Manu-Manu Land Inquiry must not be a waste: Take action with the inquiry report that cost the nation K2-million

Extracted from POST COURIER | EDITED

The K2 million Administrative Inquiry into the K46 million Manu-Manu Land Scandal must not be a waste of hard earned public money and time.

Already the property of Parliament, this report presented last week by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill as promised in the public interest, must now be decisively acted upon.

Its recommendations are crucial for establishing the formal terms of reference a formal Commission of Inquiry (COI) must operate under when it is set up.

And senior Government Ministers, politicians and senior public servants were implicated in the entire saga. It is only fair that the COI is established so that these people can be cleared.

But a COI can only be set up after final deliberation by the Supreme Court on the questions now before it to interpret regarding its process and relevance to such public inquiries.

And like Prime Minister O’Neill said, the process has not in any case prevented other investigating authorities including the police fraud squad, Ombudsman Commission and the Personnel Management Department from undertaking their own actions as they deem appropriate relating to the same matter.

Pending the final Supreme Court resolution of the reference on COIs, it should not be too difficult to deduce from the initial TOR of the administrative inquiry what should be pursued by relevant authorities now that the report has been tabled in Parliament.

The John Griffin QC led inquiry delivered as expected after their investigations since December, and good advice is now needed on progressing what has been recommended be it prosecution or further inquisition into the conduct of the people, public servants, Ministers and traditional landowners involved in the deal.

The initial assurance given by the Prime Minister when appointing QC Griffin and his team must be honoured in order to maintain the integrity of their findings and to also offset the due process of further perusal of the K46 million deal.

Mr O’Neill said then that the appointment will not prevent on-going investigations of the police fraud squad, the Ombudsman Commission and the Department of Personnel Management in respect of the staff and senior public servants that have been implicated in the matter.

He announced that the inquiry would look into the role of relevant Ministers, the role of relevant departmental heads and their officers, and heads of various state owned enterprises.

He said then that it would look at the role of the management of many of these organizations, the role of the Valuer General in terms of the valuations of the land that was purchased, and of course the recommendations of the inquiry was to be made to Cabinet within four weeks and a report to be Parliament on the findings.

That has already been achieved as promised by the Government.

But what is needed now is progressive action in order to conclude the findings and ensure any breaches of the law, corruption, abuse of office and criminal actions on the part of identified perpetrators are effectively brought to justice. - Via Garamut News. 

‘Gross manipulation and dishonesty’ over Manu-Manu land deals: Needed a full investigation “to uncover the conspiracy”

Extracted from THE NATIONAL | EDITED

THE disappearance of files from the Lands and Psychical Planning Department on the Manu-Manu Land Scandal points to “corruption” and “conspiracy”, according to an inquiry.

The report of the inquiry into the land transactions and deals by the Ministry of Public Enterprise and State Investment, and Ministry of Defence, was recently handed over by Chairman John Anthony Griffin QC to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

“The fact that the Lands Department files disappeared strongly supports the proposition that there was corruption involved and there is circumstantial evidence which supports the notion that there was a wide-ranging conspiracy, such as the lengths some personnel in the Lands Department have gone through in removing all the files containing evidence relating to the transaction,” the report stated.

It said it needed a full investigation “to uncover the conspiracy”.

The report highlighted that the valuation of land Portion 406 at the cost of K46.6 million was so far in excess of the true value and was “fraudulently high”.

It said the Defence Council did not approve the land purchase “nor was there any feasibility studies being done on that portion of the land prior to the acquisition”.

The inquiry cleared the Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited, State Solicitor, Land Titles Commission and their department heads of any wrongdoing.

It said there was a “gross amount of manipulation and dishonesty between the three key state agencies including Kumul Consolidated Holdings Limited, Defence Department and Lands Department”. – Via Garamut News.

Transparency International calls for Release of Full Report on Manu-Manu Inquiry

Extracted from PNG LOOP | EDITED

The Transparency International Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) is calling on the PNG Government to make a report on the Manu-Manu scandal available for public scrutiny.

