Moves are underway in Bougainville to determine the ownership and debts attached to abandoned plantations, then returning them to production.
Mother of three Elsie Konovai, works on her family’s cocoa plantation, which is now earning her and her family an income. Photo: World Bank/Alana Holmberg
It is part of the approach by the government in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region to build economic resilience as it prepares to negotiate with Port Moresby over the outcome of last year's independence referendum.
The plantations, a key part of the Bougainville economy prior to the civil war, were abandoned once the violence erupted.
President Ishmael Toroama, said the Lands Department is trying to ascertain who owns the land and what debts the plantations carry, and then either the government or the original owners will take over.
"That is the sort of way we are looking through, because we cannot ignore the landowners. We have to work in partnership with ABG to make development in all plantations work really well," said Ishmael Toroama.