Page 18 - IB OCT 2017

Resources Agriculture Certified organic farmers P20

PWA How it all began P21
AGRICULTURE POLITICS COP 23 Islands Business

STOP to illegal

logging leases

For years, traditional landowners have been unfairly treated under the land lease scheme for illegal logging. Photo: Sam Vulum
am now implementing it because I see it Physical Planning and issue of Forest
as one of the most important things of Clearance Authority (FCA) by PNG For-
the department that needs to be rectified est Authority.
immediately,” he said. The conference called for an inquiry to
“SABL has been a major issue for our be set up by government to inquire into
people of PNG, especially our customary the application, registration, processing
landowners, and has been causing our and issue of SABLs.
by Sam Vulum people to go to court to protect their The conference further called for a
rights to their land.” moratorium to be imposed on processing
THE Papua New Guinea Government The committee will hold a weekly of SABL applications while the inquiry
has finally decided to shut down il- meeting to get issues resolved. was being carried out.
legal logging leases that have enriched SABLs allow companies to clear land The government moved proactively
foreign companies and dispossessed for agricultural development. and set up this COI. By a set of wide
traditional landowners. They have been widely exploited, pri- Terms of Reference (TOR) this COI was
The decision would put an end to a du- marily by Asian logging companies who directed to investigate 72 SABLs scat-
bious agriculture and business purposes sell the valuable timber while making tered around the country.
scheme where an estimated more than token investments in agriculture. During the course of the inquiry three
5.2 million hectares of customary land Growing concerns over the way in more SABLs were added, increasing the
around the country had been alienated which SABLs were being acquired and total number of SABLs that needed to be
for ‘special agriculture activities’ over the manner in which SABLs were being investigated to 75.
virgin forest tracts containing tropical used for dubious agriculture and busi- The COI into the practice found many
hardwoods. It was estimated that more ness purposes generated heated debate. of the leases were illegal and recom-
than 400 leases had been issued over The turnkey event that singularly mended they be shut down.
customary land since the early 1980s galvanised government into action It was interesting to note that from
to 2013. was a James Cook University confer- the list that many of the SABLs were
The country’s new Lands Minister, ence in Cairns, Australia, in March of subleased to the developers for a period
Justin Tkatchenko, has announced a 2011 where social and environmental up to 99 years for the same period as
committee to review the 175 contro- scientists, natural resource managers granted under the head-lease.
versial Special Agricultural Business and non-governmental organisations This effectively meant that the land
Leases (SABL) with objective to cancel from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and owners had transferred all their rights to
the leases. other countries met to discuss future the developers leaving no residual rights
Mr Tkatchenko said a Customary management and conservation of PNG’s of any kind to the landowners.
Land Advisory Committee would deal native forest. In effect, the subject land had been
with the SABLs which, he said, was a An anecdotal figure of 5.2 million ‘totally alienated’ from the customary
long-outstanding issue and one that hectares of customary land being alien- landowners and given to the develop-
was advertised all around the world. ated through SABLs was first noted at ers who were, in most cases, foreigner
He said the committee was a National that conference. companies or entities.
Executive Council decision. It was resolved there that appropriate Out of the 75 SABLs referred to the
“It is a NEC decision that was handed actions be taken to halt further grant COI, a total of 58 were granted 99-year
down under the previous minister and I of SABLs by Department of Lands and leases under a ‘sub-lease’ arrangement.

18 Islands Business, October 2017