Mainland, a success story in PNG

MAINLAND Holdings is one of the success stories of the cooperative society structure in the country, says Cooperative Societies of PNG registrar Brian Waffi.
He said it started off as a cooperative holdings company.
“It is one of the successful pre-independence cooperatives with the Orokaiva Coffee Growers Cooperative Society,” Waffi said.
“It is a pre-independence cooperative company owned by more than 5,000 shareholders from Oro, especially farmers in the rural areas of Kaiva, who have benefited from dividend payments and coffee market provisions.”
It was registered on March 27, 1962 with the Registry of Cooperatives to coordinate coffee production in Orokaiva.
Its shareholders soon extended to the rest of Oro and expanded its business into real estate.
In 1975, the cooperative established a subsidiary company called Orokaiva Ombei Oro Limited.
He said due to the repealing of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance, and abolishment of the cooperative office before independence, the company lost control of its operations, because members did not know which office to go to get assistance and advice.
“Hence most of the cooperatives’ properties were claimed by the board of directors as their own, claiming that it was now a company and not a cooperative,” he said.
“Currently these properties and investments are generating revenues but sadly only a few people are benefiting.”
Following a situation analysis report in 2015, the company was re-registered in 2016.
Members appointed a new board and administration to organise structure and policies for the company to recoup properties and restore business operations.