By PETER DONIGI
I have been involved in public seminars, meetings and discussions on land reform since 30 years ago.
Much attention has been placed on the top-down approach resulting in rejection by customary landowners nationwide.
The top-down approach in my books, is defined as any scheme that is dreamt up by the State or its consultants, worked over in halls of academia and regurgitated as the best scheme for prising away rights from customary landowners to fast-track economic advancement of this nation.
It is shallow and short-sighted in nature.
Many of these proposed schemes are targeted at satisfying bankers and financial institutions without due regard for the types, longevity of and effective participation by customary landowners.
Thus, we will find a range of schemes being applied mostly in the resource projects areas in the country, many involving the sale of land by the landowners to the State, which will then lease the land to developers or investors.
Such schemes marginalise landowners and turn them into beggars on the streets.
We often wonder then why the country is so rich and yet our people do not have money in their pockets.
These schemes are based on the philosophy of “taking”.
They have never worked and, in any case, are contrary to the law of nature, which states that a “taking” depletes, while a “giving” replenishes.
The law of nature states that you must place a value on what you receive and price it by what you give.
So the more you give the more you will receive. The less you give the less you will receive. It is that simple.
This law must be applied by the State, if it wants to see economic development taken to the next level.
This law can be explained thus: If you study how life is perpetuated on earth you will understand better the law of nature.
When the rains come down from the heavens, the water takes away all our rubbish and deposits them in the ocean deep.
The sun evaporates the water from the ocean surface and causes the rain to be deposited again on earth and the cycle continues.
If a man comes along and decides to build a dam, he causes life below the level of the dam that used to rely on the supply of water to die.
The man has become a taker of God’s gift to us. He is no longer facilitating God’s plan.
So somewhere down the river of time, nature will rearrange everything back to what it used to be.
We are seeing that happening in the intensity of storms and increase in temperatures around the globe.
This is the law of nature and it must be applied across the board whether in the planning for the use of the land by the landowners to policy making in government.
In many instances, people try to develop ideas that appear as if they are based on giving but in reality, they are schemes that result in the taking.
For instance, if someone comes and say to you, I am going to give you K100 but I want you to give it back to me in kind or with interest, then that is not a “giving”.
The law of nature requires you to give without any expectation of a return gift or benefit.
The evaporation of water and the rains are a gift without any expectation in return. So in land matters, when the State comes along and acquires your land, it is “taking” and is not “giving”.
That is why Papua New Guineans will remain poor in wealth and in spirit.
So the question that should now be asked is, how do we then develop a scheme concerning land that will result in “giving” rather than “taking”?
To do that we must develop a bottom-up approach.
I have been fortunate in that on my return from Fiji late last year, I became involved with a group of customary landowners from Elevala Tanobada, Tatana Araira and Baruni villages of Port Moresby.
I became involved because I am consulting to Warner Shand Lawyers whose offices are physically located between these villages.
I also became involved because of the tenacity and dedication of one individual.
He was formerly the secretary of Works and Transport and is now a community leader trying to help his people in his own way.
Lohia Hitolo is an engineer by profession with vast experience in government projects but the State has facilitated his departure from government to walk the streets of Port Moresby.
The Government has taken much from the people like him and given nothing in return.
So with the cooperation of the people of those villages in Port Moresby and Hitolo, I have applied the law of nature by creating the “Donigi Scheme” for use by customary landowners nationwide.
The scheme uses existing laws and does not require new legislation to be drafted and put through Parliament.
The salient features of the Donigi Scheme involves the corporatisation of rights-holding clans by the establishment of a corporate structure that would result in an all-inclusive participation by all landowners, including children.
Landowners will be given non-tradable equity in the project corporate vehicle.
Every person in the clan is a beneficiary and shareholder of the landowner corporate vehicle and no one is left out of the equation.
Future generations are also taken care of.
The scheme utilises the lease and lease-back provisions of the Land Act with a slight difference in the existing system to take account of the corporate structure established by the scheme.
The scheme takes care of the reservations of the private sector and financial institutions by providing for securitisation, registrability and renewability, which should make them happy.
The scheme has been explained to one director of a financial institution and he is confident it can work.
The Donigi Scheme, guarantees effective participation by all landowners in the economic development activities in the country.
No one is left out of the equation.
It is versatile and can be applied across the board for all economic and commercial activities whether in forestry, agriculture, conservation and eco-tourism, coastal and estuary fishing, mining township development or residential or commercial development projects near cities.
The question that should be asked is should landowners want to be marginalised?
If not, the Donigi Scheme is for those who want effective participation in the fruits of development. The nation can only leapfrog all other nations.
The State on the other hand will benefit immensely in the following ways:
* Increased stamp duty collections on all transactions;
* Increased filing fees collected by the Department of Lands and Physical Planning; and,
* Increased investment and development activities.
More money in the system results in increased spending and collection of taxes by the State.
We submitted a test application on behalf of the 29 rights-holding clans of Elevala Tanobada, Tatana Araira and Baruni villages to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands and Physical Planning Dr Puka Temu on Jan 14 and are awaiting his response.
I believe if the scheme is applied throughout the nation, there will be a snowballing effect on economic development.
I am confident landowners throughout the country will welcome this scheme.
I believe the time for the State to acquire land from landowners for development purposes is over.
It is time to change the direction.
The State now must facilitate landowners’ participation directly in business and the way to do it is through the Donigi Scheme.

* The writer is a consultant with Warner Shand Lawyers