You won't read this in the National

 

yutok

Wednesday 12th October, 2011

Sound development vs logging

Last weekend, landowners in West Pomio area in West New Britain reported to civil societies that police were flown into the area by Gilford, a subsidiary of logging giant Rimbunan Hijau Group (RH). The policemen, the report stated, assaulted and brutalised villagers during raids into several villages. The police action against the villagers came about because the villagers were against the operation of the company.
After much discussion among the non-governmental organisations, Eco Forestry Forum (EFF) chairman Ken Mondiai wrote to the Acting Police Commissioner Tom Kulunga about the alleged police action and demanded an investigation. Mr Kulunga did order a probe into the assaults and brutality. In response to Mr Kulunga’s directive, RH responded that it welcomed the investigation and furthermore hit out at EFF, claiming the NGO was anti-development.
RH and for that matter, logging companies, have always had this opinion of NGOs as being anti-development. We must say that RH and all have gotten it all totally wrong.
Eco Forestry Forum and its members are for development of the people - development that is fair and sustainable, development that is led by the people and the benefits stay with the people.
We know that EFF promotes development that takes into account the social, environmental and economic aspects of the people of PNG, who depend on the forest and surrounding environment for their survival.
We know that EFF promotes development that respects the rights of the people to express themselves freely. Development, we add here, must not be forced upon the people. People need to accept development and they must give consent or they must agree. Only then can development be called development.
Environmental NGOs and mostly EFF members, in particular are doing a lot of work that contributes immensely to the development of PNG which has often been unaccounted for. NGOs work in many of the remote areas of this country to build the capacity of the local people to make informed decisions that is beneficial to the development of PNG. NGOs have contributed to key policy developments through a number of boards that they represent, for example, the National Forest Board. NGOs also educate resource owners about their rights such as the impact of logging and other resource development on the ground.
The Eco-forestry and its members’ work is centered around several goals which are – (1) to care for the environment and better protect and manage PNG’s natural resources; (2) preserve the unique diversity of the forests and its full range of values and uses; (3) use the economic value of PNG’s forests and its products and services to generate income and develop infrastructure; (4) to promote human development; and to improve livelihoods and secure peoples long term future through ownership and decision making.
Our people want development that is carried out according to the laws of the land and in a transparent manner. We want to also make it clear that development is a broad term that is so often confused. It is our opinion that logging is not development, rather it is the process of cutting down trees. However , logging is development when the economic returns promote societal change in the communities that is beneficial, fair and respects the rights of the people.