Parlt must reverse environment law changes
13 November 2010
BY EFFREY DADEMO
THE PNG CITIZENS’ action group ACT NOW! is calling on the PNG Parliament to reverse its controversial amendments to the Environment Act when it resumes next week,.
The amendments, passed by Parliament in May, removed landowners’ rights to be consulted about activities on their land.
They also denied people the right to challenge decisions through the courts and gave foreign companies immunity from liability for environmental damage.
The amendments are clearly not in the best interests of the people and were passed in very suspicious circumstances, with no prior disclosure, consultation or debate.
ACT NOW! has collected more than 15,000 signatures on a petition calling for the amendments to be reversed.
Parliament needs to listen to the people of PNG and must remember that it is the people that it represents.
Parliament must not allow itself to be manipulated and used by outside interests as has happened with these amendments.
For further information contact Effrey Dademo ACT NOW! Program Manager at effrey@actnowpng.org
PNG has strong leadership, unfortunately though the interests they have at heart are not those of the people they supposedly serve.
Posted by: Stephen Cox | 15 November 2010 at 06:01 PM
Effrey - Unless we have a political champion or two, nothing positive is ever going to happen.
The PNG parliament has been dysfunctional for the last two terms.
The Opposition is being gagged most of the time, while the government maintains an unacceptable status quo.
Parliament has become a useless People's Assembly and does not really serve the national interest.
It has failed in recent times to even debate important national issues such as environmental degradation, national security, transnational security issues, etc.
A new political regime is needed now. PNG must move forward to the next development level with the right kind of strong leadership in future.
At present PNG clearly lacks that leadership.
Posted by: Reginald Renagi | 15 November 2010 at 08:40 AM