PMIZ Watcher

Landowners from the villages of Rempi, Kananam and Karkar Island in Madang have applied to the National court in Madang for an immediate injunction stopping any further construction of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone.

The government recently announced a $72 million loan from the Chinese ExIm Bank to fund the construction of the PMIZ but landholders oppose the project which they say is a 'con job' and they are asking the court to stop any loan funds being drawn down by the government.

The landholder filed a legal case last month claiming the project is illegal as it is contrary to the Free Trade Zone Act of 2000. They claim that all acts done in the promotion and planning of the PMIZ to-date are illegal and void. The landholders also say they have not given their permission for the project and it will be very environmentally destructive.

The hearing of the injunction application will be on 12 August

The plaintiffs are the president of the Karkar local level government Bager Wam; Francis Gem, representing himself and 337 other members of Kananam and Iduwad villages; and Frank Don, on behalf of himself and 95 others of the Bama clan of Rempi village.

The government says the PMIZ will incorporate up to 10 tuna processing factories that will employ 30,000 people. The PNG government has named a relatively unknown Chinese investor, Shenyang International Economic and Technical Cooperation Co. Ltd, as the builder of the PMIZ.

The main condition for the Chinese loan is that 70 percent of the project must go exclusively to a Chinese developer using Chinese technology, labour and equipment. Another condition tied to the loan is that the main contractor’s profit margin will be 20 percent of the contract value.

The injunction application is the second action taken this week by the landholders against the PMIZ. They have also filed a complaint with the International Finance Corporation Ombudsman in Washington about the World Bank's role in developing the PMIZ and Special Economic Zone laws in PNG.