Tim Stewart, Canberra
"We used to have freedom to fish and to swim in our lagoon, but now we have freedom no more", Yat Paol, a visiting activist from Papua New Guinea, told a September 9 forum organised by Aid/Watch and hosted by Greens ACT Legislative Assembly member Deb Foskey. Paol gave a presentation on landowner struggles in PNG.
He focused most of his presentation on the impact of the export-oriented tuna fishing industry in the Kananam village and the associated processing plant 25 kilometres away in Nobhob in the PNG northern coastal province of Madang. He explained how customary rights to fish in the lagoon had been unknowingly signed away in 1996 by the village chief with a thumbprint.
Paol explained how the Philippines-based company RD Tuna was exempted from paying taxes for 10 years and paid local wages of 60 kina (A$90) a fortnight.
"From this gross wage, there are deductions for safety gear, the company transport to and from work and for meals at the company canteen", Paol said. "We have seen pay slips with a net pay of just 5 kina!"
In comparison, villagers who grow betel nuts (a popular narcotic) can sell them at the markets for 40 toea ($0.57) a nut with around 200 nuts per bunch!
In summarising the struggle of the locals against "big development" sponsored by the PNG government, Paol said "it all goes back to land — land is life".
Echoing this theme, Annie Kajir from the Port Moresby-based Environmental Law Centre described two laws that have dramatically affected landowner rights in PNG. The first is the 2005 Forestry Act, which has removed traditional landowner rights during consultation on forestry projects (usually the logging of rainforests or the establishment of palm oil plantations).
The second is the customary land bill. This aims to break down the communal land ownership system and make it easier for the government and developers to negotiate large-scale projects, bypassing the traditional practice whereby different clans must consult with each other before decisions on land use can be made.
"If the Customary Land Act gets passed it will allow developers to practice divide and rule in our villages", Kajir said. "It will promote individualism and destroy our clan system of land ownership."
The Environmental Law Centre is responding to the challenges of landowner struggles in PNG by organising forums at the village level and by making representations through the PNG legal system against the illegal activities of corporate developers.
From Green Left Weekly, September 14, 2005.
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