Thursday, February 18, 2010

Landowners closed down Jant logging operations in Transgogol

The famous Gogol Naru Logging project in the Madang province of Papua New Guinea has been closed down by landowners from Transgogol. Jant was formerly owned by a Japanese company and was later sold to a Vietnamese company.

The Jant operations was clouded with many issues relating to environmental and labor concerns.The landowners from Transgogol staged several protests, blockades and petitioned the company and the PNG Forest Authority to look into issues relating to agreements and labor over the years.

The labor issues raised by locals include, physical labor involved in loading and unloading timber and moving timber (logs) to pick-up spots. No machinery were used. There are reports of medical complications such as enlarged testicles, blood cloth, chronic back problems etc. Even the wage is very low and does not compensate for such brutal labor.

About week ago, the Transgogol landowners literally walked into the Jant camp and shut down the operations by forcing the loggers out. The many years of brutal forest raping has suddenly come to a standstill and the land is now in the hands of the landowners after being spectators for many decades.

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