East Pangia timber harvest stopped
THE state has been ordered to stay clear
of the East Pangia Forest Management
Area, at least for the time being.
National Court Judge, Les Gavara-Nanu
issued the restraining order against the
National Forest Board, the PNG Forest
Authority, Forest Minister Belden Namah
and Madang Timbers on Tuesday.
The decision follows after Timothy
Tepi, on behalf of members of the 277
Incorporated Land Groups from the East
Pangia area applied for a judicial review
of the decision by the state to enter into
an agreement with logging company,
Madang Timbers, to develop the East
Pangia Forest Management Area.
The matter will return to court at a
date yet to be set but in his ruling Justice
Gavara-Nanu restrained the National
Forest Board from making a recommendation
to Mr Namah to grant a timber
permit to Madang Timbers.
The court also restrained Mr Namah or
his agents from inviting Madang Timbers
to apply for a timber permit as well as
issuing a timber permit to the logging
company, pending determination of the
substantive matter.
The judge also restrained Madang
Timbers from applying for a timber permit
and furthermore restrained the company
from moving anywhere near or
into and taking possession of the East
Pangia forest and conducting logging or
any other form of forestry development
activities on the land and the forest.
Yesterday Mr Tepi expressed relief over
the National Court decision and said his
people were prepared to return to court
when a date was set.
2 Comments to “East Pangia timber harvest stopped”
As a naturalized citizen of East Pangia, I am eager to know the grounds of restraining the state and the forest developer from developing the Forest in the said area.
I don’t have any intention to argue against what you are doing but just for my information.
The project was long awaited and some had already passed away after being talking about this thing and awfully wasted their resources to bring developer into the area.
Could you kindly, state the reasons behind your actions, please?
Thank you.
Pangz Ame
Dr. Wari Iamo has stated publicly that these projects are untenable.