ARNOLD AMETS CLAIMS ARE BASED ON OUTDATED UK LAWS

DR SAMUEL MAIMA

The attorney-general’s statement in The National that the state owns all resources six feet and more under the ground has to be challenged for the sake of our indigenous and customa­ry landowners of Papua New Guinea.

What he endorsed was similar to the resource law that was passed by the British parliament in 1922 which basically exploited all its colonies’ wealth from the Africa to Asia, Australia and elsewhere.
It was designed to exploit without due regard to the rights of the native and indigenous landowners.

The law that was passed by the British parliament stated that the equity participation of the indigenous landowners was a mere 0.00000125%, almost zero.
The same law was inherited when PNG became a colony of the then Australian administration prior to independence.

These laws on resources were pre-colonial and pre-constitutional laws.
When PNG became an indepen­dent state, we drew our own constitution and all pre-constitutional and pre-independence laws ceased to be of any effect and meaning if these laws are not clearly vested in the supreme law of PNG.

I refer to our Constitution under section 53, sub-sections (b), (c), (d) which are crystal clear in the upholding of the property rights of indigenous and customary landowners of Papua New Guinea.
The Mining, Gas, Petroleum and Helium Acts were designed and dictated by foreign interests in World Bank and IMF which the legal consultants of the Department of Attorney-General failed to make legal surveillance as to the constitutionality of these Acts.

It was a copy-and-paste work bring­­ing pre-independent and pre-constitutional laws on the issue of ow­nership of natural resources in PNG.
These acts are subsidiary laws and their existence has to be consistent with the supreme law of this country, the Constitution.

As far as ownership of resources is concerned, the Oil and Gas Act 1998 and Mining Act 1992, are not consistent with the National Constitution section 53 and, therefore, these acts are deemed unconstitutional.

Whatever the discussion might be, the overriding and the most important roles and functions of state institutions, including the AG, National Parliament and as citizens acting in our capacities as custodians, must foremost do so to promote, preserve, safeguard the interests of every citizen and the interest of the Sovereign Independent State of Papua New Guinea. Nothing more or nothing less. The office of the attorney-general is one of the most important institutions but it has failed to protect the interest of this country and its citizens by endorsing the Mining, Oil, Gas and Helium Acts for parliament to vote on voices.

This is the biggest mistake no other country in the entire world has done. After mining activities and exploitations of our raw materials by foreign multi-national corporations, there is nothing to show or reflect in the comfort, lifestyle and happiness of our children, mothers and communities.

This is because the existing Mining, Oil, Gas and Helium Acts as they are, are very unconstitutional and yet we, as individuals, have over the years failed to wake up to our mistakes and restore the ownership and have dominion over what is rightfully ours.

The Boka Kondra Bill is all about legislative reformation that will restore local ownership with just and fairer equity participation in the hope of reforming and transforming the economy of PNG to the firmest and strongest economies in the Asia Pacific region.

The onus is on our parliamentarians, including the attorney-general, to see the economic merits of the Boka Kondra Bill and restore the ownership resources of all extractable commodities of PNG and to do business on the soil of PNG by providing equal participation to citizens of this country through local capital mobilisation programmes.

You do not need to go elsewhere to get the best advice. The people on the ground can give a better and more refined advice on how we can reform and transform our country in the shortest time possible so that at the end of the day, we restore peace, comfort and happiness of every citizen and bring prosperity to our people.

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