This report cost taxpayers K2 million. Media outlets have not been given access to the full report into the payment of K46m made to a dubious business entity for land allegedly valued at only K10, 000 in Central Province.

“The Administrative Inquiry was tabled on the floor of Parliament last Friday (13/04/18), and the following week the formerly suspended Lands Secretary and the head of the MVIL have gone to the courts to be reinstated to their positions on the basis of this completed Inquiry,” said Lawrence Stephens, Chairman of TIPNG.

“This is in addition to Ministers William Duma and Fabian Pok who were also sidelined and subsequently reinstated by the Prime Minister after the 2017 National Elections and before the Manumanu Inquiry report had been completed.”

Since its tabling in Parliament, TIPNG has attempted to obtain the Manu-Manu Administrative Inquiry Report from the Government Printing Office and been informed that the full report has not been released by the Chief Secretary’s Office as custodians of Commissions of Inquiry.

TIPNG is calling on the Chief Secretary and the Department of PM & NEC to release the full report on their public website as a first step to making it available.

“Now that the report has been tabled in Parliament, the people of Central Province, the general public and media outlets must have access to the findings of the Manu-Manu Administrative Inquiry and we must reflect on whether it meets its original Terms of Reference,” said Stephens.

“For the Manu-Manu Inquiry to be complete it must include documents pertaining to the valuation and sale of the land as well as the NEC decision resulting in the K46m purchase with funds from the implicated agencies and leaders.

“If the report is deficient in any of these aspects it is difficult to see how it exonerates either of the two Ministers or eight Heads of Departments.” – Via Garamut News.

Solomon Island ban logging to protect the forests, whilst PNG’s SABL remains the biggest land scandal ever

Extracted from MONGABAY NEWS | EDITED

The leaders of Central Island province, part of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, have decided not to issue new business licenses to logging and mining companies following a local petition and recent reports detailing the lack of sustainability and legality in the country’s logging sector.

Local and international organizations have blamed unsustainable and corrupt logging practices for destroying the islands’ sensitive habitats and creating civil strife among the people who live there.

Provincial governments in the Solomon Islands lack the power to block logging outright, leading Central Island province to take the licensing approach to stop new operations.

Central Island province in the Solomon Islands has blocked new logging and mining operations in an apparent attempt to halt the degradation of the archipelago’s sensitive ecosystems.

“With timber on the islands harvested at a hugely unsustainable rate, this is an important first step,” the London-based watchdog organization Global Witness tweeted on Jan. 14, 2019.

Timber accounts for nearly one-third of the Solomon Islands’ exports, according to a 2013 study by the World Bank.

In October 2018, Global Witness reported that companies were cutting down the country’s trees at a rate that was 19 times what could be considered sustainable.

The organization also found that more than 12,600 kilometers (7,800 miles) of logging roads snake through the country’s land area.

Central Island province, also called Central Islands or just Central province, is home to Tulagi, the colonial capital of the Solomon Islands, a group of islands stretching east of Papua New Guinea across 1.34 million square kilometers (520,000 square miles) of the South Pacific.

The national government holds the power to permit logging in the country, Patrick Vasuni, the province’s caretaker premier, told ABC Radio Australia. (Vasuni is officially a “caretaker” until the upcoming elections, expected in 2020.)

But companies must also obtain business licenses from provincial governments before they begin operations.

“That is the area we are banning,” he said, adding that the injunction came on the heels of a local petition to halt logging in the province.

Vaeno Vigulu, who heads the country’s forestry ministry, confirmed by text message to ABC Radio that the order hadn’t come from his agency.

Conservation groups have long warned that logging and mining are destroying highland, rainforest and coastal habitats throughout the country, along with inciting societal strife.

Global Witness’s investigation found that 82 percent of the Solomons’ exported logs end up in China, with much of it potentially having been harvested illegally, unsustainably, or both.

