A Forest Clearance Authority license is a type of logging licence issued by Papua New Guinea Forest Authority, based on the recommendation of the PNG Forest Management Committee with the consent of the National Forest Board that allows individuals or companies for large scale conversion of a specific areas of forest to agriculture or other land use activities.

The Wasu Cattle Farm Project in Morobe Province has been the subject of investigation due to concerns about its legality. This project, also known as the Wasu Integrated Agriculture Project, received a Forest Clearing Authority (FCA) in 2019. It was ostensibly granted for a cattle farming project, but there have been no signs of either cattle or agriculture.

Wednesday 10^th January marks a dark day in PNG’s history. The nation’s capital came under siege, Parliament house stormed, Manasupe’s Haus breeched, the city was pillaged, business houses looted and set aflame after failure to reconfigure what is said to be a technical glitch in the payroll system that caused the Police and public to protest.

Phillip Ukuni| The National | Letters | 24.08.2023

Agriculture way forward to minimize law and order issues.

The above heading is one of the dailies by the Agriculture Minister during his recent visit to East New Britain to carry awareness on the coca and cocoa production hosted by Coca Board of Papua New Guinea is spot on in addressing lawlessness, unemployment, economic well-being and prosperity for our citizens.

According to the PNG Chamber of Mines, PNG relies heavily on resource extraction and foreign aid and development assistance to deliver economic growth, promote social development and address pressing issues of poverty, healthcare, education, and infrastructure development. 

But this analysis is self-serving and ignores economic and social realities.

This year, a huge K1.8 billion has been allocated to 93 Districts through the District Service Improvement (DSIP) and District Infrastructure Programs (DIP) by the Marape-Rosso government.

Already though, more than half of the year is gone, yet there is no way to know how these monies are being spent, as most Districts have no road map in the form of a District Development Plan.

Users of the DDA Watch website are encouraged to upload comments about the performance of individual District Development Authorities for display on the relevant DDA page. Steps to make a comment on your DDA

Step 1: Find the right page for your DDA. Go to the “Find and Score your DDA” search button on the homepage.

You will land on your District page. (All 93 district has a district landing page. Exclusive of AROB) Below is the landing page for North Waghi DDA.

The DDA watch website has a DDA rating system that includes a rating score for each DDA and a ranking table for the top five DDA on the home page. The rating score assesses the performance of each DDA against a number of fixed criteria and incorporates a public satisfaction element.

The DDA Watch website is an impartial and non-partisan information resource for the general public, officials and academics.

The website provides access to information on Papua New Guinea’s District Infrastructure Support Program (DISP) and the work of all ninety-three individual District Development Authorities (DDAs).

The website is completely politically neutral and is not associated with any political party, any elected official or any intending candidate.

Papua New Guinea has a problem. The Pangu-led government’s silence on a major breakdown in decision-making speaks volumes on the lack of leadership quality and the stance of the current government in fighting corruption.

As exposed last week, an estimated K20 million (AU$8 million) has gone to waste on the purchase of expensive and unnecessary Maserati sports cars, yet no one is being held accountable.