Category Government of Bougainville

ABG Government and her Elected leaders. Short History of Bougainville.

Feb 6 2021

Bougainville News Alert : Read / Download Official media statement and resolutions of the February Joint Supervisory Body Meeting in Arawa

Official Joint Media Statement of the Joint Supervisory Body Meeting in Arawa, Bougainville on Friday 05 February 2021, by Co-Chairs Hon. James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Hon. Ishmael Toroama, MHR, President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Hon. James Marape and President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Hon. Ishmael Toroama, on February 5 met at the Joint Supervisory Body meeting.

To download the full JSB Resolution 

050221_Arawa_JSB_Resolution

In the meeting the two leaders reaffirmed their joint commitment to the implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister James Marape acknowledged that both governments had taken a long break from progressing discussions since the last JSB meeting in March 2020 due to the global pandemic.

However, he thanked the Autonomous Bougainville Government for the patience showed and acknowledged all technical officials for maintaining consistent dialogue on both sides.

Prime Minister Marape said that the national government recognizes the referendum choice of the people of Bougainville, and that the two governments must continue to use the Bougainville Peace Agreement as its main guide while on this peace process.

He announced his government’s commitment to have the joint consultations commence in the first quarter of this year, and reaffirmed his commitment to pursue the path as outlined in the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, which should eventually see National Parliament dealing with the Referendum result.

President Ishmael Toroama in his remarks acknowledged the Prime Minister and his delegation, and described the National Government’s commitment to Bougainville as very strong.

He said that there is great anticipation from the people of Bougainville on the 97.7% vote and much needs to be done to actualize this on both sides. The two leaders discussed on a total of nine agenda items.

Key of which was the Post Referendum Consultation Framework where the two leaders agreed to have the first joint consultation meeting on the referendum result on the 4th-5th March 2021 in Kokopo, East New Britain Province.

The Leaders also resolved through the JSB to formally accept the recent Joint Communique as the roadmap to consultations on the outcome of the Bougainville Referendum. On the Economic and Investment Summit, the leaders acknowledged the preparatory work done so far, and accepted the recommendation to have the Summit held from 5th to 6th May 2021 in Arawa, Central Bougainville.

On Fisheries matters, the JSB resolved to prioritize creation of investment in the fisheries sector to generate revenue for Bougainville, and also to further explore the development of a Tuna Cannery in Bougainville.

The meeting also considered other key issues such as the SME funding, establishment of Foreign Development Offices in Bougainville, taxation and revenue matters and other outstanding financial issues including National Governments commitment to retire fully the K621million outstanding RDG and the K100million a year Special Infrastructure Funds.

The leaders agreed that the next meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body will take place in June 2021, and a third JSB meeting to be held in December 2021.

Part 2

In appreciation of the continued peace between our Governments and our people as enabled by the Bougainville Peace Agreement, we, in our humility, praise and acknowledge that our Lord  is above all and that  this Resolution is commended to God for his wisdom and guide on us his servants.

We acknowledge that this is the first JSB co-chaired by the Honourable President of Bougainville Ishmael Toroama and on that note, we recognise that this is a new era of dialogue through peace by peaceful means.

We fully pledge support to each other to continue to maintain and strengthen our relationships at all levels of leadership.

Having met today at the Sharp Memorial Centre in Arawa, we note the recommendations of the Joint Technical Team meeting of February 5, 2021 and endorse the following resolutions;

Agenda 1: Joint Communique on the Outcome of the Bougainville Referendum

  1. The JSB notes the intentions of the Joint Communique to be the road map to the Inter-Government joint consultations and that the Joint Communique aims to create a mutual understanding and agreement on implementation of the Referendum outcome and defining next
  2. The JSB notes that the Joint Com1nunique on the Outcome of the Bougainville Referendum was signed on January 11, 2021 at the Sir Manasupe Haus, Port Moresby by the Honourable Prime Minister James Marape, MP and the Honourable President Ishmael Toroama, MHR and witnessed by GoPNG and ABG Attorney Generals Hon. Pila Niningi and Hon. Ezekiel
  3. The JSB accepts and endorses the Joint Communique as the road map to consultations on the Outcome of the Bougainville Referendum.

Sharp Agreement on the Dispensation of the Constitutional Requirements relating to the Process of Transfer of Functions and Powers:

 In the context of the 97.7% vote for Independence by the people of Bougainville in the 2019 Bougainville Referendum;

  • The JSB notes the explanation of the ABG on the intent of the ‘Sharp Agreement on the Dispensation on the Constitutional Requirements relating to the Transfer of Functions and Powers to fast track the process under Section 290 of the National

 

  • The JSB notes that the ABG has provided to the GoPNG State Solicitors the document on the Sharp Agreement and notes that the GoPNG State Solicitors have yet to provide legal feedback on the document hence the JSB recommends that a timeframe of two weeks is accorded to provide legal clearance on behalf of the National

 

