Bougainville sees economic opportunity in soap making

A Bougainville cabinet minister, Theonila Roka Matbob, hopes a soap making initiative helps spark other cottage industries in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region.

Bougainville is striving to establish a viable economy as it pushes for independence from PNG.

In one venture, the minister for community development, Matbob, used funding from the constituency development prgramme to involve mothers in soap making.

Part of the motivation has been because the price of soap sold commercially has been soaring due to inflation.

However, Matbob is hoping it can lead the way for other sustainable cottage industries.

"With us making money using this cottage industry, in soaps specifically, and oil and also down streaming herbs like turmeric and cocoa powder, and making it become a soap ingredient, is kind of changing people's perception," she said.

Matbob's constituency encompasses much of the area around the Panguna Mine.

She is strongly opposed to any return to extractive industries such as open cast mining because of the destruction wrought by Panguna in its 20 years of operation, before being forced to closed by civil war more than 30 years ago.

This is one of the key reasons for her backing enterprises like soap making.

"We can actually build our economy on the wealth that is on the surface," she said.

Meanwhile, Bougainville's referendum on independence from PNG is due to be tabled in the PNG parliament later this year and the state of the Bougainville economy is expected to be a factor MPs will look at.