A Historic Journey: Markham Incorporated Land Group Title Handover Ceremony

From left: Hon.Koni Iguan,M.P, Member for Markham and Deputy Speaker presented the ILG certificate to ILG representatives

The Incorporated Land Group (ILG) Title Handover Ceremony, hosted by Markham District Development Authority (MDDA) with support from Grow PNG, was held on June 27, 2024 at the Mutzing Station in the Markham District. This is more than just a symbolic event - it reflects the culmination of years of effort in education, collaboration, and implementation of actions through mutual partnership work between MDDA and Grow PNG.

The ceremony celebrated the handover of ILG titles to 21 local landowner groups, who have been waiting to receive their land titles since 2014. This makes this event a significant step forward in formalizing land ownership and empowering local communities to engage in agribusiness ventures.

The partnership journey between Grow PNG and MDDA began in 2021 when both stakeholders embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to transform land management and agricultural development in the Markham District.

Hon.Koni Iguan,M.P,Member for Markham and Deputy Speaker gave an opening remark during the event at Markham valley secondary school, Mutzing Station.

It is a testament to the power of stakeholder partnership engagements among the District Government, landowner communities of the Markham District, and Grow PNG. It began with the development and launch of the Land Access Guide (LAG), followed by the launching and rolling out of the Land Access Guide Training Program. The guide is a comprehensive manual with relevant chapters including; Land Regulatory Context, Land Access Through Customary Land, and Agreement Structures for Investment.

The Land Access Guide (LAG) development involved a diverse group of stakeholder consultations. The National Department of Lands and Physical Planning, the National Department of Commerce and Industries, the Investment

Promotion Authority, the Morobe Provincial Government, the existing agribusiness investors, local business, farmer groups and cooperatives and all played pivotal role in developing the LAG, under the leadership of Grow PNG.

Moreover, the 21 ILG title handover ceremony is a success deliverable from the LAG training program. Two pilot training sessions were conducted using the guide as a follow-up from the launch in 2021. The first pilot training targeted the 21 ILG executives, recommended by the MDDA with an aim to gauge their understanding on the benefits of unlocking their land for agricultural development. The training pointed out lessons identified from previous land deals in 2014 when the titles were formally established to form the Markham Valley Oil Palm Ltd Company (MVOP).

This was a development initiative under the Markham District and Morobe Provincial Government. The lessons learned spurred the ILG executives to revisit status of their land titles that were being kept on file under the Morobe Provincial Government since 2014. This led to two stakeholder roundtable dialogues hosted and facilitated by Grow PNG in 2022 between Ramu Agri Industries (RAIL), MDDA, 21 ILG Executives and the Morobe Provincial Government. The aim of the round table dialogue was to understand possibilities of entering into partnership with RAIL on Palm Oil Development.

Grow PNG hosted and facilitated the second roundtable dialogue held in March 2022 with the same stakeholders. The 2nd dialogue involved presentation of Expressions of Interest for partnership by the 21 ILG executives to RAIL. RAIL played a significant role in highlighting the importance of landowners having official ILG land littles on hand and landowner due diligence processes. This then led to lengthy protocol compliance, negotiations and follow-ups with the Morobe Provincial Government and MDDA to enable the handing over of these 21 ILG titles officially to the Landowner Executives.

Grow PNG continued its work in facilitating engagement dialogues and providing guidance to MDDA and all relevant stakeholder involved until early this year 2024 when the titles were handed over to MDDA by the Morobe Provincial Government. This process came about under the strategic intervention from the Grow PNG Advisory Council.

The ceremony marked an historic moment in the modernization and formalization of land management in PNG. By granting ILG titles, the MDDA and Grow PNG are providing legal recognition to landowners and enabling them to forge formal partnerships with agribusiness investors.