Fr. Ed Meli, MSC*

It seems to me that New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL) is highly acclaimed by the World Economic Forum from purely economic point of view. I stand to be corrected but if I am not mistaken, a certain law guarding people's rights to their land and virgin forests in PNG, prohibits Oil Palm Companies to clear virgin forests to plant oil palm.

Obviously NBPOL is guilty of this directive. Hectors and hectors of virgin forests had been cleared and is being cleared to plant Oil Palm in West New Britain in SILOVUTI, Kove area. I see people's livelihood destroyed in terms of their life's sustenance. Huge parts of the virgin forest cleared used to be where people do their gardening, hunting, and collecting of different food stuff and materials for building their local traditional houses and homes.

Their natural rhythm of life based on their association with this virgin forest is nolonger there. This disrupts so much of their normal sustainable living and there is already discontment,dissensence, anger and upheavals in relations to community livng and community relationships. Clan arguments, fights and killings has happened for want of land space and so on as a direct result.

In general the local inhabitants of West New Britain had been peace loving. Problems began when West New Britain was designated by earlier PNG governments as the venue for the Oil Palm Development Project and recruited workers from all over the country. Much of the crimes committed in West New Britain acruied basically from this mixed WNBP citizenship.William Kapis (criminal) is a "Sepik West New Britain". Don Aka is a "Musau West New Britain".

The piracy story of the Scientists has a lead now to those "vaeras" (non-pure West New Britains)living in Gigo Oil Palm settlement who travelled in that boat that followed (NOT KOVE PEOPLE AS PROVEN in a meeting in Kimbe last weekend by Provincial Authorities and Kove Leaders) the scientist from (Garu) Kimbe.

The irony is, while NBPOL develops the country and its company interest, the bulk of West New Britain is still very under-developed. Road infrastructure and other infrastructures and public facilities are very much lacking in the rural areas in which is found the bulk of the population.

The unfortunate thing is there is continual destruction of environments (e.g clearing of new virgin forests for new oil palm plantations, and sea and water polution from waste and other toxic chemicals discharged unguarded into water streams, rivers and the sea by the Oil Palm Factories and Mills.

Thus destroying marine life!)in order to serve the interest of NBPOL and Timber Logging Companies. The lack of physical services; for instance, good roads, good and efficient public transport operations both sea and land are not there in the rural areas. However, there are run-down infrastructures and provincial public facilities, etc, because of corrupt provincial government leadership.

The NBPOL itself had not honoured some of its commitment to the province, for instance in road maintenance annually, etc. The social upheaval of crimes and bad and distrustful relationships amongst the "vaeras" and pure West Bew Britains could be attributed to NBPOL setup.

Many dyhard? West New New Britain people would not sing the praises of NBPOL, let alone the government of the that Day which decided to recruit Oil Palm workers from all over the country, instead of just people within the province. The situation would be a little different today!

I think people's peaceful existance and good quality of living life should not be undermined by want of economic progress which benefits only a few giant business corporate elites!

Fr. Ed Meli is a Cathlic Priest based in Divine Word University. This article was seen on PNG Blogs