Madang marchers face arrest

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By JEFFREY ELAPA and RONALD BULUM

POLICE in Madang are awaiting instructions from their superiors and the attorney-general and state lawyers to execute arrests on ringleaders of yesterday’s protest march against the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010.
Provincial police commander Supt Anthony Wagambie Jr had earlier on instructed protest leaders against staging the march as the matter was before court and was sub judice.
However, yesterday, hundreds gathered and staged a peaceful and vocal demonstration against the amendments at an open field near the provincial administration buildings.
Wagambie said it appeared that the protest march was organised by both Madang-based and overseas non-governmental organisations. He said police would only execute arrests and file contempt charges if the necessary documents by state lawyers were in place.
Following the filing of a Supreme Court reference disputing the amendments, state lawyers also argued successfully for the matter to be ceased.
Attorney-General Ano Pala later explained that as such, “there should not be anymore discussions, comments or references conducted in the media, or elsewhere”.
“There will be no more talkback radio programmes and interviews, no more advertisements, no more letters to the editor, no more public meetings and, above all, no public demonstrations or protest marches,” Pala stated in a public notice.
The people, mainly town residents, were joined by villagers from Rai Coast, Trans Gogol and the Karkar and Bagbag islands who are members of the Madang People’s Forum and the Bis-marck Solomon Seas Indigenous People’s Council.
Nearly the whole student population of Divine Word University, who had foregone the PNG University Games currently underway at Unitech in Lae in preference of starting their second semester, left classes to take part in the protest, a protester said.
The protesters congregated at the Laiwaden oval and carried placards that said simply: “No no no” or, in a message to Environment Minister Benny Allan and his colleague MPs: “Yu yet gat graun” (you are a landowner).
They were planning to march on the road to the provincial headquarters when Governor Sir Arnold Amet arrived.
“He came escorted by police,” organiser George Ireng said.
Ireng said he asked Sir Arnold to take the lead and march with the people but the governor declined.
Sir Arnold could not be reached for comment.
“He opted to clarify the amendments but we did not want to get any clarifications. It was clear he was trying to defend National Alliance and not the people.”
Parliament had, on April 28, enacted a piece of legislation outlawing third parties from suing developers.
The landowners of Basamuk Bay in Rai Coast felt it was “a direct insult” on them having given Allan and Deputy Prime Minister Sir Puka Temu a 21-day ultimatum on April 10 to reply to their petition.
Their petition had called for an independent study of the effects of deep sea mine tailings from the Ramu nickel mine.
They felt that the disposal would adversely affect the marine eco-system from Rai Coast to Karkar and Bagbag islands in Madang to Siassi in Morobe.
Wagambie said all available police manpower in Madang, including a section of the MS14 (riot police) personnel based at Bogia, were dispatched throughout the town asking residents not to stage the protest march.

National Newspaper, July 1, 2010