The people from seven villages in the Bogia district of Madang have given their MP John Hickey 14 days to provide answers on how their land has been given away without their knowledge and consent.

We should celebrate one of the largest but least recognised groups in the world, who grow most of the food we eat, says Henry Saragih*

Peasants and small farmers make up half of the world population and grow at least 70% of the world's food. This group includes small-scale farmers, pastoralists, landless people, peasant fishers and indigenous people all around the world.

Papua New Guinea has recently lost over 5 million hectares of land to dubious agriculture projects, a scenario that is being repeated right across the developing world.

April 17, the International Day of Peasant Struggles, was therefore an auspicious moment for prominent farmers, fisherfolk, human rights and research organisations from around the world to sharply criticised the World Bank, three UN agencies and western governments for promoting agricultural investments that are resulting in land grabbing on a massive scale. 

ABC Radio National

While young Arabs might be demanding democratic rights, young Melanesians seem to be questioning the merits of democracy.

Mark Bannerman: Three months into the year, it's fair to say that in geopolitical germs, all eyes are focused on the Middle East and North Africa. Our own foreign minister, Kevin Rudd, has devoted a significant amount of time to the situation there, forcefully putting Australia's point of view.

Dr Samuel Maima, Technical adviser Boka Kondra Bill

THE attorney-general’s statement that the state owns all resources six feet and more under the ground has to be challenged for the sake of our indigenous and customa­ry landowners of Papua New Guinea.


What he endorsed was similar to the resource law that was passed by the British parliament in 1922 which basically exploited all its colonies’ wealth from the Africa to Asia, Australia and elsewhere.


By Jeremy Hance

Post Courier editorial

Is the present Government involved in a conspiracy to take over all customary land in Papua New Guinea?


We ask this question because we are alarmed at the manner and rate at which the Special Agricultural and Business Leases (SABLs) are granted to date. According to our records, 5,114,911.85 hectares of customary land have been leased, much of the leases granted in the last two years.


A community leader from Rempi, furious over the absence of government representatives and ministers at the villagers own Pacific Marine Industrial Zone Forum, yesterday issued a scathing attack on Papua New Guinea's Commerce and Industry Minister, Gabriel Kapris, and Environment Minister, Benny Allen, accusing them of bulldozing the project and bypassing landowners.