By Jimmy Kalebe

AFTER a successful move by many landowners, civil societies and individuals in the country, Prime Minister O’Neill has received the SABL report.

Following that a concern landowner in Turubu LLG Fr Willie Suai has made a call to the Prime Minister to honor the report and cancelled all leases granted under the SABL which were found to be null and void.

[Pictured: Fr Willie Suai – concerned that all SABL found to be fraudulently done should be abolish and logging on those areas must be stopped]

Fr Willie said local people are the sole owner of the natural resources and it is their customary right and birth right. 

He said with the SABL placed on customary land, people become spectators on their land. Resource owners within portion 144c experienced logging for the last 5 years.

The landowners in Turubu and Sausso local level government want the national government to cancelled all SABLs found to be illegal and stop logging on customary land.

The people now are asking for the government to ensure that compensation be paid by those foreign logging companies currently logging customary land.

Many landowners claimed that they have never given their consent for logging operations currently in operations in Turubu, Sausso and eventually to other parts of Kubalia and Yangoru.

Fr Suai said it is unfair that the current logging on portion 144c has not give back any benefit to the local communities who are directly implicated in the operation.

He felt that justice must be done so that local people could see the true meaning of development on their land.

Fr Suai extends his call to all the people from Turubu and Sausso LLGs to stand together and make certain that this fraudulent deal on customary land be abolished and that the ownership to the land be given back to them as soon as possible.

This call has been the cry that many local landowners in the SABL affected areas tried to get the national government to act positively.

The people want to thank Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to make the first step in the right direction as people really feel the pinch of it.