Govt told to repeal changes

THE OPPOSITION yesterday called on the Government to withdraw the amendments to the Environment and Conservation Act 2000.
Yesterday in Parliament, Bulolo MP Sam Basil told the Government to withdraw the amended Act and reintroduce it to Parliament for withdrawal.
Mr Basil’s electorate is home of the Hidden Valley and Wafi gold mines. There are allegations surfacing of environmental destruction caused by the mines.
In response, the Government defended the amendments to the Act in Parliament.
Minister for Environment and Conservation Benny Allen told Parliament that the amendments were done to save the existing permits for projects like Porgera gold, Simberi gold and Ramu nickel mines.
“The processes in which a permit is issued to developers and like all other government departments...the Department of Forestry, any submission must reach the Environment Council which is made up of experts in the field, advise whether or not a permit should be issued,” Mr Allen said.
He said the changes would not affect the LNG project or any future projects.
But he did not explain the true content of the amended Environment Act section 87(D), sub-section (4) where it states that the director’s decision is final and may not be challenged or reviewed in any court or tribunal, except at the instigation of an aggrieved holder of a authorisation instrument.
He said all government stakeholders including the landowners were consulted in the process. Mr Allen also blamed the media for blowing the issue out of proportion.
He repeatedly said: “Those people sitting up there...media blew it out of proportion, although we met with the press and outlined the Government’s reasons as to why the Environment Act was amended.”
He said the media must be blamed for the misreporting that had raised a lot of controversies on the amended Act.

By Simon Eroro

Post Courier Newspaper, June 23, 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Two Members of Parliament have come out publicly calling for the amendments to be rescinded and a number of legal experts have raised concern on the law, criticising their colleague lawyers who drafted it.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opposing the Act and calling on his fellow MPs to repeal it while outspoken Bulolo MP Sam Basil wants the law to repealed.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