The Madang Provincial Government in Papua New Guinea wants a 40 percent stake in a tuna processor when its 20 year old agreement is reviewed next year.
RD Tuna Company, a subsidiary of a Filipino company, was one of the first tuna canneries set up in PNG.
The Post Courier reports the Madang Governor Jim Kas saying that although the option for equity participation is contained in the initial agreement signed with the national government in 1995 it has never been taken up.
Governor Kas says his government would push for 40 percent of equity in the upcoming review, saying it would serve as precedence not only for future projects in the province but also for other provincial governments to follow.
He says this would also accommodate the interest of landowners, whom he says remain the biggest losers in resource projects that have been established over the years.
