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.
While many key stakeholders want the mine to reopen, other factions like the Meekamui Nationalist Movement, keep Bougainville divided and complicate matters.
Meekamui wants to form its own government for Bougainville but has splintered militias scattered across the island with many at odds with each other.
The Meekamui Defence Force (MDF), headed by self-appointed General Chris Uma, maintains a heavily armed no-go zone around the Panguna mine and refuses to negotiate with other parties seeking reconciliation.
"We do not recognise the Panguna landowners," Uma told AAP.
"The road blocks show we have a fight here and it's not over."
"We want mining for development but only when Meekamui is government, the only way to open the mine is to recognise MDF as the authority."
Angela Kabareui, the Panguna District Women's Association president, said the feuds were linked to the civil war, had exacerbated in the years afterwards and would only be resolved with time.
"Reconciliation is going to take time, bit by bit, but it has to happen as all the mothers in the district want it," she said.
"We are a matrilineal society so we mothers must take a lead in the reconciliation process."
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