Landowner groups in the Panguna region in the Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville are strongly supportive of the Autonomous Government's moves for a return to mining.
The government says mining is the best way to quickly create a viable economy.
It has passed new legislation vesting control of the resources in the hands of landowners and taken issue with claims by NGO, Jubilee Australia, that the people around Panguna do not want mining.
And the nine landowner groups support the government, saying the NGO should be ashamed at what it calls its poor research.
The chair of the Siokatei Association, Therese Jaintong, says opening Panguna is the way forward for the province.
"We have to really understand - how can we really run the Government when we are asking the Papua New Guinea Government for all the fundings and all that? So if we want to be independent, we must be independent and come up with self reliance - then Panguna is the way forward."
An aerial view of Arawa, Bougainville Photo: RNZI
