Motu-Koitabu group wants to talk to govt about land

AN association representing the Motu-Koitabu people wants to talk to the government about their land being used by the state or private sector.
The Motu-Koitabu Way Forward Association wants to address the alienated Motu-Koita landowners.
Association chairperson Josepha Kiris said the new group consisting of young Motu-Koitabuans was registered last June.
The aim is to be the voice for Motu-Koita landowners who have their alienated land used by either the state or the private sector.
She claimed the alienated land was taken from the Motu-Koita people during the colonial times to build state-owned buildings and towns.
She said, to this day, they had not been thanked appropriately for the land they had lost.
She said she would like to see the government, as part of the reconciliation process, formally thank the people of Motu-Koita for the use of their land and set up something such as a landowner company which the people could benefit from. 
The association is also speaking up for the alienated land from Gabagaba to Manumanu in Central.
Kiris said the national land development programme incorporating landowner groups would be the way to go because even though the people had lost their land to the state, they would have a business arm still operating.
Although the association is new, the members hope to attract like-minded people coming together to represent the land and the people.