Sourced from PNG EDGE

The PNG-Eco Forestry Forum has called on the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to appoint a new and neutral chairman for the Ministerial Committee reviewing the Special Agriculture Business Lease (SABL) commission of inquiry report.

Having Forestry and Climate Change Minister Patrick Pruaith in charge was like “giving the keys of the blood bank to Dracula’’, the forum said.

As the secretariat representing civil based organisations and non-governmental organisations that deal with forestry and climate change issues, the forum wants the current chairman of the committee Pruaitch to be replaced.

The call was made by the forum’s representatives, Partners with Melanesians executive director Kenn Mondiai and Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights executive director Peter Bosip this morning during the FM100 Talk-back Show.

This is in light of the delay in the committee acting on the recommendations of the SABL commission of inquiry report.

“The chairmanship needs to be taken away from him because of a conflict of interest. The right person to chair the committee should be the Minister for Justice, Kerenga Kua,” says Mondiai. He says that the decision to have Pruaitch, “who has an interest”, is like “giving the keys of the blood bank to Dracula”.

Mondiai says the recommendations are clear and the committee needs to take action quickly. “The civil society has lost 2.5 million hectares of customary land through this system and wants to know the results of the findings,” he says, adding “we want results”.

Bosip says the SABL is a window-dresser to serve the interest of those involved and getting away easily as there is not much constraint over the export of “salvaged timber’’.

“We know that 75 per cent of the SABL is illegal. And action is needed from the committee. Those customary lands taken away from the people should be given back as it is affecting their livelihood and even prosecute those involved,” he says.

It was recently confirmed by Lands Minister Benny Allen and Agriculture Minister Tommy Tomscoll that the committee had not met since it was set up. Recent feedback from the prime minister on the issue was “we are looking into it”, however, to date there has not been any results forthcoming.