http://www.theage.com.au/December 12, 2008 - 11:32AMBougainville...

http://www.theage.com.au/

December 12, 2008 - 11:32AM

Bougainville landowners who fought Papua New Guinea security forces in a decade-long civil war sparked over a giant copper mine want to restart mining to achieve viable independence.

Panguna Landowners Association (PLA) chief Michael Pariu told AAP that mining was the only way the island's independence from PNG could be economically viable following a proposed 2015 referendum on independence.

The PLA was one group among many that formed the Bougainville Revolutionary Army that through militant action forced the closure of the Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL) Panguna mine in the island's Central Province from the late 1980s.

Landowner groups disputed mining royalties and many were angered at environmental damage caused by the mine's operation.

The island's autonomous government has said the mine would not reopen without the permission of landowners and the people of Bougainville.

The PNG region's autonomy and the proposed referendum on independence are part of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, reached between combatants with the assistance of Australia and New Zealand.

"Independence for Bougainville without mining, I would never, never believe in that sort of independence. No, no, simply that," Pariu said.

"Independence means something economically viable otherwise we are talking about a dream independence."

He said BCL must offer a better deal benefiting not just local landowners but the whole of Bougainville and even PNG.

"The reach of the benefits to the landowners was one kina to (BCL's) five hundred kina from the 1960s to the 1980s, that was my complaint," he said.

"This is the injustice I have seen and why I was involved in the conflict.

"Landowners are ready to negotiate to make a deal, our terms are the landowners and Bougainville must benefit, fair distribution is what we want."

Landowners are in talks with BCL and have the support of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, he said.