Clans get land titles

SEVEN clans in Inland Baining, Gazelle, in East New Britain, have received two titles to a huge piece of land in the area.
They have been after the title for the past seven years when they decided to register and develop their 20,000 hectares.
Inland Baining local level government manager Nelson Eremas managed to get the seven clans to agree on registering their land.
The two land titles are ILG Portion 902C and ILG Portion 845C.
Eremas said the registration of the land would help in preserving their customs and practices. The seven clans are now recognised under the group name Quarequa.
Eremas said the land stretched from Mandres to Raunsepna.
National Land Development programme representative EsekiaWarvi said 95% of land in PNG was traditionally owned.
He said the only challenge for the people was to have the land registered and therefore legally recognised.
“PNG has a lot of land, we are blessed with natural resources, however, we are limited in terms of development because we have done nothing to ensure our land is formally registered,” he said.
Warvi added land had great value and it was about time people recognised the importance of getting their land registered.