Mercenary group claims agricultural subsidies (Sandline International).In a legal dispute with the government of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (păp`  ə, –y , a
British-based mercenary organization is claiming millions of dollars
marked for agricultural and training programs in the South Pacific
nation. In early March, Sandline International Sandline International was a private military company based in London, established in the early 1990s. It was involved in conflicts in Papua New Guinea in 1997 (having a contract with the government under the then Prime Minister Julius Chan) causing the Sandline affair, in 1998 in served notice to compel a
Belgian bank Belgian Bank (Chinese: 華比銀行) is a wholly owned subsidiary of ICBC (Asia). "Belgian Bank" was also the trading name of its founding predecessor, the Generale Belgian Bank. It is a licensed bank incorporated in Hong Kong. to turn over US $6 million in agricultural subsidies agricultural subsidies, financial assistance to farmers through government-sponsored price-support programs. Beginning in the 1930s most industrialized countries developed agricultural price-support policies to reduce the volatility of prices for farm products and to and
other development funds provided to Papua New Guinea by the European
Commission. The EC funds cover only a portion of the US $25 million that
Sandline is seeking to recover from the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) A bitmapped graphics file format endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium. It is expected to eventually replace the GIF format, because there are lingering legal problems with GIFs. government for a contract
for mercenary services signed in early 1997 and subsequently revoked by
the government.
The 1997 US $36 million agreement with the PNG government under Prime Minister Julius Chan called for Sandline to use mercenaries and private military equipment to end the separatist conflict on the island of Bougainville. Widespread public and military opposition resulted in Chan's resignation, a public enquiry, and cancellation of the contract, but not before Sandline received US $18 million. In October 1998, one year after a truce that led to a Bougainville peace settlement, Sandline won an international arbitration requiring the PNG government to pay the remaining US $18 million plus costs, estimated at an additional US $7 million. The PNG government under Prime Minister Bill Skate has vowed to oppose Sandline's claim. The European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community is offering PNG assistance in the form of legal aid. Meanwhile, the EC funds, some of which will be used to rehabilitate cocoa and coconut plantations and revive vocational training centres affected by the war in Bougainville, are frozen until the dispute is settled. |
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