Meanwhile in Papua New Guinea, the Government is yet to publish a list of Special Agriculture Business Lease (SABL) obtained illegally.

It is publically known from the findings of the SABL Inquiry, that the land (some 5.3 million hectares of customary land) was leased illegally, without free, prior informed consent of the customary landowners (CLOs).

The Government has made a commitment of returning it to the landowners (legally it belongs to them anyway), but there's another angle also to consider. It is now taking five (5) years, the promise is not honored.

This action, or attempt to disenfranchise the landowners and steal their logs in many cases, was knowingly perpetrated across the country in a short period of time by a band of people.

This entailed officials working with a few customary landowners, sometime from elsewhere and purporting to be landowners from that land, together with a group of foreigners, who sometimes had the privilege of travelling back and forth from Malaysia in considerable executive comfort, we're led to understand.

If one robs a bank, or burgles a house and are caught there's inevitably a long spell in Bomana, Baisu or such facilities.

So, what about these land grabbers, is anyone (i.e. the police) progressing to put them behind bars?

It's not exactly a secret who they all were.

Many in PNG and globally are pushing for the Government to publish the full SABL list, it is one of the world’s biggest illegal land grabs, yet more than 5-years after the government promised to cancel the SABL Leases and return the rights back to the CLOs and nothing happen to date.

People are still waiting earnestly to hear the leases being cancelled.

It is also reported by local and international NGOs that the SABL leases, some of which land areas are largely covered by forest, being used to for carbon trading deals.

Over 50,000 square kilometers of land was stolen using illegal SABL leases between 2003 and 2011, since the Commission of Inquiry reported in 2013 the only leases confirmed as cancelled have been on the orders of the court. – Via Garamut News.

Landowner anger grows about continuing mining destruction, disastrous and genocidal in the long-term

By PETER S KINJAP | PNG ATTITUDE (edited)

One of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper and gold deposits on the Frieda River, a tributary of the Sepik, is opposed by local indigenous landowners and all right-thinking Papua New Guineans.

The Frieda River deposit is thought to contain 13 million tonnes of copper and 20 million ounces of gold and tens of thousands of people fear the likelihood of serious river system contamination and the threat to the ecosystem that supports them.

A spokesman for environment group Project Sepik, Emmanuel Peni, said there was widespread opposition to the mine’s development plan.

“From Iniok village, which is where the barges and ships stop at the Frieda River, right down to the mouth of the Sepik, people are against the mine,” Peni said.

“They are concerned about possible contamination of the river system and the destruction of the environment along the Frieda and the Sepik River system.”

The East Sepik Provincial government and the national government had not yet responded to the concerns and grievances that have been raised.

Land in the Papua New Guinea context means the natural environment including land, rivers and seas.

In Madang Province, the landowners of Basamuk, Begesin, Ramu and Kurumbukari villages are affected by the Ramu nickel mine in various ways. The Chinese state-owned mine has been polluting the beautiful coastal seas and people have been denied their food gardens and fishing waters.

In a recent documentary, ‘Uprooted’, the people clearly showed their pain about the river system contamination and the environmental destruction. They are fearful of losing their land to large scale development.

The deep sea tailings placement (DSTP) method of mine waste management and disposal which the Ramu mine proposed and was approved by the PNG government is causing a lot of environmental destruction and river contamination.

“I belong to the government and the government belongs to me,” Martin Dampat, a Mindere landowner, said in the documentary. “How can it abandon me? It must do all that it can to ensure that I am able to feed myself.

“It has the ability to do so. But, if it chooses not to, then I know the government has no concern for me. We have reached our limits. We have done all we can. They’ve rejected everything we’ve said.

“We feel we can’t do anything anymore. Some have given up trying,” he said.

“There is a great heaviness in all our hearts. I don’t think anyone can remove it from within us. We will go. But our grandchildren bear hardships even greater that what we’re experiencing.”

Another disgruntled landowner, John Oma from Ganglau Landowner Company, said: “They don’t have the land to grow their food. They won’t have an ocean to catch their fish.

