Petition over PNG lease system woes

2:06 pm on 21 February 2017

A 10,000 signature petition is today being presented to the Papua New Guinea government calling for action on the Special Agriculture Business Leases.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill of Papua New Guinea.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill of Papua New Guinea. Photo: PETER PARKS / AFP

The SABL system was the object of a Commission of Inquiry which found the majority of the leases were largely fraudulently obtained.

Since 2013, there have been numerous promises from the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill that the leases will be cancelled, illegal logging stopped and the land returned to its rightful owners, as the Commission recommended.

But the advocacy group Act Now says so far not a single lease has been revoked by the government while logs worth hundreds of millions of dollars have been shipped overseas from illegal logging operations.

The petition is being presented by Paul Pavol and three other representatives from SABL affected areas.

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