Response to front page headline by The National newspaper titled “Say No to Land Bill” (3/12/12).
In response to the statement by the Chamber
of Mines and Petroleum about their desired outcome at the Sydney Conference,
Ambassador Peter Donigi, the designer of the Boka Kondra Bills, said:
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| Peter Donigi |
“Mr Anderson and his people are purveyors
of scare tactics and are engaging in misrepresentation of the Boka Kondra
Bills.
"They do not want us to preserve our customary law which has served us
since time immemorial.
"Mr Anderson used to be a government officer who
influenced the current regime and is now defending the regime from outside
government.
"As a former government officer he and others like him created a
regime that benefited foreign capital, a regime that brings in the idea of
horizontal boundaries that do not exist in our customary law.
"Customary law
only recognises vertical boundaries to the centre of the earth in relation to ownership
of land.
"They created a regime that will foster fighting between our people
while they benefit.
"His personal credibility is at stake.
"He is engaging in
the tactics of projecting fear – whose fear – it is his and foreign capital.
" In the end he will lose – and it will not be
too long in coming.”
“Our politicians have to decide whether
they will make laws that they were elected to make for the benefit of our
people or make laws that will benefit those who do not have a right to vote at
our elections but stake their profits on our politicians’ weaknesses.
"The
strength of this nation depends on how we manage our resources for the benefit
of landowners – not on how we manage our resources for the benefit of foreign
capital.”
“Our people are now more educated than 36
years ago.
" That is a generation and half.
"Why would you want to retain a regime
that says that you have to go overseas to borrow money to buy back a percentage
of what you already own?
"When you borrow money to buy back what you already
own, you create a liability for our future generations and transfer capital which
could be better spent internally, overseas.
"It fosters an outcome of keeping
the foreign capital rich and keeping land-owners poor. This is stupidity at its
highest level.
“Anderson says that the provincial and
national governments will not benefit from a change in the laws.
"He is pulling
the wool over people’s eyes.
"Kondra Bills says that the national government
will actually make more money than under current regime through taxation
without having to borrow money to pay for its equity.
"The provincial
governments will get 4% of the stake and Local-level Governments will be
guaranteed 1%.
" In fact foreign companies
take home pay after taxes will be more than 29% and landowners will earn 28%
after taxes and the government will get close to 40% based on 30% corporate tax
and 17% withholding taxes.
"The government will be the biggest winner.
" This is a
win/win outcome not the current win/lose outcome.
"Anderson is lying through his
teeth.”
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