By Deborah Moses

The Commission of Inquiry into Special Purpose Agricultural and Business Leases (SABL) in the Western Province has heard more damning evidence of local landowners losing their land to conniving loggers without their knowledge, reports the Post Courier.

Commissioner Nicholas Mirou is hearing into SABLs granted for land portions 27c, 1c and 14c in the North Fly District where tragic tales of land loss similar to cases recorded in West Pomio and New Hanover are emerging.

Mr Mirou also blasted district administrator Roland Manase Dmonai for signing away the Land Investigation Report without exercising due diligence.

Oral testimony at the inquiry indicated that most customary landowners living on or within the SABL boundaries had not consented for their customary lands to be acquired by the State and later transformed into SABLs.

Mr Mirou heard that no awareness was conducted by Government officials, particularly from the Department of Lands at Waigani and also from within the Lands Division of Western Provincial Administration or officers from the landowner company, North East West Investment Limited (NEWIL), informing the people of what the SABL was and how it would impact on their livelihood.

Acting adviser for division of lands, Western Province, Imen Papa said there had been a lack of awareness and claimed he had not been consulted with regards to the SABLs.
He told the inquiry that he had not perused the relevant land investigations reports, which he claims had been brought to him by officers of the potential developer company, Independent Timbers and Stevedoring Ltd, who had endorsed the information in the report as being factual.

He added that although he signed the Land Investigations Reports, he did not physically walk the customary land boundaries. 

Mr Giwi Giwi of the Siom clan of Tiomnai village within the SABL Portion 27C said he had not been aware that his clans land had been acquired under an SABL, and had only become aware when it appeared in the National Gazette No G218, under the title of the North East West Investment Limited.

Mr Samuel Kepuknai, a former director of NEWIL, representing the Drimskai and Smipen villages along the eastern bank of the Fly River said that he had resigned after finding out that NEWILL had SABL titles to large portions of land totalling to 149, 117 hectares and 470, 642 hectares respectively described as Portions 27C and 1C.

He said there had not been any public awareness at all on the nature of the SABLs, and their consequences on the customary land rights of the people.

The evidence given to the Commission also indicate that the customary landowners may have given their consent not for SABLs but for the acquisition of their customary land for the construction of the proposed Trans-Papua Highway, which is an economic road corridor, which would link Western Province, to the Gulf and Central Provinces.
It is said that the proposed highway project will bring improvements worth K123 million.

Mr Dmonai said that he was only given the certificate recommending alienability of customary land in what is now Portions 27C, 1C and 14C and told to sign only on that page by the representatives of Independent Timbers and Stevedoring Limited.
He claimed that he was never given the Land Investigations Reports by officers of the IT & S Limited, who reportedly conducted the land investigations. 

He said that he had signed the document on the understanding that an access road would be constructed in exchange for harvesting of logs. 

Mr Mirou, however, pointed out that the District Administrator had failed to practice due diligence on his part, hence allowing for vast tracts of customary land to be acquired for SABL purposes, without relevant landowner consent.

The boundary maps presented as exhibits indicating areas in 27C and 1C showed the land area acquired by the North East West Investment Limited under the Special Purpose Agricultural and Business Leases in total was 619, 759 ha of customary land.

The Inquiry also observed that there were irregularities in the Land Investigations Reports which suggested that all clans had the same population, and also that while the term of the lease proposed was for 25 years; the Notice of Direct Grant issued by the Secretary for Lands, including the lease was for 99 years.

The Commission of Inquiry is expected to continue its hearings into other SABLs in the province and is expected to conclude on Friday, next week.