“Where will they eat from? Nowhere. Great hardship awaits them. We won’ be able to avoid the troubles that will come. It’s the same sea. Life will be difficult for them too.”

And Sama Mellombo from the Pommern Land Group in Ramu said, “It’s a fearful feeling when you think about the health effects on people and the inhabitants of the seas. If we take action now to tell China to find an alternative method, I think that’s the right approach. Find an alternative method instead of dumping waste into the sea. We live by the sea.”

Former Madang governor, Sir Arnold Amet, said: “The government has endorsed the actual deep sea tailings deposit and an environmental plan. I think it is our assurance that the laying down of the pipe will not affect the lives of our people.

“And the whole project has been signed and sealed by the national government and relevant agencies.”

A confused landowner from Ramu said: “We hear that the minister has come. We hear that the member has come. We hear that the mine boss has come. But we’re confused. For the people here in Mindere and Ganglau, we feel like we’re about to die because we don’t have a Father. Our Father – the government - isn’t here.”

Bong Dampat, a mother and a Mindere villager, said: “We fear for our children’s future. It’s going to be a long time. When waste dumped here, unborn children could be affected. The government and the company must pay attention. They cannot ignore us. What kind of a future will our children have? They have to pay attention.

“When a mining development contract allowed the Chinese to own and operate the mine, there was no concept of safety or environmental standards. It was a cowboy operation. You did whatever you wanted and it didn’t matter if you were injured. It seems they came with a set of rules that didn’t comply with the rules of our country.”

“This is not a fight against development. No. That isn’t why we’re campaigning,” said Ramu landowner Michael Kasuk.

“We are fighting to protect and save our environment, our forests, our land, our river systems and our seas because our existence is connected to the land, forests, river systems and the sea,” Mr Kasuk said. – Via Garamut News.

PNG ranks most corrupted in the world – making the indigenous people poorest

By MICHAEL KUMAKA | VIEWPOINT

The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government has no legal control of the customarily land, forest and carbon in PNG; and thus it tried to influence the customary landowners in a ‘bully manner” with great interest in the benefits which are duly for the indigenous people.

In a sovereign nation one has to pay tax to the government for conducting commercial activities. Therefore, it would be better for the government to collect its 10% tax from the business activities the customary landowners (CLOs) engaged and not in some fraudulent manner, tapping into the coffers of the poor CLOs – what rightly belongs to them.

There have been some suspicious trustees and funds created by the Government for the people but most of them are corrupted and the money does not get right down to the people.

Some of which were created for the REDD+ funds are; Mama Graun Conservation Fund, PNG National Forest Fund (GreenPeace 2010) and the PES Fund (EcoForestry Forum 2010).

No one knows if any of these Government-created funds is functioning and/or operating to benefit the indigenous people on REDD+ options.

Timber Royalties for the indigenous people are managed and disbursed by the PNG Forestry Authority (PNGFA) and this is the only publicly known payments CLOs in the forestry sector receive to date.

Meanwhile, in a recent report presented by Transparency International PNG reveals PNG is one of the most corrupted nations in the world.

The 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published PNG ranking 138 out of 180, making it one of the most corrupted countries in the region and in the world.

Most of the corruption activities or rather say corruption cases dealing with billions of dollars is to do with illegal land grabbing and resources deprivation from CLOs.

One of the world’s biggest illegal land grabs that adds PNG to the global corruption scale is the Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABL).

Its more than five years after the government promised to cancel the SABL (special agriculture and business) leases and return the land to its customary owners, the people of Papua New Guinea are still waiting to hear which, if any, leases have been cancelled.

Few months ago, the United Nations wrote to the government for a third-time, accusing ministers of racial discrimination against their own people for not implementing the recommendations of the 2013 Commission of Inquiry and cancelling the leases.

Meanwhile, through a recent media statement, a CLO from the PNG LNG project area Bobby Joseph Pari is calling on the Government to publish the long-awaited list of clan vetting for the impacted clans to receive their benefits.

