A Land Access and Compensation Agreement (LACA) has been
signed by traditional landowners in North Bougainville for a
planned mine exploration site.
More than 250
landowners from eight clans in the Taonita-Teop areas
covered by exploration licence EL08, and the company
Bougainville Minerals Investment (BMI), signed the deal last
Thursday (20 March).
The agreement is a requirement
for the exploration licence.
It requires the licence
holder to sign such an agreement with landowners before
entering the land where they want to explore.
A former
Bougainville MP and a local paramount chief Joe Pais said it
is important for resource owners to free up their lands so
the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) can progress
important projects.
He said that the timeline for
Bougainville’s independence is not far off, and
Bougainvilleans need to be serious about helping the
government.
BMI owner and managing director Paul Rya
said that groundwork was underway for construction of
offices and accommodation for employees who will be based at
the Yokomori Camp Site.
He assured the landowners that
the company is committed to providing as much spin-off
benefit as possible during their tenure by localising all of
its activities in
Taonita-Teop.
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