Madang marchers face arrest

Source:

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

Thumbs down for OC petition

By PETER SEA

THE Government of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has snubbed the public outcry against the Maladina Amendments.
Petitions containing the outcry from civil society organisations and students were “returned” yesterday without being taken note of by the National Parliament.
Yesterday morning Bulolo MP and Opposition stalwart Sam Basil formally handed back the petitions to the co-chair of the Community Coalition Against Corruption Joe Kanekane.
The petitions were received from the civil society groups on May 4 by Opposition Leader Sir Mekere Morauta, Mr Basil, Member for Tewae-Siassi Vincent Michael, Lae MP Bart Philemon and Kairuku-Hiri MP Paru Aihi.
Mr Basil said the five leaders made themselves available to receive the petitions because nobody in the Government was willing to do so.
“The people had spoken and had rejected the Maladina amendments outright,” Mr Basil said.
Mr Kanekane said they would get their legal advisers to have a look all available options before deciding on a course of action.
Two options they may look at are a nationwide demonstration in July and getting provincial governments to join a Supreme Court reference on the amendment.
“We have to redirect our efforts to the provincial executive councils to join the reference,” former judge Nemo Yalo said.
The Government used its numerical strength to stop the petitions from being taken note of in Parliament. Parliamentary procedures allow for petitions to be placed on Notice Paper after prayers every sitting day before Question Time. But since May 4 they have gathered dust in the Opposition Leader’s Parliament office because the Speaker, on advice from the Government, had refused to entertain them.
Leaders of groups present at a press conference including chairman of civil society groups Noel Anjo said there would not be a nationwide demonstration next Tuesday when Parliament resumed.
Mr Yalo said the public had sent a clear message to the Government that they were against the Maladina amendments by signing the petitions. “It was a strong message that the public is not happy with the amendments,” he said adding the approach taken to have the petitions debated in Parliament and to get the Government to withdraw the Bill had been successfully blocked.

Post Courier, June 18, 2010

More oppose amendments

By TODAGIA KELOLA

MORE opposition to the Environment (Amendment) Act passed recently by Parliament has come in.
Two Members of Parliament have come out publicly calling for the amendments to be rescinded and a number of legal experts have raised concern on the law, criticising their colleague lawyers who drafted it.
Member for Sumkar and a Government backbencher Ken Fairwether has taken out a paid advertisement opposing the Act and calling on his fellow MPs to repeal it while outspoken Bulolo MP Sam Basil wants the law to repealed.
Two senior constitutional lawyers who reviewed the law said the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 was a very “tyrannical” law. “It makes our Government of the people now for the miners,” one said.
The legal implications of the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 (EAA) are on Property rights [s.1(2) EAA]
“Landowners of Basamuk and other areas of PNG have customary land ownership, possession, use of land and can do transaction within the same customary group.
“This property is protected by the Constitution. By merely stating this right is compulsorily acquired for public purpose without providing for just compensation, the law amounts to expropriation of property.
“This makes the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 unconstitutional as it contravenes Section 53 of the Constitution.”
For Public purpose [s.1(2) EAA] they argued that, “Mines are money business. No money, no mine. Private investors will invest if the investment will yield a certain financial rate of return. If taxes were collected then mines would be of economic importance to a nation.”
They also disagreed that mines were public purpose business activities. Public purposes are service oriented. Transport infrastructure, recreation, accommodation and towns are examples of public purpose.
Utilities like telecommunication, power, water and sanitation can be public or private depending on object. Profit will mean private and service, mining is a private business for profit. It is not a public purpose activity.
The new law according to the experts is also an encroachment on other laws [s.69A EAA]
The section on extinguishing cause of action [s.69B EAA] also derides PNG as a Western democracy.
“An important principle is checks and balances for excesses of power and authority by any person. The rule of law and due process are to give effect to checks and balances. The Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 gives more powers to one person without checks and balances,” they said.

Post Courier, June 17, 2010