Malaysia's leading English language newspaper, The Star, is reporting that a Malaysian company, Takaso Resources, is buying the rights to log 40,000 hectares of forest in the Inland Pomio District of New Britain Island. There is no mention of how local people have been consulted about the sale or how they will benefit from the trade in their land rights.

Takaso into timber ops in Papua New Guinea

By Yvonne Tan


Takaso Resources Bhd, which recently returned to the black, will acquire a Papua New Guinea company that has a timber licence and concession, in a bid to diversify its business, sources said.

“Upon acquiring this company, Takaso, whose core business is condom manufacturing, will gain immediate technical expertise in the area of timber,” a source said.

When contacted, Takaso chief financial officer Su Seong Yeen declined to comment.

The source said Takaso would acquire Kayumas Plantation PNG Ltd, which holds the rights to a net loggable area of 40,000ha of timber, possibly worth up to RM500mil, in Inland Pomio, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea.

The length of extraction was up to nine years, he said.

The signing between the parties for this deal is expected to take place on Thursday.

Takaso said last month that it was planning to diversify into new businesses to boost profit and restructure its business.