The paramount chief from Ieta village in Bougainville says the Department of Lands must speed up work to resolve a dispute over the land occupied by Buka Airport.
Disputes with the landowners in Buka have been ongoing over the airport site for some years.
Buka Airport Photo: facebook
Herman Tugan said recent fencing around the airport, to keep people off the runway, meant the Ieta people faced a difficult walk around the perimeter to get to their gardens.
New Dawn FM reported Mr Tugan calling for the Lands Department and the National Airports Corporation to move quickly and resolve the issue.
He said the Bougainville Government also needed to address the wider question of growing urbanisation and the impact this had on the people of Ieta village and Buka town as a whole.