Court Awards Damages for Environmental Destruction for Illegal Logging
The National Court for the first time in the history of Papua New Guinea has awarded a total of K226, 550,000 claims for environmental damages in favour of landowners in the Kiunga Aiambak area of the Western Province after a court battle that took ten years long. The decision was handed down by National Court judge Justice Cathy Davani on the 21st of June 2011 against a Malaysian logging company, Concord Pacific which caused massive environmental damages in the area.
The judgment was based on statements from 1800 members of the four tribes, Kuni, Pare, Zimakana and Yonhom in the Kiunga area and expert evidence by three environmental scientists who conducted audits and their reports presented to court. The Court cited environmental effects being felt by the people from the logging operation which included soil erosion, flooding, loss of food gardens and a decline in hunting animals.
Concord Pacific was granted a road line clearance license in 1994 allowing it to clear forest areas up to 40 metres on either side of where the road was to be constructed. However, as shown from evidence in Court, the Company had cleared 2000 kilometres on either side of the determined road line, an amount 500 times more than legally required, causing these massive environmental destructions. Claims were made and the issue was brought to court.
The claims were substantive and Concord Pacific was to compensate all damage claims filed in the court proceedings. In the court’s decision, CELCOR and first plaintiffs were awarded claims of K226, 550,000 for environmental damage caused by Concord Pacific Limited. The K226, 550,000 includes K157, 550,000.00 for loss of trees, K60, 000,000.00 for trespassing and K9, 000,000.00 for breaching of Constitutional Rights.
The Court whilst handing down the decision said people in the rural communities live and cultivate land for food, medicine, etc and when the environment is affected by draught, natural disasters or large scale activities, the people experience shortage of basic necessities. According to court, the logging company did not comply with proper procedures, policies and laws.
Court proceedings indicated that Concord Pacific has also carried out its logging activities under two permits which were obtained through illegal procedures breaching the Forestry Act of 1991. The two Timber Permits were TA024 and TA08 which expired on the 19th of April 2000 and 25th of March 2002 respectively but the company continued carrying out logging activities causing the enormous environmental damages and disharmony in the area. As such, TA024 was nullified of OS 411 of 2003 and TA08 was nullified of OS 427 of 2003 by the Court.
The recipient landowners were represented by the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR), a member of the Eco Forestry Forum. CELCOR is an NGO specializing in providing, apart from legal services, legal awareness on environmental law and community rights to affected communities and the general public and is headed by Mr Damien Ase an environmental lawyer. A jubilant Mr. Ase at a gathering of NGO’s hails the Court’s decision as a victory that is long awaited and a precedent setting moment for NGO’s and PNG.
Mr. Ase also highlighted the risks of projects taking place based on ill-decisions and warned people to be wary of and knowledgeable in any project dealings on their land. “The Kiunga –Aiambak road project case implies that ill-decision making and lack of knowledge of any kind of development proposed by the state or national and foreign entities can result to abuse of the Constitution as well as customary landowners.
“This case now exposes risks that landowners and people can encounter when they decide to convert their customary land over to the state in return for developments that are unrealistic and destructive to the environment. People need to be aware and educated on all aspects of land dealings and must question critically the developments that will take place before giving their consent for their land to be used,” he said.
Mr. Ase also described the case as a precedent for relevant stakeholders involved in logging operations to follow proper processes of logging. “This case is made precedent and that all those logging companies that are carrying out any logging activities that are breaching the law will be penalized and sued for illegally logging on customary land now and in the future.
“The case will be an example for all responsible governmental agencies such as National Forestry Authority, Department of Lands and Physical Planning, and Department of Environment and Conservation to take into account when dealing with future logging companies. All logging activities must abide by the governing law and that permits will and must be removed from companies who breach the law and passed their expiry date,” he said.
The Forum embraces this win as an important moment for environmental NGO movement in PNG and sends out a clear message that destructive logging is not acceptable and cannot be tolerated. EFF acknowledges this win as boosting the morale and will strengthen the on-going campaign against illegal logging in PNG which also entails the illegal acquisition of customary land for logging.
