BY KEITH JACKSON
PERHAPS stung by allegations that it had gone soft on self-proclaimed ‘carbon traders’, the Post-Courier today publicised comments by Forest Minister Belden Namah that “carbon trade is a cargo cult”.
Mr Namah reiterated that at present there is no legal framework for carbon trading in PNG, and there is no guarantee that carbon trade could bring in the tangible development and services.
In a statement that will shock conservationists, however, he said logging will benefit the local people more than carbon trading.
The people of Pangia should be proud their timbers will be used throughout PNG, he said.
However, some landowners expressed disappointment that procedures had not been followed by the National Forest Service and urged their leaders not to sign away their timber rights.
Governor Anderson Agiru supported the project but urged the Forest Service to ensure that landowners to one day become developers in their own area.
I have always opined Belden Namah to be overly eccentric and full of himself for a national leader and his assertion that carbon trade is a cargo cult factualizes that notion. It is indeed sad that he remains a national leader in such an incapacitated state. He makes the millions from logs...not the landowners
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