By Chris Lang
Two more communities have written letters complaining about the operations of NIHT Inc on their lands. In March 2022, Maililngan Incorporated Land Group wrote to William Lakain, managing director of the Climate Change and Development Authority. In April 2022, the Baining people of East New Britain wrote to NIHT Inc. NIHT Inc has developed a REDD project in New Ireland and has big plans to expand its operations in New Ireland and East New Britain.
REDD-Monitor has written several posts about NIHT Inc’s operations in Papua New Guinea:
This isn’t the first time, then, that communities and NGOs have written letters of complaint about NIHT Inc’s operations in Papua New Guinea. The Papua New Guinea Environmental Alliance has also written a letter and a statement demanding proper REDD safeguards and implementation of the moratorium on voluntary carbon market REDD projects in the country. Both the letter and the statement specifically mention the problems with NIHT Inc’s REDD operations.
The letters from the Maililngan Incorporated Land Ground and the Baining people are posted here in full:
11/03/2022
The Managing Director
Climate Change and Development Authority
P. Box 4017
BOROKO, 111, NCD, PNGAttention: Mr William Lakain
Subject: REMOVE NIHTS AND KAILO KAMA OUT OF MAILILNGAN ILG LAND
Maililngan Land Group Incorporated of Pomio District, ENBP, PNG, has 81,866 hectares of tropical rainforest and is interested in biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The Maililngan ILG is interested at guarding its topical rainforest from loss of biodiversity and its ecosystems, serious challenges as to the mass extinctions of flora and fauna species from existential threat of climate change and foreign logging companies, oil palm development and bolstering resilience to climate change in our area are also threats to our livelihoods.
We are also interested in building local capacity and to raise public awareness on the importance of protecting some the world’s rare and endangered flora and fauna species discovered during the Biodiversity Rapid Assessment of Nakanai Mountains. And for mandatory purposes our proposal is currently with the Office of Conservation Environment & Climate Change to be approved and gazetted by the National Executive Countil (NEC).
Whilst we await NEC approval, NIHTS and Kailo Kama from New Ireland Province illegally entered Maililngan ILG land mass and is intending to survey it for voluntary carbon trading despite the moratorium imposed by the Minister for Environment Conservation and Climate Change. This is total disrespect for the Minister hence the laws of this country. It is evident here that these are the carbon cowboys that Hon. Governor for Oro was referring to on the flow of the parliament.
We are law abiding people, thus, would kindly request the Hon. Minister to restruct NIHTS and Kailo Kama to do business in New Ireland Province alone where they are rightfully belong and completely keep out of Maililngan ILG land in Pomio District, ENBP, therefore, we remain;
Yours Sincerely,
[Signed by 110 people]
Cc. Managing Director – Forcet
23 April 2022
The Executive Vice President
NIHT Inc
2094 Old Taylor Rd
Suit 155 Oxford, MS 38655
USA
Dear Sir,RE: VALKAN ILG ILLEGITIMATE STATUS AND ITS ILLEGITIMATE CARBON RIGHTS
Althout Valkan ILG is registered with the Registrar of Incorporated Land Groups, the land and forests it claims are outright communally owned and held in common trust in perpetuity by the following villages and communities: Whole Yalam Village, Whole Komgi Village, Whole Radingi Village, Whole Kulti Village, Whole Raunsepna Village, Whole Lamarain Village, Whole Walmetki Village, whole Takis Village, whole Panarepka Village, whole Morokindam Village, whole Takis village, whole Poiniar village, whole Konako village, whole Lan village, whole whole Nangas village, whole Taraiwara village, Whole Puktas village, whole Lassul village, Whole Vilaingpemgi, and Kamanakam village.
The land and resources in question are tribal.
No one Baining man nor ILG nor any illegally formed group can lay claim over these tribal resources.
They form a very significant part of the very intrinsic fabric of our Qaget society.Valkan ILG does not own any resource on its own. It is only an extraction of opportunists from two ILGs from Raunspena. It has intimidated the original inhabitants of these villages over their lands. It has instigated fights with these villages with some people barely surviving those fights. VALKAN ILG has been forcing people off their lands on which they have lived their whole lifetimes.
Valkan ILG has been illegally using force and intimidation to forcefully remove people from their rightful lands so that it can carry out its illegal and illegitimate activities with NIHT Inc.Valkan ILG has violated our numerous village boundaries and claimed our land and forest resources in its fraudulent claims.
VALKAN ILG has effectively disturbed our social peace.This is fraud. Fraud that is facilitated on the basis of economic greed over our communal tribal resources.
Under our cultural social structures, our land tenure system, and our customs, VALKAN ILG is not recognized and doesn’t exist amonst us, now nor in the whole long past.
The Baining society is a patrineal society where land and resources are communally owned in perpetuity.
The activities by VALKAN ILG are a fraud attempt on our tribal lands and resources. They constitute a threat to our traditionally maintained social security offered by our tribal lands and forests that we live off.
Upon receipt of this letter, please cease all dealings with the illegitimate VALKAN ILG forthwith.
Please cease forthwith all dealings with all other Baining ILGs as well.
NIHT Inc and its associates must withdraw from and completely refrain from any carbon offsets dealing over our tribal forests in our area and in whole of the Bainings.
We do not expect to engage in any further correspondence nor communication in any form with your company after this letter.
