Court Rulings confirm SABLs null and void
Submitted by ACTNOW on Thu, 27/08/2015 - 11:11
Source: PNG exposed blog
Source: PNG exposed blog
Source: The National
Lands Minister Benny Allan admits that the issue of the 99-year land leases has not been fully understood. He made the admission in Parliament yesterday when answering a question from Kairuku-Hiri MP Peter Isoaimo about colonial leases and what was being done about them.
"There's a lot of confusion with the leases," Allan said.
Community advocacy group ACT NOW! welcomes the government’s announcement it will be hosting the Third APEC Meeting of Forestry Ministers in Port Moresby in October.
“This is the first APEC Ministers meeting to be held in Papua New Guinea and will be an excellent opportunity to remind the region of our government’s terrible record on the SABL land grab and illegal logging” says ACT NOW! Campaign Coordinator, Eddie Tanago.
Even though the Commission of Inquiry into the land grab has found the SABL process was flawed, land grabbing continues while nothing has been done to cancel the leases and return the land to customary owners. Many communities are still not aware of what SABL is and how customary land is being stolen.
The SABL issue is simplified in this Fact Sheet for use in awareness at the community level.
A new radio advertisement calling for an end to illegal SABL logging is hitting the airwaves in PNG.
This advert is sponsored by ACT NOW! and is currently playing on the popular YumiFM radio station.
Stop the SABL land grab now!!
Fraudulent agricultural leases have been used to steal over 5 million hectares of forest from customary owners. That is over 10% of PNG's total land area.
"When will the PM Peter O'Neill revoke the leases and stop the SABLs?"
A new cartoon highlighting the failure of the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to take any action over the SABL land grab has been strategically placed on a billboard right outside his Departmental office.
Picture: Secretary for Justice, Lawrence Kalinoe. Photo courtesy of emtv.com
Any action by the government to address the SABL land grab and illegal logging is very welcome - but landowners have been waiting two years, not six months as the Chief Secretary claims...
By Jack Lapauve Jr – EM TV, Port Moresby
The inquiry into the Special Agriculture Business Leases (SABL) has been taken over by an Independent Task Force Team.