Angry Porebada villagers have told Deputy Prime
Minister Sir Puka Temu they want former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Moi Avei
arrested for questioning by police, and threatened to “wipe Boera village
from the face of the earth’’.
The villagers said Sir Moi should be questioned over
his actions leading to the recent violent deaths of five Porebada men. During the meeting, Sir Puka committed the State to
pay for the funeral costs for the bodies – PNG Post-Courier, 2 February 2010
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The meeting was held at the department’s conference room and the presentation went well. All who attended appreciated the intricacies of the plan and supported its implementation.
The plan had been developed in consultation with the late Lohia Hitolo and members of the villages of Elevala, Tanobada, Kuriu, Araira, Tatana and Baruni between October and December 2007.
Mr Hitolo was instrumental in talking to the people of those villages. He brought the leaders together and facilitated an understanding between the members of the various clans.
It was not all plain sailing. There were tough words spoken and disagreements and even at one stage physical blows. Eventually the people got together and agreed on the Donigi Plan.
By January 2008 we had developed the
When other villages heard about the Plan they asked Mr Hitolo to speak about it. He brought the clan leaders of Roku, Porebada, Boera, Kirakira and Pari to speak with me and we went over the Donigi Plan with them. In all respects there was absolute transparency.
The starting point in the Donigi Plan is not who “owns” this portion of land but which “clan has a right to use” this land. These two questions define the difference between the government’s approach (the former) and the Donigi Plan (the latter). There exists a fundamental difference – philosophically, historically, legally and spiritually. The two plans cannot co-exist.
The government plan causes a division of the clan and promotes the divide and rule tactics historically used by colonialists worldwide, whilst the Donigi Plan unites clan members and all users of the land and is consistent with customary law. The Donigi Plan is legal in national law, as it complies with the Land Act 1996.
Sir Puka and the Secretary for Lands refused to implement the Donigi Plan. I believe this was in breach of their leadership obligations.
The Donigi Plan for registering customary land is the only legitimate and constitutional system available to Papua New Guineans for the registration of their land.
In my view, the refusal of the Minister to recognise and give effect to the Donigi Plan is an arbitrary act and in breach of the constitutional and ministerial responsibilities attached to the office of the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning.
This act by the Minister is therefore an affront to the people of PNG. The plan was first broached with the Minister in 2007 and several times in 2008. If it had been accepted, the Minister would have harvested all the kudos by now.
Instead the Minister’s steadfast refusal to recognise the
Donigi Plan has contributed to the deaths of the young people of
You can read Peter Donigi’s full article here
I commend former Ambassador Peter Donigi for coming up with a good and fair system when dealing with such a controversial issue as land ownership.
The 'Donigi Plan' is a good plan.
Peter Donigi further explains this in a new book that is now on sale at the University of PNG bookshop: "Lifting the Veil".
The current dilemma that is creating a lot of problems in PNG is a direct result of some silly action by the State.
The government has come up with silly domestic laws: the Mining Act and the Oil & Gas Act that do nothing except give the lion's share of the people's resources to foreigners at bargain basement prices. What a sham this is!
These two laws are in direct conflict with customary law where the rights of the indigenous people are recognised by the UN and international law.
The government is not bothered about this.
Right now the people (landowners) own just what's on the ground down to six-feet below and, beyond that, everything belongs to the State.
As it is now, the government of PNG is in an unholy alliance with foreign developers (transnational/multi-national corporations) and the people of PNG get the crumbs!
This is why the people are getting more frustrated by the day, and soon the pressure cooker will blow its lid off.
Guess where prime minister Somare and his kitchen cabinet will be when this happens?
Posted by: Reginald Renagi | 09 February 2011 at 11:33 AM
Thank you for your blog and this article in particular. I was lucky to visit porebada and Boera villages in May last year and i heard a lot of promising plans on the participation of the villages, through LABA, in the Exxon LNG project, giving them the opportunity to develop skills, agriculture and other microenterprises.
As I don't find much info on the web, could you give us an update on the relationship between Parebada and Boera and the role that these vilages are now playing with the LNG project. Are they venturing with international companies as expected?
Posted by: Ben Riviere | 18 January 2011 at 02:19 PM