"Hardwood logging on Manus Island has not delivered promised local benefits, report finds", 11 May 2020

A Malaysian company that won a permit to clear tropical rainforest on Manus Island has been accused of failing to deliver on its promises to the local community, while reaping millions of dollars in profits from the logging of valuable hardwood timber.

...Maxland Ltd...stated aim in documents was to "benefit smallholder rubber farmers [and] the surrounding communities".

However, according to a new report produced by Global Witness, two years into the five-year contract, not a single rubber tree had been planted, but there was evidence that valuable hardwood timber had been felled by the company and was being exported.

[...]

The report estimated that more than 18,000 cubic metres of timber had been cleared, valued at 6.36m kina (AU$2.8m). As of October 2019, the company had declared log exports from the project worth about AU$2.8m.

Maxland Ltd has an address listed in Papua New Guinea. However, the Global Witness report reveals the company is linked to Joinland Group, a Malaysian conglomerate with a history of logging projects in PNG.

[...]

The Guardian attempted to contact Thomas Hah, the founder of Joinland Group, for comment. He did not respond before publication, but did respond to Global Witness denying all accusations about his company contained in their report.

"For your information, all our projects in Papua New Guinea are granted by the National Forest Authority and proper[ly] monitored by the government," he said in an email to Global Witness.