Blogs

Date: 2 July 2020

With the COVID-19 pandemic still expanding across the globe, ACT NOW is urging the PNG government to drop its plans to put customary land into the hands of commercial banks.

The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated once again that customary land is a vital and irreplaceable resource for our families and communities.

Source: The Guardian, 18 June 2020

'Locals say the Sepik river region must be protected from ‘exploitation and destruction from outsiders’'

Locals protest against mine at PNG’s Sepik river region. Photograph: Project Sepik

Chiefs from 28 haus tambarans – “spirit houses” – representing 78,000 people along Papua New Guinea’s remote Sepik river have formally declared they want a proposal for the country’s largest ever mine halted.

Source: Scott Waide / My Land My Country

We have to get this right if we are to thrive in this country: The quality of transport infrastructure – especially roads and bridges – determines the price of food.  Apart from consumption, this single factor influences the rate of supply and demand to a large extent.

Ten months after taking power the government of James Marape has completely failed to deliver on its promises to tackle Papua New Guinea’s chronic corruption.

James Marape was elected as Prime Minister on the back of a growing wave of discontent over political corruption and the misuse of public funds and the initial signs from the new government were promising.

Noted commentator Martyn Namorong shares his ideas on why and how we need to reform our education system in order to fulfil our dream of being an independent and prosperous nation.

"I believe we are a species with amnesia. I think we have forgotten our roots and our origins. I think we are quite lost in many ways." 

- Graham Hancock.

Cook Islands support for farmers and home gardeners could provide an excellent model for Papua New Guinea

Source: Ministry of Agriculture Cook Islands - 6 April 2020

Source: Radio New Zealand - April 3, 2020

A mining company has lost a bid to overturn a decision preventing it from mining millions of tonnes of ironsands off the coast of Taranaki.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an attempt by Trans-Tasman Resources to overturn a 2018 High Court decision quashing the original consents.

Panguna was once one of the largest and most profitable copper and gold mines in the world, but a new report says it has left a terrible legacy for residents of Bougainville. Photograph: Human Rights Law Centre

New report alleges mine caused environmental devastation and ongoing health problems for communities

Source: Ben Doherty, The Guardain, 31 March 2020

31 March 2020

A local Civil Society Organisation (CSO) called Project Sepik, today called for the rejection of the Frieda River mine on the grounds that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was ‘unfit for purpose’.