Source Sinclaire Solomon, PNG Edge

An East Sepik province commentator has called on the Government to cancel all Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABL) and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for one of Papua New Guinea’s worst land development schemes ever.

By Pasifika Wardrobes Media Consultancy

Customary owned land is the secure source of sustaining livelihood and must be utilized well for the benefit of local Papua New Guineans.

This was one of the key conclusions from a rapid qualitative assessment report titled “Gender and Economic Choices in Papua New Guinea” which was commissioned by the World Bank, Papua New Guinea.

Source: Upreshal Singh, FMT news

By Pasifika Wardrobes Media Consultancy

Landowners and interested citizens are still anticipating the outcome of the Special Agriculture Business Lease (SABL) taskforce, since the appointment of the taskforce in late October this year by Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill.

Many who have followed the issue of SABL since the Commission of Inquiry have questioned the Government why it has taken too long to cancel all SABLs and return land titles to the rightful landowners.

Source: The National

THE National Court in Waigani has issued an interim order restraining an oil palm company operating in Northern from transporting any equipment, material or property into the Collingwood Bay area. 

Landowners successfully obtained the restraining order last week.

Governor Gary Juffa yesterday congratulated the landowners for their persistence in pursuing what he suspected was an illegal Special Agriculture Business Lease in the province. 

By Nina Wegner in The Huffington Post

Sad but true: the mahogany desk in your study or the merbau flooring in your living room probably came from illegal timber logged on tropical lands. It's a dirty trade that's been happening for decades, but a new report finds that Papua New Guinea, one of the main exporters of illegal timber in the world, is now leasing out its ancestral lands to foreign loggers and investors in one of the fastest and largest land grabs in recent history.

From PNGexposed blog

SABL Commission of Inquiry Report 1: Pages 143 – 166

Gerrard Kassman and his sons Charles and John are the beneficiaries of two illegal and fraudulent SABL land deals close to Port Moresby that seek to cash in on the Exxon-Mobil LNG project.

”There was misrepresentation and fraud involved in the whole process” [p164]

The forging of landowner signatures “borders on fraud and is a criminal act” [p151]

SABL Commission of Inquiry Report 2: Pages 390 – 530

There were “serious defects in the process that we observe are fraudulent and corruptible” [p505]

On the increase in the forest clearance corridor from 40m to 10,000m: ”The C.O.I finds this to be erroneous, misleading and mischievous.. [it also] contradicts the statutory requirements” [p397]

It was “illegal or fraudulent” [p405]

How familiar does this sound... Malaysian logging companies offering promises of oil palm to get access to vast areas of forest for logging.

PNG is not alone in suffering from a huge illegal land grab by foreign companies...

From PNGexposed Blog

SABL Commission of Inquiry Report 2: Pages 867-899

Continental Ventures Limited “failed completely to ensure transparency and good governance in its dealings with the landowners of the SABL project area.” [p875].