Putting a halt to the great timber heist in Papua New Guinea
Submitted by ACTNOW on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 15:29Source: The interpreter
SABL
More hopeless excuses from the government on SABL
Submitted by ACTNOW on Fri, 26/02/2016 - 00:00Source: 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!
UN committee demands answers on SABL land grab
Submitted by ACTNOW on Wed, 24/02/2016 - 00:00
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.
Broken promises
Since the Commission of Inquiry reported in 2013, the government has made numerous promises to cancel the SABL leases, but we still have no confirmation of which leases have been cancelled and which remain.
In the intervening period, large areas of forests within the SABL lease areas have been cleared and logs worth hundreds of millions of dollars shipped overseas by Malaysian logging companies.
The government's empty promises
Campaigns:
Commission of Inquiry
A Commission of Inquiry was established in July 2011 to look into the legality of the large number of Special Purpose Agriculture Business Leases (SABLs) issued since 2003.
The Commissioners submitted two final reports in June 2013.
Background
Campaigns:
Timber Heist featured on EMTV news
Submitted by ACTNOW on Thu, 18/02/2016 - 11:19Source: 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.
The Great Timber Heist: How Foreign Logging Companies Evade Taxes
Submitted by ACTNOW on Wed, 17/02/2016 - 05:09
Source: Oakland Institute
A new report released today, The Great Timber Heist: The Logging Industry in Papua New Guinea, exposes massive tax evasion and financial misreporting by foreign logging companies, allegedly resulting in nonpayment of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.