Landowners call on Digicel to remove towers

OWNERS of land where 11 Digicel towers are located in East Sepik have called on the management of the company to pull own their set-ups in protest over the company’s refusal to compromise on their demand for improved benefits.
The resolutions for Digicel PNG to pull down its towers on 11 sites from the 27 towers it has reached in a meeting last Wednesday after numerous attempts by the landowners to get the company’s management to respond favourably on a list of demands.
They presented the demands to Digicel Wewak area manager William Tekwie early this year.
High on the list of more than 10 demands was for the company to review all land lease agreement and increase the monthly land lease rental from K260 to K5,000 and for the landowners to enjoy other spin-offs like selling of flex cards, mobile phones and refuelling of generators.
Chairman of the Digicel Towers Landowners Association George Numbasa said frustrated landowners blocked off roads to the towers on Oct 29 but police fiercely attacked a landowner at Tuonumbu tower sending signal for all blockade to be lifted on all other towers or the landowners would face the consequences.
Numbasa, who was disappointed with the police action, said the landowners did not damage any properties but only blocked off roads to show their frustration when police suppressed them.
The chairman said all avenues taken by the landowners to get the management of the company to round table discussion had been exhausted and they had now resolved for a protest march to the provincial administration tomorrow morning to get the support of the provincial administrator and governor to solve the landowner crisis in East Sepik.
Meanwhile, Digicel PNG hand-delivered a letter dated Nov 1 to Numbasa last Wednesday which stated that the landowner association was  not a registered organisation and, therefore, Digicel was not obliged by law to consult with any illegal or unregistered organisation.
The letter signed by the company’s in-house lawyer John Munnull Jr also advised Numbasa to refrain from using the company’s (Digicel’s) name  seven days after the receipt of the letter or the company would take legal action against him.
The letter said Digicel would only recognise and comply with land lease agreements it had signed with the respective landowners of the sites which has its towers.