By Luana Paniu

THE Commission of Inquiry has made a shocking discovery – that Land Titles filing is so bad there is no guarantee whatsoever for titles issued under the Special Purpose Agriculture and Business Leases (SPABL) have been saved and protected.

Chief Commissioner John Numapo and Commissioners Alois Jerewai and Andy Mirou were clearly unimpressed when Registrar of Titles for the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, Henry Wasa told them the filing system is so poor and outdated, it is like a library card system.

It has been a very interesting month with some highly contoversial changes on the politcal scene and some seemingly positive developments on ACT NOW! campaign issues.

While these developments have given some reason for optimism and celebration, many have mixed feelings and good reason for doubts remain.

By Luana Paniu

A landowner was surprised to learn about certain procedures and processes in the Special Purpose Agriculture and Business Leases (SPABL) after attending the Commission of Inquiry which began three weeks ago.


David Kura, a landowner from Rikau village and a rep-resentative of the Rigula Oil Palm Estate which covers his village and two others, Gule and Levege. His village shares a common border with these villages.


By Nichson Piakal

A national day of repentance has to be one of the most ludicrous excuses for a public holiday ever thought up. It is an unnecessary waste of time and is yet another excuse for a country with a largely lazy urban population to become even lazier, directly hindering this nation’s productivity.

Papua New Guinea is experiencing unprecedented economic growth and the foreign elite who are benefiting are telling us we should rejoice and that we have never had it so good. But rising prices, deteriorating services and increasing violence are all that most of us are enjoying right now. Economic growth and huge resource projects should not be our priority, people and agriculture should. And the people who tell us otherwise are just protecting their own interests as they steer the global economy, and our planet, towards the precipice.

Successive governments in Papua New Guinea have abandoned the principles set out in our National Goals and instead allowed our country to be dictated to by foreign capitalists. The good news is, it is never to late to change course and reassert our own model of development.

By Martyn Namorong

One of the promises of a good education is to get a good job and be successful. For those who have got their certificates, diplomas and degrees, the search begins for that dream job. As for folks like me who drop out, well... they look down on us. The education system likes calling folks like me - failures.