By PETER KORUGL*

New Opposition Leader Belden Namah has blasted the Government on its decision to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABL).

However, he may be in a conflict of interest situation because a company connected to him had such a lease and was logging in his electorate, it emerged yesterday.

In a statement at the weekend, Mr Namah said that under SABL, private funds were invested to establish important sustainable agriculture and forestry projects providing employment and business opportunities for thousands of people in rural parts of the country, where the National Government had failed miserably.

He was responding to last week’s announcement by Acting Prime Minister, Sam Abal about the Government’s intention to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the issue of SABL and imposed an immediate moratorium on the issuing of any further SABLs as well as suspend all existing Forest Clearing Authority on such leases until the Commission of Inquiry finishes its work and its recommendations presented to Parliament. 

“Landowners have power to obtain SABL to develop resources in their customary land in the absence of government initiated agriculture projects,” Mr Nahmah said.

“Land owners and private investors have taken the initiative to invest their resources in agriculture projects with private sector investors because the Government has failed in the agriculture sector.

“Mr Abal has no power whatsoever to stop or suspend agriculture projects operating under SABL.

“Stakeholders must not listen to the current Government.

“Unless there are specific court orders, businesses should continue as usual.”

However, Mr Namah was clearly in a conflict of interest situation here because a company, Bewani Oil Palm Development Limited, which he is said to be involved with, was granted a lease under the SABL covering a staggering 139, 909 hectares of land in his Vanimo/Green electorate. 

He has not responded to questions sent to his office regarding the lease to this company but the lease has a term of 99 years and was granted on July 17, 2008, and gazetted on October 14 of the same year. 

According to reports, the company, Bewani Oil Palm Development Ltd, was granted the environmental permit on the January 17, 2009 and the Forest Clearance Authority, both carrying a term of 50 years two months later.

The company was logging and exporting logs for more than two years but it is not known if it had developed the oil palm estates on the cleared forest area.

Non-governmental organisations and green groups yesterday said Mr Namah was Forest Minister at the relevant time in 2007 and put the bill before Parliament to amend the Forestry Act, Section 90 and following, to allow the large scale conversion of forest to agriculture by way of the forest clearance authorities.

“He is actually one of the people that has done a lease/lease back in Vanimo. 

He is wrong in saying that the govt suspended the agro forestry projects,” a leading environmental campaigner said.

“The Government is issuing a moratorium on all new lease lease-backs and suspending forest clearance authorities, not suspending agro/forest projects. 

“Now you only need a forest clearance authority for forests in areas over 50 hectares so the maybe five projects that are 50 hectares or less which are probably the only valid agro-forestry projects are unaffected by the government’s decision on suspension of FCAs and can do business as usual, the grant of those leases will be investigated too but it doesn’t affect their businesses.”

* First published in the Post Courier