The Hindu : International : Tribes seek U.K. compensation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 16, 2004

International

International

Tribes seek U.K. compensation

London: Britain is facing a £25-million claim for compensation from tribes in Papua New Guinea who claim the U.K. Government has backed a project that destroyed their ancestral lands, poisoned their water and made them ill. Lawyers acting for indigenous communities of the south-east Asian island have written to the British Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, outlining their claim. They have detailed a catalogue of destruction allegedly caused by a 10,000-hectare oil palm plantation in Oro province, near their northern coast. The U.K. Department for International Development is the major shareholder in a company called Higaturu Oil Palms, the firm that runs the controversial plantation. It has put £4 million of British taxpayers' money into the company through the Government-owned CDC Group, which invests aid money in projects it believes will benefit developing countries. The tribes claim Higaturu has used toxic chemicals to grow and process oil palms and that these have polluted the sole source of water for thousands of villages. Lawyers also claim the company has dug up ancestral graveyards and destroyed the sole habitat of the world's largest butterfly, Queen Alexandra's birdwing. The letter was sent to Mr. Benn by Damien Ase, executive director of Celcor, the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights in Papua New Guinea. He has demanded the Minister take immediate action to halt the damage to the land and environment and `fully compensate the local landowners'. —

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