CLUSTER 2 : STATE SANCTIONED LAND GRABS

/20 CASES LANDING PAGE/ CLUSTER 2 : STATE SANCTIONED LAND GRABS

The lives of Papua New Guineans residing in rural communities revolve around land. It provides their daily sustenance, gives the their identities and guarantees the future of their children.

Its significance to PNG compelled the drafters of the PNG Constitution to ensure land rights of the indigenous population is a critical feature of the law. But the Somare and the O’Neil governments have in the last decade formulated controversial policies that created land leases that impinged on the rights of traditional landowners and legitimized land grabbing.

Special Agricultural Business Lease (SABL)	Case 2.1-Special Agricultural Business Lease (SABL) On July 21, 2011 the then Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal announced the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate 77 land leases which were issued under the Somare government’s Special Agriculture & Business Leases (SABL). The inquiry, which was later extended by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in October 2011 for a further five months. Read Details
The Konebada Petroleum Park	Case 2.2-The Konebada Petroleum Park The Konebada Petroleum Park was a Government initiative introduced to promote the petroleum industry to employ people, create jobs and revenue for the country (Tarawa, The National, 2018). The Konebada Petroleum Park Authority Act 2008 was passed by Parliament which established the Konebada Petroleum Park and the Konebada Petroleum Park Authority providing for an appropriately managed and serviced industrial precinct for operation of large scale green fields petroleum processing and energy products. Read Details
Manumanu Land Deal	Case 2.3-Manumanu Land Deal On January 31, 2017 Opposition MP Ben Micah revealed details of a K46.6 million land deal involving the PNG Defence Force and a cabinet minister in the O’Neill-Dion government (Yapumi, PNG Loop, 2017). The revelations on the floor of the National Parliament triggered a series of events over a two month period, headlined by the National Executive Council’s suspension of the Ministers for Defence and State Enterprises, Dr Fabian Pok and William Duma respectively. Read Details