Eroding Fabrics of Communal Land Ownership in Papua New Guinea

This paper analyses the perceptions of 120 landowner-households of Nanadai Clan of Gaire Village in Central Province and Sek Clan of Madang Province concerning breaking apart of communal ownership of customary land in PNG. Previous researches have argued that there is lack of a clear distinction between individual and communal property rights in some parts of Papua New Guinea. The existing weak land administration system and mechanisms have contributed immensely towards tearing apart the bond and connections between clan members and the dismantling of communal land ownership in Papua New Guinea thus, compromising national land administration values and standards. Current practices reveal that customary land is held at the sub-clan, family and individual levels, while the major clans just bear ownership name-tag. The existing land legislation in Papua New Guinea recognises that ownership of customary land is vested in the clans, however, the realities on the ground from the findings of this research indicate otherwise. Therefore, this paper calls for the strengthening of the weak land administration functions and mechanisms together with the review of all existing laws to improve the standards of land administration system in the country. This paper argues that communal land ownership in Papua New Guinea is slowly breaking apart causing disharmony between