People abusing land concept

Letters

IN PNG, customary land is owned by clans and not tribes.
The clans are headed by leaders who in consultation with clan members decide what is to be done with their land.
In a tribe there may be say, 50 to 100 clans and they all speak the same language.
I do not mean that one association or company can go ahead and apply for the Special Agricultural Business Leases (SABL) through the Lands Department, unless all clan leaders sign the Incorporated Land Group (ILG) forms.
What has been happening in the issuance of the SABL is incorrect.
I say this because only one or few families form associations and apply for the SABL.
Especially those living in the cities and towns without the approval of the clan chairmen who are living in the village.
There is nowhere in PNG one clan and or family has more than 500,000 hectares of customary land.
People who are applying for the SABL are not consulting the landowner ILG’s.
This are alleged attempts to steal land and engage foreign companies mostly to do logging and make quick bucks in the name of agriculture and at the expense of mostly illiterate landowners.
This was the alleged case for Purari Development Association headed by Roy Evara and the Iare tribe families of Baimuru, Gulf, of the recent issuance of the Baimuru-Karimui Formal 8 SABL.
It is currently a court matter now.
The Government concept is right, but few greedy self-centred individuals are allegedly misusing it for their own gains.

Baiso dust,
Old Iare Village