Landowners express disgust over govt’s plan

The women of Central Bougainville and landowners of the Panguna Mine have expressed disgust at plans by the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Government (ABG) to reopen the mine.
This comes after a delegation of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) representatives conducted a mining forum in Panguna and Arawa last week, to reopen the Panguna Mine –  with Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) as the preferred operator.
The delegation was led by vice-president and Minister for Minerals and Energy, Raymond Masono.
According to women leaders, the forum turned out to be controlled.
Selected individuals from Panguna and other affected areas and the ABG ministers gave their presentations, which were all in support of reopening the mine.
Their announcement was met with stiff opposition from ex-combatants, the public and especially women in the affected areas.
Women were not given an opportunity to present their sentiments.