants further investigation,” he said in a statement issued yesterday.

It is unfortunate that it has taken over a year for the Government to act after Oro Governor Gary Juffa initially raised his concerns, even commissioning an investigation into alleged improprieties after getting reports from the people. Quick action by the authorities could have stopped illegal logging and ensured that logs taken from the area were not exported to foreign markets.

Nevertheless the decision by the Government to take action should open the door to closer scrutiny of other logging operations in PNG, especially companies whose operations came under the radar of the 2011 Commission of Inquiry into the Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABL). Government ministers should also exercise restraint when making public statements on the status of various logging operations in the country, as revelations of breaches after an announcement can become an embarrassment for the Government and the country.

Forest Minister Douglas Tomuriesa told Radio Australia last month in an interview that companies that “invested heavily” in SABL projects would not be penalised by the Government. Each investor will be dealt with on a case by case basis and their level of investment will be considered, he added, while emphasising that he was still waiting for the report from a government taskforce.

While we appreciate the position of the Minister to consider the value of investment that a foreign company may have made into an SABL, it should not stop him from ensuring the relevant agencies under his watch apply the letter of the law. If there are breaches and an investor is found to be in breach of PNG laws then the law should be applied and the offenders asked to leave. If there is evidence of collusion by PNG-based and owned companies then the relevant laws should also be applied.

Papua New Guineans will look forward to the outcome of the investigations into the operations of Yema Gaiapa Developers Limited and Viva Success Limited. If there is scope for the relevant national agencies to work in partnership with provincial or local level governments then that opportunity should be embraced. There is a lot of frustration among Papua New Guineans in the delay by the Government to implement the findings of the Commission of Inquiry, hence partnerships might need to be forged and the various agencies collaborate to move the issue forward to ensure landowners and our rural communities get the justice they deserve.