PNG landowners challenge environment laws Liam Fox, Port Moresby Last Updated: 36 minutes ago
A group of Papua New Guinea landowners have launched a legal challenge against controversial environmental legislation they say infringes their human rights.
Recent amendments give the Environment Department unchallengeable power to grant environment permits to parties such as mining companies.
The changes follow complaints from the mining industry after landowners won a temporary injunction preventing a Chinese-owned nickel mine from dumping waste into the sea off Madang.
Those same landowners have now filed papers seeking to challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court.
Tiffany Nongorr is their lawyer and says the amendments are unconstitutional.
"Various human rights guaranteed under the constitution are breached by this legislation," she said.
In a statement, the Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, says the amendments have not curtailed the rights of landowners.
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