Reports from Rovang village in the Pomio area of East New Britain say that young men protesting against logging have been beaten by police with fan belts and tree branches, according to the PNG Exposed blog.

It is alleged that an aircraft from Tropic Air, operated by notorious Malaysian logging company Rimbunan Hijau, flew the police into Palmalmal from Kokopo. Kokopo police said they were not aware of this.

Papua New Guinea's only female Member of Parliament, who was until recently Minister for Community Development, has joined ACT NOW!'s campaign on violence against women and children.

Dame Carol Kidu has thanked and congratulated ACT NOW! members for taking action and urged civil society not to give up the fight against domestic violence.

Please help Joy live a normal life

I READ with disgust about the sufferings and anguish endured by Joy Wartovo at the hands of her her husband last December. Then came the satisfying story that he was terminated from employment and behind bars and I thought these sufferings had come to an end. But for poor Joy, this was far from over. It was yet another disgusting story of abduction and abuse. She has been stabbed and hospitalised.

By Jimmy Kalebe


Landowners in East Sepik have called on the national government to do away with special purpose business lease agreement (SPABL).


In a forum conducted by Turubu Eco Forestry yesterday, many landowners said they were not fully informed of the agreement and its implications. 
The landowners said much of their land had been alienated through SPABLs without their full consent for nearly a century. 
They feel this is “totally wrong and must be returned”.

Joy Wartovo sufferred serious physical abuse (pictured) at the hands of her policeman husband for six years before he was arrested and suspended from work in January. But Simon Bernard was never prosecuted for his crimes and last week Joy was back in hospital being treated for stab wounds inflicted by her husband....

An anti-domestic violence group created on the social networking site facebook has become the fast growing Papua New Guinean group in 24 hours.

By Luana Paniu

Inconsistencies and flaws found during the preliminary stages of the Commission of Inquiry into the Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABL’s) found that almost all Departments lacked basic logistics, management and coordination to effectively carry out what was required of them. Findings also included lack of proper monitoring of officers and file movement, funding and manpower.

By Tim Anderson

Aid worldwide runs at more than $120 billion per year (World Bank 2011a), yet there is very little correlation between this expenditure and the often stated goal of poverty reduction. The failures of aid are legion. Yet this ‘development assistance’ has become a massive and semi- permanent global industry which in western countries is often erroneously equated with ‘development’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Aid programs, despite the stated good intentions, certainly deserve some critical scrutiny. 

By Scott Waide

Prior to 1995, Papua New Guinea's roads were constructed and maintained by the Department of Works. In 1995, structural and legislative adjustments shifted the role of the Works Department from maintenance and construction to monitoring and supervision.

"Seeds Blong Yumi”, is a 57 minute documentary that celebrates traditional food plants and the people that grow them and stresses the importance of maintaining traditional farming practices [see video tralier below].

Indigenous farmers around the world face increasing pressure from agribusiness corporations that push their low-diversity seed stock. Many of these varieties require costly inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilisers.