Fergusson islanders demand compensation for 'unauthorised FCA logging'

Communities on Fergusson Island say a Malaysian owned company, Mirabel Limited, landed logging machinery on their land in November 2023 without their permission.

This was the first the locals say they had heard about any proposed logging operation but Mirabel claims it has a Forest Clearing Authority (FCA) licence issued by the PNG Forest Authority.

According to a Forest Authority map, the FCA covers an area of 27,904 hectares.

Community members say it was only after logging started that they were approached for their consent.

Local people also allege that some consent forms were signed by people who do not live on the island and that others were coerced to sign with threats of violence or missing out on royalty payments.

The start of logging operations came twelve months after the National Forest Board in December 2022 orderded a moratorium on new FCA projects, a moratorium which is supposed to be still ongoing.

When local communities protested about the logging operations, they say they were threatened and intimidated by police officers who arrived with the logging machinery and were working for the company.

In a complaint lodged with the Public Solicitor in Alotau, some resource owners claim police shot at and beat local people who complained about the logging operations

The protests from local communities were however vocal enough for the PNG Forest Authority to issue a temporary stop work notice in Jan 2024.

A PNGFA letter confirms the existence of the ‘East West Fergusson FCA #04-02’, and identifies Mirabel Limited as the logging company and Fergusson Island Sustainable Development Limited as the landowner company.

Official Investment Promotion Authority records though show that by the time the stop work notice was issued, Fergusson Island Sustainable Development Limited had been removed from the Register of Companies and no longer existed as a legal entity.

Despite claims to be a vehicle for local resource owners, the company had only two directors and one shareholder.

One of those directors, Ephraim Yabon, registered a new and very similarly named company, Fergusson Island Development Limited in January 2025, with himself and Ishmael Gagalise as the two owners.

The new company shares the same registered address as Mirabel Limited.

Local people allege Ephraim Yabon is the brother of the senior local magistrate tasked with settling customary disputes over the land where logging has been occurring.

Communities have reported that the stop work notice was lifted in April 2024 and logging operations resumed, despite no agreements having been reached with them and without their consent.

They say, logging operations continued until late 2025, when the logging company was finally persuaded to stop and shipped its equipment to Woodlark Island where its sister company, Kulawood Limited, has another FCA logging operation.

The logging operation on Woodlark has also attracted intense criticism with the Provincial government alleging illegal logging, corruption and multiple legal infractions.

Local people report that during the period of logging on Fergusson Island, from December 2023 to 2025, at least two shipments of logs were made from the area but no agriculture or other infrastructure projects were initiated by the logging company.

Despite the logging operations and alleged shipments, Mirabel Limited reported it had zero turnover and only 2 staff in 2024 and 2025 in its annual returns lodged with the Investment Promotion Authority.

Mirabel Limited is a company owned by Malaysian businessman Leonard Chow Leung Ng.

In 2018, it has been reported Ng had his work permit cancelled by the Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations - a decision that was endorsed by the National Court.

Ng is also the owner of two other logging companies, Kulawood Limited, the company operating under an FCA on Woodlark Island, and Milton Limited. He is also a director of logging companies Aset Meriah PNG Limited and Matufi (PNG) Limited.

Ng also owns Milton Shipping Limited, based out of West New Britain. It’s annual return for 2025 reveals 7 national and 5 non-citizen employees but a turnover of just K20.

In June 2024, Ng registered a new company, Builders Hardware Limited, which operates out of Lae.

Local communities on Fergusson Island are now demanding that Mirabel pay compensation for environmental damage to their forests and are calling on the PNGFA to cancel the FCA licence.