North Fly landowners dispute agro forestry reports

CUSTOMARY landowners of the recently approved Agro Forestry Project (AFP) in North Fly, Western, have expressed their disappointment following a news article that appeared in both daily newspapers last Friday claiming that the landowners were not consulted.
Landowners representatives from Gre, Drimgas, Tegena, Normad, Juha and Waiwoi areas where the AFP will take place, stated that they were not a party to any meetings that may have been purportedly held to frustrate the project and its developers, as it has taken several years to reach this stage.
All the landowners within the project areas were happy with the project as it would bring much-needed services that they had been denied for the past 39 years.
In a signed statement, the leaders claimed that they were offended by the report in that it was biased, misguided and presented to mislead the public.
They claimed that the reporters should have confirmed the information with them before publishing it.
The report had claimed that more than 100 landowners attended the meeting at the Ningerum Guest House conference room, which only has a seating capacity of 20 people and only three were from the project area landowners.
The landowners also said their umbrella companies, North East West Investment Co Ltd and Tosigiba Ltd were not selling any land to foreign interest.
They said that. as customary landowners, it would be illegal to sell customary owned land to any foreigner or anyone for that matter.
 “This is a lease-lease back arrangement and the land was never sold to anyone as mentioned in the report.
 “It was a blatant attack on the efforts that leaders and the developers had put into over the last nine years,” they said.
The landowners said the report was misconceived and was designed to misinform and mislead the public and the stakeholders.