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PAPUA NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS

First Court Victory and Compensation Against Illegal Logging

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/pngtoktok/ -- Discuss PNG Rainforest Conservation

5/3/99

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Title: WARONGOI LANDHOLDERS WIN VICTORY IN SUPREME COURT

Source: Greenpeace

Status: Distribute freely with credit given to source

Date: April 29, 1999

Warongoi landholders had a win in the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court

this week which will see them finally get the K2.3 million awarded to

them by a lower court in 1997.

This means that for the first time, Papua New Guinean landholders will

be compensated for damage to their land by illegal logging as a result

of a National Court order.

The money is damages and costs for trespass and breach of contract and

will be paid by two logging companies and the State.

It relates to an incident in 1993, when the Minister for Forests

issued a timber licence to two logging companies in Warongoi, just one

day before the new Forestry Act came into effect. The landholders

already held 99 year agricultural leases for cocoa production, but the

logging companies entered the land without consent, removed timber and

caused damage.

While the National Court found in favour of the landholders in 1997,

all defendants appealed.

In the Supreme Court this Wednesday, the landholders case was led by

Sydney barrister James Sleight, who was assisted by ICRAF lawyer

Annie Kajir and Gillian Maki of the Pacific Heritage Foundation. They

were instructed by Brian Brunton of Greenpeace Pacific.

Supreme Court Judges Salika, Sawong and Injia unanimously ruled that

the appeals be struck out. They made this decision on the grounds

that there had been an overall delay in bringing on the appeal, that

the landholders had suffered prejudice because they did not receive

the appellants written submissions as ordered, and that the

landholders had been kept out of their judgement.

The Supreme Court decision comes as Papua New Guinea's forests are

threatened as never before. The government is trying to open up as

many as 17 new concessions and extend existing ones. The PNG Forest

Authority has been subject to budget cuts and therefore cannot

professionally manage the responsibilities now being placed upon it.

Loggers have been given major tax concessions which is seeing profits

from the industry leaving the country and leaving landowners with

little to show for their destroyed forests.

For more information contact:

Gillian Maki at the Pacific Heritage Foundation Phone: (675) 9821316

Brian Brunton at Greenpeace Pacific

Phone/fax: (675) 3260560

Lafcadio Cortesi

Greenpeace Pacific

965 Mission St.

San Francisco, CA 94103

tel: w.415-512-9025/h.510-527-2858

fax: w.415-512-8699/h.510-528-2886

e-mail: lafcadio.cortesi@dialb.greenpeace.org

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