15 Landowner representatives from Western, Gulf, Oro, Milne Bay, Sandaun, Central and East New Britain, gathered at the Holiday Inn for 3 hours yesterday, at a media event giving prominence to the PNG government’s issuance of 99 year Special Agricultural Business Leases over more than 5 million hectares of customary land throughout PNG.

By TODAGIA KELOLA

THERE must be a specific legislation governing the recent approval by the Government for the world’s first offshore mining project in the country, a senior lawyer has said.

Camillus Narokobi who has written a thesis on the Bismarck Archipelago seas while doing his Masters degree on the studies on law of the sea, said PNG doesn’t have any legislation governing the mining of our seabed.

On the 21st of February 2011, we posted a letter by a very concerned Australian Citizen, Trevor Freestone, addressed to Julie Bishop, regarding the serious governance issues facing PNG. Below is the response from Honorable Julie Bishop, MP, and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament:

The World Bank is on a mission to encourage sweat-shop style factories in Papua New Guinea and we need to tell them NO!

By John Fowke

By Nou Vada, UPNG student

On the fourth day of the 2011 academic year, the UPNG SRC has sanctioned a petition by members of the student body requesting an explanation from the administration on the 8% increase in school fee and then the subsequent introduction of a Two Hundred and Fifty Kina bond fee payable by every residential student which was never mentioned of or advertised until students old and new started flocking back to school mid February and were informed by UPNG Accounts personnel to pay extra.

By Nou Vada, student at the UPNG School of Law

Pasin Barata in English would translate to something like Brotherly Way. It is the philosophy of being a good Melanesian – of showing respect and kindness and courtesy to others. At its core it is about having pride – not in self but in the community and in those who support you. It’s a philosophy that seems global enough – and it is – but the essence of this Philosophy is something Melanesians understand almost intuitively.

ACT NOW! says the Asian Development Bank has denied it is involved in supporting the government's controversial Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Madang.

ADB Country Director, Charles Andrews has told ACT NOW! "the ADB has no involvement in this project what-so-ever".

This denial contradicts government documents that claim the ADB and has been actively supporting the development of the PMIZ by providing technical advice and expertise and is a potential funder.

ACT NOW! and the Fiji based, Pacific Network on Globilization, have joined forces to denounce plans for the Pacific to be used as the testing ground for deep-sea mining.

ACT NOW! and PANG say the Pacific region has already suffered the negative social and environmental impacts of industrial mining on land and should not take further risks with the marine environment.

The hope of a nation is pinned on the strength of its judiciary, and the final defeat of democracy is for the head of the Judiciary to bring into question its independence.