Plans are being made to create a separate entity to deal with issues concerning customary land in Papua New Guinea.
Acting Deputy Secretary for Land Services Lawrence Ndrombut says this is because 97 percent of land in the country is traditionally owned.
The State owns only three percent of the land.
He says the department is dealing with a lot of issues on traditional land owners and now it realises that an entity devoted to traditional land should be the way to handle the situation.
“This is so the government can focus on traditional land issues and have them dealt with effectively,” Ndrombut says.