Development plan seeking to bring Buin ‘suffering’ to an end

THE South Bougainville district development authority has accepted the Buin urban development plan.
The plan was made after a survey by the Department of Lands and Physical Planning in March, funded by AusAID and the district.
The plan was the first attempt since the end of the Bougainville conflictto address uncontrolled and illegal occupation and development in Buin town.
Director of physical planning with Department of Lands in Buka James Kunnopia said Buin had suffered from a lack of planning controls, inappropriate development and investment since the crisis.
He attributed this to poor governance, lack of physical planning resources, funds and technical equipment and a weak planning framework.
Kunnopia said there were people who were title holders – those who built with permission from the district administration – and illegal occupants living in the township.
He said addressing the illegal occupants would be a win-win situation, adding the urban plan was the way forward for the orderly and coordinated development of Buin town.
The urban plan was accepted at district authority’s second quarter meeting at Bana High School in the Bana constituency last Friday.
District authority chairman and South Bougainville MP Timothy Masiu said the plan was a “big leap forward”. He said the plan would be part and parcel of the development of Buin town in an orderly and organised manner.
“We are slowly, gradually and surely establishing the building blocks for planned and coordinated development,” he said.
The urban development plan will come under the jurisdiction of the Buin Urban Authority.