It is disappointing to see a leader of John Momis’ stature, a former two term President of Bougainville and longtime Regional Member for Bougainville trying to undermine the good work of the Autonomous Bougainville Government.
See Momis Press Release Part 2 below
John Momis led Bougainville’s politics for 47 years until 2020. Yet during much of that time, Bougainville struggled to translate its political aspirations into tangible economic and social progress. Longevity in politics may bring prestige, but it does not automatically deliver results.
During his ten-year presidency, Bougainville witnessed a familiar pattern, frequent complaints directed at the National Government for funding and a succession of ambitious foreign investment proposals that promised transformation but delivered little beyond expensive lessons. Bougainville’s people were left to absorb the cost of several failed economic experiments involving overseas partners who appeared enthusiastic at the beginning and invisible at the end.
While I acknowledge John Momis as one of Bougainville’s and Papua New Guinea’s most distinguished statesmen, political seniority is not the same as economic authority, nor does it grant permanent ownership over Bougainville’s future.
One of the persistent problems of the past was the tendency to place greater faith in foreign advice while sidelining the knowledge and capacity of Bougainvilleans themselves. That approach left Bougainville politically vocal but economically stagnant.
Over the past five years, my government has deliberately taken a different path.
Instead of grand announcements and endless negotiations that lead nowhere, we have focused on building the foundations of a functioning economy. We have invested in strengthening local capacity, improving policy frameworks, expanding infrastructure, and advancing our political preparations for independence.
The progress is visible. Improvements in our hospitals, our schools, and our transport infrastructure are not theoretical they are happening on the ground. And this progress will accelerate as we responsibly advance the reopening of the Panguna Mine, a project central to Bougainville’s long-term economic future.
I have neither the time nor the interest to engage in prolonged exchanges with former politicians who appear unwilling to accept that Bougainville has moved into a new era of leadership. Political retirement, like political power, is something that must eventually be accepted with dignity.
In the past five years, my presidency has not been spent begging the National Government for money. Instead, we have begun positioning Bougainville to generate its own revenue through strategic partnerships with credible investors, including companies such as Lloyds Metals and other development partners who are prepared to work with Bougainville seriously and responsibly.
To the people of Bougainville, last year you decided overwhelmingly to retain me as your President. You asked us to continue the work of building Bougainville’s future and that is exactly what we will do.
I am here to serve you and together we will build our hospitals, our schools, our road infrastructure. We are going to create a strong economy that is sound and induce social and political stability for Bougainville.
Our goal remains unchanged, to create a strong, stable, and economically viable Bougainville ready to stand as an independent sovereign state.
H.E Ishmael Toroama, MHR
President of Bougainville
PRESS RELEASE
By Dr. and Chief, John L. Momis, Friday 20 February 2026
SUBJECT: MAJOR CONCERNS ABOUT LLOYDS METALS & ENERGY LTD (LLOYDS
Chief John Momis, former President of Bougainville, 2010-2020, and MP for Bougainville regional electorate in the PNG Parliament, from 1972 to 2005, says that all Bougainvilleans should be very concerned about the way the small Indian company has been selected to be the ABG’s partner in re-opening the Panguna mine.
There are many interrelated problems involved in both the idea of Lloyds reopening the Panguna mine by the middle of 2026 – only 4 months away. It is well known that re-opening the mine will be a huge project. It will need to include building new processing plants, establishing a huge electricity plant, upgrading of roads, building a tailings dam, moving thousands of small-scale miners from the Panguna lease areas, and so on. The cost is likely to be US$10 to 12 billion. Organising the project to do all of this, and more, will need a company with access to billions of dollars in loans, and with a strong record in managing the many things involved in such a huge project.
But Lloyds is a small company, without access to the funds and experience needed. There are big dangers here, or a small company that Lloyds is raising expectations that it cannot meet. There are serious dangers of tensions and conflict developing.
But as if all of that was not worrying enough, in an MOU signed between Lloyds and the ABG on 20 November, Lloyds is promising to get involved in design, funding and for a whole range of projects. The proposed projects include the new Arawa hospital, accommodation for specialist doctors, developing a guest house, design of an office for the President in Arawa, developing an Arawa Technical College, establishing a Bougainville commercial bank, developing tourism in Bougainville, and establishing a Pilot training School and club.
This sounds like the ABG is offering almost a monopoly on development in Bougainville. It sounds too much like the monopoly that the ABG offered the Canadian company, Invincible, back when Kabui was president.
It is clear that Lloyds does not have the funds or capacity to re-open Panguna, and yet it is being offered, and agreeing to develop, all these other projects. The MOU is not binding on the ABG, but it gives a clear picture of the wide range of development activities in which Lloyds expects to be involved.
Perhaps the most serious concern about Lloyds is that they signed the November MOU, and got ABG agreement on developing Panguna only after Lloyds had provided a range of benefits and inducements to the President and his family. Both the President and his wife, and other family members have been flown to India, and the President’s wife has been provided with serious and expensive medical assistance. At best, it looks now like the President came under pressure from Lloyds to reciprocate for the benefits that his family received from Lloyds.
It appears, then, that Lloyds’ main qualification for getting the right to be the ABG’s partner in not only the Panguna re-opening, but also all the many other proposed development projects, is their close relationship with the President, and the various benefits that they have provided to him.
The whole set of arrangements with Lloyds seriously undermines the reputation and standing of the ABG as an honest government with high standards of governance.
Lloyds and the ABG arrangements with that company are the source of deep shame for Bougainville and the ABG.
John L. Momis
20 February 2026
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