We all are in the process of instituting legal interpretation and proceeding against Valkan ILG.
Yours sincerely,
NIHT Inc has to follow the safe guard rule’s on carbon exercise or else be stopped from trespassing into areas that a customary own and subjective to land registry..
THOSE LETTERS ARE COMING FROM CHARLES, ALOIS AND SAMENGA, THE SO CALLED LOGGING GREED-DRIVEN PREAKS FROM LASSUL BAINING WHO ARE GETTING RICHER EVERY DAY BECAUSE OF MILKING OUT WEALTH FROM MAJORITY OF THE RESOURCE OWNERS IN LAUSSUL BAINING CONSTITUENCY.
THE REASON WHY THEY ARE PUSHING FOR THIS CONSERVATION INITIATIVE DRIVEN PROJECT TO STOP BECAUSE ALL THE RESOURCE OWNERS IN THE BAINING INLAND HAVE AGREED TO PUT THEIR FOREST AND LAND INTO CONSERVATION SO THEY CAN GET MAXIMUM BENEFITS NOT LIKE LOGGING OPERATIONS AS PER EXPERIENCES THEY HAVE IN THE PAST.
JUST COME ON THE GROUND AND INVESTIGATION CHARLES, JUNIOR SAMEGA AND ALOIS CHARACTERS, THEY ARE FILTHY RICH LIKE NO BODY IN BAINING…….IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO FIND OUT HOW ON THIS GOOD EARTH DO THEY GET THE MONEY FROM TO PURCHASE PROPERTIES AND MULTI-CARS??????
WARD 1 COUNCILLOR OF KONAKO VILLAGE, HON HERMAN KUSAK, MR. EDWARD REVISIT, ILG SECRETARY OF UNSAVRAYI CLAN AND POLIKAP ISIDOR FROM KONAKO VILLAGE IN THE COAST OF BAINING EXPRESSED CONCERNED ON THE 09TH OCTOBER 2022 THAT THEY DON’T KNOW THESE FALSE ALLEGATIONS AND THAT THEY FULLY SUPPORT CARBON TRADE PROJECT UNDER NIHT AND NOT ANY SO CALLED LOGGING. THE EXPRESSED THEMSELVES IN AN INTERVIEW THAT THEY ARE HAPPY TO BE PART FOR A CONSERVATION INITIATIVE PROJECT CALLED NIHT INC CARBON CREDIT PROJECT BECAUSE OF NUMBER FOR FPIC, AWARENESS AND TRAININGS THEY HAVE ATTENDED AT KONAKO VILLAGE-CATHOLIC MISSION STATION. BECAUSE OF NUMEROUD FPIC’S DONE, THEY NOW UNDERSTAND THE PROJECT AND HOW THIS PROJECT WILL BENEFIT THEM AND THE MAJORITY OF ALL CLAN MEMBERS AND NOT JUST ONE PERSON LIKE LOGGING OPERATORS DO. THEY NORMALLY GET WHOEVER SIGNS A CONSENT TO KOKOPO OR POM AND GIVES HIM CASH MONEY AS PAYMENT FOR THE RESOURCES DEPLETED WHILE THE REST OF THE MEMBERS ARE LEFT BEHIND WITHOUT ANY KINA PAID INTO THEIR POCKETS AS LEGITIMATE RESOURCE OWNERS.
PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR WHATSAPP CONTACTS SO I CAN BE ABLE TO SEND VIDEO’S, PICTURES AND REPORTS TAKEN FROM THE UNDERSIGNED VILLAGES VISITED.
@Local Conservationist – I don’t have a WhatsApp account, but you can send videos, pictures, and reports my email to [email protected] .
The guy who wrote above comment is highly emotional because the VALKAN/NIHTS REDD project is under threat from the real forest owners and he will not be receiving the millions of dollars.
VALKAN is a fake ILG and opportunistic!
The guy commenting above lacks knowledge on the due process at the community level because he and his fellow operatives have never been involved in conservation. They are in it for the money, suddenly!
He is half-baked and does not know how to comment rationally on an international platform.
The letter from the community is authentic!
We have more authentic letters against NIHTS from more communities here which will be sent here for publication.
The Bainings Tribe is bigger than the interest of one uneducated opportunist in the commentator.
The whole tribe is against VALKAN/NIHTS!
The project will never proceed.
It has transgressed on the rights of forest owners!!
They are chasing away people from their villages and they are stoping the people from doing gardening to survive!!
And they operate at night!!!
They’ve created havoc in the communities.
It’s not only the communities but the whole tribe that is against NIHTS.!!! The tribe and its tribal council want NIHTS out.
More communities which were forced to offer their forests to one fake ILG in Valkan, are withdrawing on their own accord!
Letters of withdrawal are withheld and will be published.
I am an environmentalist and a community rights activist and have been for the last 15 years. I campaign aggressively against logging and mining and oil palm without fear or favor!!!
I do not compromise my position with receiving doles. I am well known for my stand for the environment and communities and their rights.
FPIC is a lengthy process. This process has been abused by NIHTS and VALKAN ILG.
It’s a serious matter under international law!!
Fraud has been committed as well as trespass and false pretense over our tribal and ancestral forests!!
It’s no laughing matter.
A corrupt misleading company boasting carbon credits and enhancement of islander lives. Steven Strauss issues false statements and defrauds companies. These naive islanders are being deceived and ripped off.