He said before registering for clan vetting, the PNG Government through the Department of Lands must publish their clan and/or tribes names for a month or two for all CLOs to debate their validity.

“Clan vetting must be published before the department gazettes it and not after the department gazettes it,” he cautioned of the forthcoming irregularities.

“If we do not do this, we will be faced with an issue similar to the Bougainville issue,” he added.

The CLOs themselves must be aware of what is happening so that they are given the opportunity to validate the clans before registration. The Government must give time for the CLOS to validate themselves and correct any mistakes, errors and omissions in handling. – Via Garamut News. 

SABLs, resource madness and land criminality in Papua New Guinea

By PAUL BARKER l FACEBOOK.

We all know, as from the findings of the SABL (Special Agriculture and Business Leases) inquiry, that the land (some 5.3 million hectares of customary land) was leased illegally, without free, prior informed consent of the owners.

We realize that the Government has made a commitment of returning it to the landowners (legally it belongs to them anyway), but there's another angle also to consider.

This action, or attempt to disenfranchise the landowners and steal their logs in many cases, was knowingly perpetrated across the country in a short period of time by a band of people.

This entailed officials working with a few landowners, sometime from elsewhere and purporting to be landowners from that land, together with a group of foreigners, who sometimes had the privilege of travelling back and forth from Malaysia in considerable executive comfort, we're led to understand.

If one robs a bank, or burgles a house and are caught there's inevitably a long spell in Bomana, Baisu or such facilities.

So, what about these land grabbers, is anyone (i.e the police) progressing to put them behind bars?

It's not exactly a secret who they all were.

Tropical Rainforests in PNG are owned by customariy landowners. Image: Neomi Necolina Nikints Mhan

PNG Govt yet to publish cancelled SABL leases, illegal land grabbing continues

Tropical rain forest in Papua New Guinea. Image: Neomi Necolina Nikints Mhan

It is one of the world’s biggest illegal land grabs, yet more than five years after the government promised to cancel the SABL (special agriculture and business) leases and return the land to its customary owners, the people of Papua New Guinea are still waiting to hear which, if any, leases have been cancelled.

Last month the United Nations wrote to the government for a third-time, accusing ministers of racial discrimination against their own people for not implementing the recommendations of the 2013 Commission of Inquiry and cancelling the leases.

Previous letters from the UN have been ignored by the government and PNG needs to be much more transparent.

We have heard so many excuses and seen so much misinformation from the government for so many years that people have rightly lost all trust in our politicians.

Act Now! is demanding the government immediately publish a full list of SABLs showing the current status of each lease, including which have been surrendered, which have been cancelled and which still remain.

Minister Tkatchenko says he is serious about tackling corruption and wants his department to be honest and transparent. The best way to start is by publishing up-to-date information on all the SABLs.

The government also says it wants to attract foreign investment and has spent billions on APEC, but legitimate investors are not going to come to PNG while issues of corruption like the SABL land grab remain unresolved.

Although over 50,000 square kilometres of land was stolen using illegal SABL leases between 2003 and 2011, since the Commission of Inquiry reported in 2013 the only leases confirmed as cancelled have been on the orders of the court.

In January 2018, Tkatchenko promised all SABL leases would be reviewed by a joint committee but there have been no updates on progress.

In many areas foreign logging and oil palm companies are still illegally occupying land with tacit approval from Tkatchenko and the government.

Source: EDDIE TANAGO | Act Now! - edited version on Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

Voluntary Land Eviction in Madang

Madang MP Hon. Bryan Kramer speaking to the people in Madang settlement. Image: Kramer Report.

Following announcement of 30 day eviction notice at Nagada Settlement located 10 km outside of Madang Town, I'm pleased to report that people have began voluntarily moving out.

Individuals residing in other settlements around Madang have also contacted my office seeking assistance to be repatriated back to their respective provinces.

