THE Commission of Inquiry into the special agriculture and business leases (SABL) in Pomio district, East New Britain, will start today, reports The National.
The inquiry will be held at Vunapope in Kokopo. Interested parties would give evidence on the validity of each SABL to address issues found in the preliminary hearings over the past months.
The inquiry team was in Palmalmal, West Pomio, last weekend visiting the Drina camp site where logging operations were taking place. The team was accompanied by government officials and representatives of the project developer, Gilford Ltd.
It was understood that landowners from Mul, Bairaman and Launa, within the Pomata concession area, were already in Kokopo for the hearing until Friday.
The substantive hearings will determine whether land titles for SABLs were truly vested in customary landowners or whether there was alienation to outsiders and foreigners for periods of up to 99 years.
Commissioner Alois Jerewai will Chair the SABL inquiries in East New Britain.
- rait man's blog
- Log in to post comments