PNG's forest sell-off 'revealed'

6 Aug 2012, 8:29 pm   -   Source: SBS
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Greenpeace says leases have been granted for some of PNG's most pristine environments and take in five million hectares of customary-owned land.

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Peter O'Neill is getting down to business-- after being elected Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea on Friday.

One of the first issues on his agenda is the controversy over native land, or customary land as it's known.

The government is yet to release the results of an inquiry into special leases, granted for agricultural and business development.

But Greenpeace has released its own report.

It found that more than five million hectares of customary land has been handed over. That's more than 10 percent of the country.

Up to 75 percent of that land is controlled by foreign companies. And Greenpeace claims many companies abuse the leases.

Greenpeace mapped out the areas affected, and SBS correspondent, Kathy Novak, travelled to one of them, in East Sepik Province on the northern coast.

PNG

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