Vital advocacy publication launched

By PAUL MINGA
A PUBLICATION titled The laws of Land Grabs in Asia Pacific was launched by Center for Environmental Law and Community Rights Inc. (Celcor) recently in Port Moresby.
Land grabbing is becoming a major issue in PNG as a result of the activities by foreign and locally owned companies exploiting land belonging to locals.
Such activities are seen to be for the companies’ vested interest in making profit and not giving much thought to the environmental damage the and the effects of their actions.
Activities by foreign and national companies in taking up huge mass of land, forest and other resources luring landowners with flashy gifts and money is an ongoing issue that needs to be addressed and halted before more Papua New Guineans lose their land and resources.
The ongoing trend in land grabbing results in massive extraction of resources like timber, marine resources and agricultural land. Well-off and rich companies usually offer gifts and bribes in manipulating landowners and the local politicians for a short term gain. It is a worrying trend and a bad precedent for future generations as a result of continuous manipulation of resources and the endangering of wildlife and forests for their commercial activities.
The question now for PNG is whether the relevant authorities like the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority and the National Forest Authority are taking land grabbing as a sensitive issue of paramount importance.
It is the responsibility of relevant government organisations to address the issue of land grabbing so that landowner rights can be protected and they have the final say in the development of their land and resources.
Also the Government must ensure that the landowners fully participate in any commercial activities like logging, fishing, mining, agricultural and farming and others by profit-making organisations.
Supporting the Government in trying to address the issue of land grabbing in PNG, Celcor Inc is doing its bit with the firm belief in advocating and upholding values free of political interference and enactment of laws shared by like-minded 600 member countries of the world.
Land grabbing is a prevalent issue every day in PNG and the whole of the Asia-Pacific region.
Celcor PNG and other Asia-Pacific countries had joined forces to fight land grabbing issues through their organisation’s its mission statement Friends of the Earth PNG and Friends of the Earth Asia-Pacific working towards a common goal.
The five Asia-Pacific countries – Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Palestine – and PNG are working (through Celcor) in collaboration in trying to address this issue.
Celcor’s prime target and mission is to promote and defend environmental and customary rights in PNG through law and advocacy. That is to ensure sustainable resource management for the benefit of the present and future generations.
Celcor values transparency, accountability, integrity, collaboration, participation, commitment, honesty, striving for excellence, professionalism, fairness, equality, justice, sensitivity and respect.
The publication launched at Celcor PNG’s fifth annual general meeting contains researched information, data, stories, laws and other vital information for educational for affected communities and countries ecountering land grabbing issues.
During the launching PNG Celcor country director Peter Bosip said the organisation’s main focus was to ensure that profit-making organisations using land, sea and other resources belonging to indigenous Papua New Guineans must comply with the laws of the land.
Bosip also said Celcor PNG organisation was a not-for-profit organisation and was only there to ensure the actions of profit-making organisations were environment friendly and conscious when conducting their different activities.
Bosip also added that 3 per cent of land in PNG was already taken over by commercial activities while 5 per cent was under the control of businesses.
Another speaker and editor of Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific magazine Rebecca Melepia Asigau stressed Article 5 of the constitution saying Celcor continued to advocate and lobby for the review and cancellation of all SABLs (special agriculture business leases) in the country.
Asigau also called for relevant organisations to work in collaboration with Celcor to amend relevant natural resource laws so they recognised customary landowners’ resources and human rights.
“Celcor recognises that land grabbing is not only a national issue but also a regional and global issue in the face of intensifying threats of land grabs in the region,” Asigau said.
She also said there was a real need to read the publication and understand the issue of land grabbing and its implications in PNG and the Asia Pacific region.
Celcor chairman Murray Maroroa added that such a magazine would be a tool to create change within PNG and the region in calling for stronger laws that prominently recognise the rights of indigenous communities, traditional rural agricultural communities, ethnic minorities and displaced communities as a result of armed conflict and other forms of military aggression.
He also said such a publication would help in one way or another in defending and protecting landowners and affected people’s rights.

• Paul Minga is a freelance writer.