Landowners get funds to pursue court case

LANDOWNERS from Finschhafen have been given financial assistance by the district to sue for compensation for environmental damages caused by logging.
Finschhafen MP Theodore Zurenuoc gave the cheque for K20,000 to Yama Resource Owners Association of Mongi Busega last Friday at Gagidu station.
Association chairman Ali Yapi said, when receiving the cheque, that he had seen environmental damages done to his land and needed a lawyer to pursue the complaint in court.
The logging in the Mongi-Busega Forest management area was stopped in 2008 after repeated calls to the developer to be environmentally conscious, Yapi said.
The cheque was drawn from the Finschhafen district  support grant (DSG) of K250,000.
Zurenuoc said he had decided to assist the landowners “to ensure they benefit properly from what was exploited out from their bushes and jungles”.
Yapi said that YROA was registered in 2005 with the assistance of Centre for Law and Community Rights lawyers (CELCOR).