By Luana Paniu

At least two locals in New Hanover were seriously wounded when police discharged their firearms and shot them in the ankle, resulting in their hospitalisation. In what can be described as a vicious attack on human rights, the Commission of Inquiry into SABL were given insight into atrocities occurring on the picturesque island.

The Island of New Hanover in the New Ireland Province is one of the 75 SABL cases currently before the Commission of Inquiry and last Thursday claims of human rights abuse were revealed when witness Kamsel Maraleu took to the stand.

Mr Maraleu alleged that a woman of Asian descent (named) engaged by an umbrella landowning company, Palma Hacienda, had paid for the services of policemen to remove locals off their land which resulted in the serious wounding of two villagers. Mr Maraleu alleged that the woman had told villagers of the Konomate, North Lovongai, on the island to free up their land for SABL purposes but they had placed a customary Gorgor (leaf like spice) surrounding their gardens and customary land to prevent people from entering.

“Taim ol man meri I les long harim tok, dispel meri ibin baim han bilong ol taskforce long Tomaringa polis bareks (Rabaul) long kam na rausim ol. Na tai mol i bin kam, ol I tok nogutim ol dispela ples lain na ol ples lain I kros na tromoi ston na ol polis I sutim tupela long lek bilong ol na i bin burukim bun bilong ol na ol I go silip long hausik". 

("When the villagers refused to comply with the woman’s demands, she then paid for the taskforce from Tomaringa police barracks in Rabaul to forcefully remove them but they only provoked the landowners by swearing at them, resulting in them retaliating by throwing stones at the task force policeman who shot the ankle of two youths").

He said that local workmen who were hired by the woman were not properly compensated when they had accidents and said that there were a number of cases in which the locals had been injured but no attention was given to them by the woman and her family.

He also claimed that she had removed people from their villages in Tabut, Maiurin, Konomatalick and Meteuga promising to build their houses but nothing happened.

An earlier interview with Tutuman Development Limited director Pedi Anis, he had stated that they had engaged Malaysian-owned Jointland Limited to carry out development under SABL’s which he said contrary to claims the island had been sold, it had only been sub-leased to company.

But Mr Maraleu has said that many of their logs have been felled and the general feeling on the island is of helplessness with very little development to show for it, and like many other SABLs, he claimed the company had only created roads to transport logs to and from the areas.