I explained to them right now my office is only focused on ensuring the court ordered eviction of Nagada settlement is carried out lawfully.

People seeking assistance to be repatriated will need to be first documented by the District to avoid them using it as an opportunity for weekend trip home only to return a few days later.

Next week the Madang District Ward Project office will commence the largest ever community law and order program in the country, training some 1000+ youth throughout the District to carryout social mapping exercise of estimated 150,000+ people that reside in the Electorate.

25-30 youth will be identified in partnership with community leaders, trained and deployed in each of 49 wards throughout the District covering some 2,500 km2. They will be tasked with mapping every household from urban resident, settlement to the village hamlets in the remotest parts of my electorate.

Following the mapping exercise community forums will be conducted to develop community by-laws in partnership with Village Courts, Community Policing and Judicial Services.

The exercise will also involve collecting baseline data and intel to pin point those suspected of having committed serious criminal offences, such as killings, rapes, armed hold ups , production of home brew and sale of drugs.

Following the forums and intelligence gathering I plan to work in partnership with Madang Police and ACP Momase Command for the deployment of a Mobile Squad to Madang for a three month operation to apprehend each and everyone of them.

Operations will be carried in all settlements and villages who harbor criminals or living in fear of them.

All settlements will be re-organised under proper administration in partnership with District Ward Project Office, Provincial Administration and Community Leaders,

There will no expansion of any settlement during my term as Member for Madang. Any individuals or family who refuse adhere to community developed by-laws will be subject to eviction.

My office has 5-10 year plans to relocate all settlements outside of town to free up land for commercial and residential development. The resettlement program will involve establishing, small semi permanent houses with connection of electricity, water utilities, schools, health aid Post etc.

Picture below was taken at DCA Settlement located near the Madang airport which is a hot spot for hold ups.

On Friday I took the time to visit the settlement to explain to them my office's planned law and order program. They agreed to support it and assist with submitting names of youth to carryout social mapping of their ward which will begin next week.

source: Kramer Report on Facebook.

Madang to commence illegal land occupancy eviction exercise

Public forum - Provincial Administrator (left) Luthern General Secretary (centre). Image: Bryan Kramer, 2018. 

MADANG MP's Office has organised a public forum at Nagada Settlement, located some 10km outside of Madang Town.

The settlement is on land owned by Lurtheran Church. Over the years a local man illegally sold portions of the land to people from other provinces. 

This gave rise to an influx of people squatting on land, followed by law order problems being reported in the area.

In early 2017 the Lutheran Church took the matter to court and obtained an eviction order.

To avoid any issues arising from the eviction I decided to get involved to ensure eviction was carried out properly to avoid any human rights abuses, giving cause for further court injunctions.

In April 2018 the Madang District Project Office carried out social mapping exercise of the area to ensure eviction notice was duly served and understood by those affected.

Following the mapping exercise 693 houses were identified and documented both by GPS and photos taken on the ground.

The settlers were given more than 6 months notice that an eviction exercise would be carried out.

Public gathering to discuss process of the planned eviction. Image: Bryan Kramer.

This week we announced the eviction exercise will be carried out on 16th February 2019, giving a further one month notice.

I requested a unit of Mobile 14 from Goroka be deployed to Madang to carryout awareness of the planned eviction as well debriefing them of the outcome of social mapping and to carry out early reconnaissance and a patrol of the area.

A month from today a full unit of 40 plus members of Mobile 14 will return to Madang to work in partnership with Madang Police to carryout the eviction.

Madang District Project Office will assist those who agree on voluntary eviction to transport their properties and belongings from the land. Steps have also been taken to assist with the transfer of any children who are enrolled and reside in the settlement to other schools in their respective Provinces.

Following the eviction exercise at Nagada Madang District and Provincial Administration will carryout full social mapping of all settlements in and around Madang in an effort address urban drift, petty crimes and land grabbing.

Map of the area 693 houses 3,000 people.

Source: Kramer Report on Facebook.