PNG Government to Investigate New Britain Palm Oil Pricing Irregularities
Papua New Guinea’s National Government will investigate East New Britain Palm Oil Limited following widespread complaints from oil palm farmers, announced Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru, today. The farmers allege they have been forced to halt palm oil sales to the Malaysian company for over nine weeks due to being consistently underpaid, receiving only K16 per ton for the last decade. This is significantly lower than the up to K500 per metric ton received by farmers in West New Britain when global prices are high.
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| PNG Government to Investigate New Britain Palm Oil Pricing Irregularities |
Minister Maru expressed his dissatisfaction with the company's practices, noting the negative impact on the country's export generation. He cited a 2022 report from New Britain Palm Oil, which indicated that the global average price for palm oil stood at USD 886 per metric ton, with the farm gate price over K800 per ton. Despite fluctuations in global prices, East New Britain Palm Oil Limited has been paying farmers in the Gazelle Peninsula only K16 per ton for the past ten years, which Maru described as "totally ripping off our people."
“This is a very serious matter,” Maru stated. “We cannot have foreign companies behaving like this. They could have been robbing our people of millions of kina. While this is what the farmers are claiming, the National Government must investigate to hear both sides and find a long-term resolution. Similar complaints have been received from other oil palm project areas, and the investigation may extend to these regions.”
Minister Maru assured that the Marape-Rosso Government will not take these complaints lightly and promised immediate action. He plans to work closely with the Minister for Oil Palm to finalize the investigation's terms of reference. The investigation team will include a lawyer, a chartered accountant, and a globally recognized oil palm industry expert. They will examine the company’s ownership, benefit packages for large-scale palm oil estates, and land titles, as it is understood that the company does not own any land it operates on. The team will also compare benefits in other palm oil-growing provinces as part of the investigation.
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