Two United States senators have written to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to put an end to illegal land grabbing and logging under the Special Agriculture Business Leases (SABL).
They have also called on the government to pull out police presence protecting the interest of logging companies and to hold accountable those who have broken laws.
US Senators Patrick Leahy (Vermont), and Jeff Merkley (Oregon), both signed the letter dated December 7th, 2016, conveying their concerns after receiving information that more than 50,000 square kilometres of land has been leased by the government to foreign backed companies.
And despite a Commission of Inquiry and five court decisions, including a recent Supreme Court ruling stating that the landowners have been unlawfully deprived of their land, SABL arrangements continue.
Both senators also highlighted the struggle of Paul Pavol Palosualrea, who was awarded the 2016 Alexander Soros Foundation Award for Environmental and Human Rights Activism for his efforts to save Pomio’s unique forest, after a Malaysian logging company began clearing land despite the area’s inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
And anyone opposing the operation, which began in 2010, has been subject to intimidation and threats with the use of police personnel.
Recent images appearing on social media in the past week reveal the practice still continuing in Pomio, a district of East New Britain Province.
“This situation is not limited to Pomio. Communities across PNG are seeing their land forcibly taken away, their water sourced polluted, their food supplies decreasing, their sacred and historical sits razed, and their traditional cultures under siege,” the letter reads.
Though the senators welcome O’Neill’s announcement of the cancellation of all SABLs, they said they were unaware of any actions that have actually halted logging and returned customary land to communities.
“Concerns over land expropriation, illegal logging, and police violence were raised by members of the of the UN Human Rights Council during PNG’s Universal Periodic Review this year and reflected in the recommendations accepted by your Government.
“We urge you to fulfill these commitments to human rights and the rule of law by:
- Halting logging in all SABLs, cancelling all, cancel illegal land titles and logging permits, and returning customary land to its rightful owners;
- Pulling police out of logging operations and prohibiting the acceptance of compensation from logging companies; and
- Pursuing accountability where laws have been violated.”
(Left to right: Jeff Merkley, Senator for Oregon, and Patrick Leahy, Senator for Vermont. Credit: Wikipedia commons)