Butibum villagers cry foul over Cassowary Road land deal

By GABRIEL LAHOC
BUTIBUM locals in Lae are complaining about a land portion on section 100, allotment 8 on Cassowary Road they claim was given to a construction company, East West 1, by senior in the Lae city authority without people being told.
The Agactu clan of Butibam said they were victims of neglect by the government, which was favouring foreigners and not helping locals to develop and benefit from their land.
Documents show that Governor Luther Wenge, acting secretary for lands and physical planning Romilly Kila-Pat, chairman of Morobe provincial physical planning board chairman Masam Som, Maybank and the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary divisional headquarters supported the awarding of the land to East West 1.
The company is a major contractor of the roads upgrading and concreting exercise in Lae and has already placed some of its assets, including machinery, onto the land, while backfilling and fencing the area.
In his supporting letter, Kila-Pat said the land area was a road base gravel supply source and would help East West 1 as a major road contractor.
In a statement, the Agactu clan said they sought help from as far as the Lands Department in Port Moresby but were advised to follow the normal process to get the title.
“The actions of the department is seen as being in contravention of the statements of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill made in Butibam village in September this year that all undeveloped land will be given to landowners,” they said.
They claimed East West 1 got a year’s permit over the land and then got ministerial exemption to publicly advertise it for tender.
They said after being exempted, the company applied to the Morobe provincial lands board, which met in the second week of this month to deliberate on that application.
“We are trying to get back our customary land for commercial purposes.
“And this kind of dealing will frustrate and delay our efforts to benefit from developments in the city,” the clan members said.
Attempts to get comments from the Morobe provincial lands board and the division of lands and physical planning were unsuccessful.