Source: Radio NZ

The Papua New Guinea Forest Minister has been urged by a transparency and environmental NGO to allow an audit of financial reporting by the logging industry.

Despite a new report by the Oakland Institute tracking massive tax evasion by foreign companies involved in PNG forestry, the minister Douglas Torumiesa has defended the loggers.

Mr Tomuriesa attacked the report's findings as being inaccurate because the companies do pay log export taxes.

Source: Post Courier online

Minister for Forest, Douglas Tomuriesa and Goodwill Amos with the Oakland Report during a press conference.

THE Internal Revenue Commission is yet to confirm whether many foreign logging companies are in the country are avoiding to pay taxes in Papua New Guinea.

Source: ABC News

An area of Papua New Guinea's internationally significant rainforests in excess of the size of Australia's entire Wet Tropics Heritage Area in north Queensland has been cleared or logged in the 10 years to 2014, a new report has found.

Forest Minister Douglas Torumiesa’s attack on a report alleging the logging industry is failing to pay hundreds of millions of Kina in taxes is full of errors.

“The Forest Minister’s statements attacking The Great Timber Heist are full of inaccuracies and must be challenged”, says ACT NOW! Program Manager, Effrey Dademo.

Source: The interpreter

Providing rural roads is a government responsibility

As Papua New Guinea (PNG) approaches the next National Election (2017) it is important for everyone to be reminded that it is the responsibility of the government to provide all the basic services we need. It is not the role of private companies to be providing classrooms, health clinics and roads.

Source: PNG Mine Watch

The European Union and SPC have published a new report [see below] claiming the money to be made from experimental seabed mining in PNG far outweighs the costs. Unfortunately the expensive report:

Source: PNG Exposed Blog

We have been waiting two-and-a-half years for the government to cancel the unlawful SABL leases and stop the illegal logging, but they are still making excuses and doing nothing!

Latest to try and explain away the delays is Logging Minister, Douglas Tomuriesa [see story below]. He says 30 months is not a long time to take to implement the findings of the Commission of Inquiry and the government has not been dragging its heels!

The United Nations has written to the government demanding answers over the lack of action on the SABL land grab.

In a letter, dated February 17, the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination says it is concerned that no concrete action has been taken to cancel the SABL leases and logging operations continue. 

Source: EMTV online

The Oakland Institute report on The Great Timber Heist: The Logging Industry in Papua New Guinea, exposes massive tax evassion and financial misreporting by foreign logging companies, allegedly resulting in non-payment of hundreads of millions of dollars in taxes.