Speaker Urged To Not Certify Timber Law

Environmental groups have appealed to Papua New Guinea Parliament Speaker Jeffrey Nape not to certify two controversial amendments to the Forestry Act.

The PNG Parliament in December passed two amendments to the Forestry Act, which environment groups fear overturns the 1991 reforms that were recommended by the Barnett Commission of Inquiry into the timber industry.

The amendments are the Forestry (Amendment) Act 2007 and the Forestry (Timber Permits Validation) Act 2007.

Attempts to seek clarification from the Legislative Counsel's office on the definition of the first amendment were unsuccessful but the second amendment, the Forestry (Timber Permits Validation) Act 2007, will upon its certification ensure that no timber permit granted under the 1991 Forestry Act will be invalidated 'due to the absence, expiration or defect in a national forest plan or a national forest inventory.'

Environmental groups led by the Eco-Forestry Forum (EFF) charge that the amendments pushed by the Somare government are a deliberate attempt to circumvent the law as there are currently two cases before the PNG Supreme Court challenging the National Forest Board's decision to allocate the logging rights for the East Awin and Kamula Doso forest concessions to Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau (RH).

The EFF argues that the national forest plan, which the board relied on in December 2005 to make its decision, is flawed and consequently the decision on the two timber concessions in PNG's Western province should be overturned.

'The inventory has never been done in the intervening 16 years and the 1996 national forest plan was fundamentally flawed. All this has been revealed in current court cases instituted by the Forum challenging the illegal allocation of logging rights for East Awin and Kamula Doso forest concessions,' the EFF said in a statement.

An ITTO diagnostic mission to PNG last year concluded that there were problems with PNG's timber allocation process as it was based on an 'outdated and deficient national forest inventory.'

The EFF said the two amendments ignored the recommendations of the ITTO diagnostic mission for the PNG government to set up a national forest inventory, which would serve as the basis for a national forest plan.

'The Forum describes the new laws as a criminal disgrace and we are also calling for an Ombudsman investigation, a constitutional challenge (in the Supreme Court) and all those involved in drafting these new laws to resign. The forest minister and the prime minister must explain to the people of PNG why they are selling out our forests at the lowest possible price,' the EFF added.

The EFF also warned that the amendments opened the door for further 'bending and manipulation' of PNG laws.

The two new laws represent the second major amendment to the Forestry Act by the Somare government.

In August 2005 the government got the PNG Parliament to repeal section 59 of the Forestry Act, which allowed for consultation with landowners on matters relating to timber permits.

The NGO representative on the National Forest Board was also removed as part of the amendments and provisions were made for the inclusion of a forest minister's nominee and timber industry nominee on the board.

Powers were also given to the forest minister under the Forestry Act to sack board members who leaked information on their deliberations to the public.
Link to original news report


edited:29/01/2008
uploaded:29/01/2008