Land owners

Panguna landowner and Bougainville’s Minister for Community Government, Theonila Roka Matbob, issued the reminder on the second day of the Community Affairs and National Content Conference and Expo (CANCONEX) in Lae, Morobe Province.

PNG’s largest copper mine, which operated for 17 years from 1972 until 1989, abruptly closed due to the Bougainville Conflict.

“We fought amongst each other and we all forgot that the initial agenda was fixing the law,” said Matbob, who lost her father during the 10-year conflict.

Funded by Japanese-based Cosmo Oil Company, the program ended on Friday, August 12^th, with the presentation of certificates to 17 participants that came from the ARM wards and also Marambu and Sanbam wards within Sinivit LLG.

Facilitator, civil rights activist and chairman of the Klampun Conservation Association in the East Pomio LLG, Patrick Kaupun, said the training aimed to help the landowners to appreciate and value each other and their natural environment.

It recently received just over K23 million to purchase 11 office units at the new Koki waterfront office complex area and another cheque of K10 billion for its restoration programs.

This means that resource owners don’t have to turn to government to do their offshore bidding for them but can allow the PNG Cultural Resource Incorporation Limited to negotiate on their behalf directly linking resource owners and investors on a single platform.