Gelmon Clan gets title after 6 years as ENB moves to stop fake ILGs and land grab

A customary land group in East New Britain has been issued its ILG certificate after six years of work.

The Gilmo Clan of Sulka in the Bitapaka LLG in Kokopo District acquired its certificate on Thursday last week, becoming one of several groups to receive theirs in recent years under new strict ILG laws.

Members of the Gelmon clan and nearby villages gathered at the Ganai village ceremonial ground, a few kilometres outside Kokopo Town, to celebrate the occasion

The certificate was presented by ILG Registrar Augustine Kapanombo who travelled from Port Moresby to hand deliver it to the clan leaders.

For the Gelmon Clan, it is not just a paper. It is legal recognition that they are the customary owners of their land.

“ The purpose of it is to free up your customary land, the title remains under you, for your own security and your own development aspirations, for the province and for the country as a whole”, Mr. Kapanombo said.

It took the clan six years to put together the requirements.

Under the new ILG law, a clan must provide their family history, a map of their customary land boundaries and forms of identifications of all its members among others.

The Gelmon ILG’s secretary, George Barob explained, “The education level of many clan members is a big problem. They can understand some of the talks about registering land, but not everything, so it takes a long time. You have to explain three or four times before they understand and we work together”. 

The East New Britain Provincial Government supports the idea. But it is cautious too.

Governor Michael Marum who was part of the occasion told the landowners that they did the right thing. But they have to be careful. 

"If we do not look after our land, we will lose it to foreigners. People from other countries will come and grab it from us, and we will sit on our own land and just watch them. And we do not want that”, Marum said.

The group is among several to receive its certificate in recent years, after the ILG concept was flagged for misconception and to a larger extent misused.

Fake ILGs, controlled by just two or three members were used to obtain Special Agriculture Business Leases or SABLs, leasing customary land for up to 99 years to large foreign companies.

Such as in Pomio District where 11 SABLs covering 350,000 hectares were issued using fake indigenous groups which prompted the national government to revise the ILG law and make it rigorous.

A Gelmon clan member, Tom Meriba said “We are now seeing the benefits of what we are working towards. In the future, our next generation will not have to sweat over these issues. They will come and enjoy the things we are fighting and talking about today”.

With the certificate, Gelmon Clan leaders said they will now be able to survey their land, apply for a customary land title and engage with developers, stressing that their land is not for sale but for protection.

They said they are ready for any development that may require their customary land as Kokopo slowly transforms, from a town into a city.