Bougainville women's forum 

Bougainville women will hold a forum on Thursday to air their grievances over the running of their province, in particular a controversial mining rights deal and recent political sackings.

Papua New Guinea's Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has granted Invincible Resources, a Canadian mining company headed by Australian-born Lindsay Semple, 70% access rights to the island's vast mineral wealth.

Bougainville President Joseph Kabui and Bougainville Resource Development Committee (BRDC) chairman Robert Atsir have said the arrangement should help attract foreign investment.

The deal will be reviewed once Bougainville is re-established financially and profiting from mining and other resource deals, they have said.

The Invincible deal, which has sparked criticisms from politicians, landowners, business groups, and now a women's coalition, was one of many concerns over Bougainville, PNG's Post Courier reported.

Led by the Bougainville inter-church women's group, tomorrow's meeting will focus on the controversial deal and the sackings of ABG's economic and investment adviser Anthony Luwong and outspoken minister for women Magdalene Toroansi.

Bougainville Copper Limited's (BCL) Panguna mine, which provided unprecedented wealth, infrastructure and resources to the region, remains closed after it sparked years of civil war over land ownership issues.

A generation of Bougainvilleans was lost to the war that captured the world's attention in the 1990s.

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