News on Land

Minister of Environment Say Sam Al has urged relevant stakeholders to take part in protecting and conserving natural resources in wildlife sanctuaries. This, he said, will facilitate carbon credit sales to raise money to support local communities.

Sam Al made his suggestion when he led experts and relevant local authorities on a visit to Mondulkiri province to examine the protection and conservation of the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Global food and agri-business Olam International Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary, Olam Treasury Pte. Ltd. (“OTPL”), have secured multi-tranche financing facilities (the “Facilities”) aggregating US$176.0 million from the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (“JICA”). 

The Facilities consist of two tranches – a 5-year term loan of US$120.0 million and a 7-year term loan of US$56.0 million. 

A National Court proceeding  led by a landowner group from Porgera mine in Enga province to claim environment damages against Barrick Niugini Limited will return to court in July this year for further direction.
The Tuanda Incorporated Land Group (ILG) who owns 608.9 hactares customary land of the mine  led court proceedings against Barrick Niugini Limited on damages caused from mining activities to environment and social wellbeing of the people.

Urban land

Our urban land pages have been filled with the struggles of people living in townships and informal settlements during the pandemic. One of the controversial state responses to Covid 19 has been to propose the ‘thinning’ of densely settled areas in a bid to slow the speed of community viral transmission. These plans have been met with scepticism by residents of informal settlements who argued that such measures, taken without adequate consultation, would meet with resistance and be destined for failure.

• The database was created by the Land Portal Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands.
• Currently, the database includes hundreds of land tenure projects from the Global Map of Donors and the U.S.

Open Letter to Socfin, 29th April 2020: 

We demand justice and safety for workers on Socfin’s rubber/oil palm plantations  during the Covid-19 pandemic

Dear board members and shareholders,
 

We, the undersigned, are writing you in regards to the conditions of workers on the Socfin plantations as well as the conditions of neighboring communities, in particular during the current Covid-19 pandemic. 
 

In January this year, the managing director of Papua New Guinea’s Mineral Resources Authority declared that the proposal to develop what had once been touted as the world’s first deep-sea mine would ‘not get off the ground’.

April 27, 2020 - The suffering of millions of Cambodians who are facing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic is being amplified by the country’s ongoing over-indebtedness crisis, stemming from more than $10 billion in loans from aggressive microfinance institutions (MFIs). More than two and a half million Cambodians currently hold microloans, with an average loan of more than $3,800 – the largest amount in the world. This puts millions of Cambodians’ livelihoods, health and land tenure security at risk.

Cambodia will soon start cultivating sisal, an agave plant native to southern Mexico which produces a strong fibre, after China Great Cause (Cambodia) Investment Co Ltd received an economic land concession in Preah Vihear province to build a processing plant.

The company imported the sisal – also known by the botanical name Agave sisalana – and will start growing it on 180ha of its 1,200ha plantation in the province’s Rovieng district.

Weeks 14 – 17: Monday 31 March – Sunday, 26 April 2020

Major general Chan Sam Ath was detained by Strung Treng Police Commissariat officials last Thursday for allegedly clearing 70ha of state land in Sralao village, Anglong Chrey commune, Thala Barivat district.

Stung Treng provincial administration spokesman Men Kong told The Post on Sunday that the Commissariat will question Sam Ath and arrange a court case, but they have not yet sent the case to court.

Kung said authorities confiscated three pieces of land-clearing equipment during their investigation.

In a bid to create avenues of job creation for Ghana’s teeming unemployed youth, the government through its numerous policies, programmes and initiatives instituted the ‘one district, one factory’ programme to be implemented in the various districts of the Volta Region.

The programme is also intended to provide opportunities for the private sector to cash in by setting up factories and industries using indigenous raw materials and also making use of local labour as a way of creating employment.