  • The JSB accepts the Sharp Agreement on the Dispensation of the Constitutional Requirements relating to the Process of Transfer of Functions and Powers and directs that the legal clearance on behalf of the National Government is completed within the timeframe and that the ‘Sharp Agreement’ is signed no earlier than 19th February and no later than 26th February 2021, before the commencement of the Inter-Government Joint Consultations in 4th and 5thMarch,

Agenda 2: Bougainville Economic and Investment Summit

  1. The JSB acknowledges the JTT recommendations and endorses that Bougainville Economic and Investment Summit be held from 5th to 6th May, 2021 in Arawa, Central
  2. The JSB cautions that the venue be considered carefully as the JSB expects that the venue must be sufficient to cater for the large number of stakeholders to the Bougainville Economic and Investment

Agenda 3: BCL Shares

  1. The JSB acknowledges the work in progress on the transfer of BCL shares to ABG’s Bougainville Minerals Limited,
  2. The JSB endorses the work in progress brief on the transfer of BCL
  3. The JSB emphasises that lead agencies responsible for this agenda timeframe the transfer of shares and report to the JSB the progress of this

To download the full JSB Resolution 

050221_Arawa_JSB_Resolution

Joint Statement:

Genuine in our intentions for sustained peace between us, we endorse that our official statements delivered at the opening and closing of this meeting and all records of discussions and notes in this meeting is an integral part of this meeting.

We conclude by reaffirming that ‘man can make decisions  but God has the last say, with this affirmation, we leave all resolutions reached here today in the care of our God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 27 2021

Bougainville News : Let me make it clear that the current ABG under my Presidency is not colluding with any mining company or any landowner group to redevelop the Panguna Mine at this time.

Press statement from the office of the president on the issue of the Panguna Mine re-opening.

The idea of Caballus operating a mine on Bougainville has long been shelved after their failed attempt to co-sponsor the mining amendments with the former Momis led ABG.

Let me make it clear that the current ABG under my Presidency is not colluding with Caballus, RTZ, Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) or any landowner group to redevelop the Panguna Mine at this time.

Statements by companies or landowner groups with a vested interest in Panguna who claim to be working with the current ABG are false; we are not backing any company or any landowner group to reopen the mine.

My government is committed protecting landowner rights from undue influence by persons wishing to solicit favours from the Autonomous Bougainville Government in an attempt to reopen the mine.

Any company wishing to develop Bougainville’s mineral resources be it Panguna or the exploration of a green field site must come through the proper channels.

Bougainville has a Mining Act that governs the exploitation of our mineral resources, any parties wishing to be involved in the mining industry on Bougainville must comply with the laws of the land.

As it stands there is a moratorium in place over Panguna as well as the surrounding areas around the proximity of the mine.

The Panguna Mine remains a very sensitive issue on Bougainville and parties wishing to reopen it must maintain a sense of decorum that respects the land, the landowners and the ABG.

We cannot continue to make unfounded claims that are based on promises from the previous regime and its band of leaders and public servants who sought to manipulate the people of Bougainville and wantonly exploit its resources.

I urge leaders from the past government as well as the current ABG to refrain from making unsubstantiated claims over the future of the mine at this time.

Let us be frank in our dealings and be considerate of the welfare of all our people on Bougainville. It is high time we stopped using our Independence aspirations as a bargaining chip to further our personal agenda.

Hon. Ishmael Toroama MHR

President

https://www.abg.gov.pg/index.php/news/read/toroama-my-government-is-committed-in-protecting-landowner-rights?fbclid=IwAR0Uhgh0orzeP3lcVXqRxAwEdJJUtEpHImeFaM5RvUYhSTbGk6FPjUpea38

 

Jan 11 2021

Bougainville News Alert : On the occasion of the signing of the Joint Communique by the Prime Minister of PNG and the President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government

“ In furthering the Bougainville Peace process in the Post Referendum period and having met 11 January 2020, we officially reaffirm and assure the people of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville that the Governments of PNG and Bougainville is committed to the process of the joint consultations on the outcome of the referendum.” 

The signing of the Joint Communique today signals our intention to immediately commence the joint consultations as is required by the National Constitution under Section 342 (1) and the Bougainville Peace Agreement under Clause 311 (b) for the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government to consult over the outcome or result of the Bougainville referendum.

This Joint Communique affirms that as required by the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the referendum outcome will be subject to ratification (final decision making) of the National Parliament while Section 342 (2) of the National Constitution has made the decision of the National Parliament relating to the referendum result subject to the consultation under Section 342 (1).

  • The Joint Communique builds on the tremendous achievements of both Governments and establishes the following facts and principles of the Bougainville Peace process;
  • That the Bougainville Peace Agreement provides for a political right to Bougainvilleans to a referendum, among Bougainvilleans, on the future political status of Bougainville; and
  • That the National Government had guaranteed that political right through Section 338 (1) of the National Constitution; and
  • That the constitutional guarantee for the referendum under Section 338 (1) of the National Constitution depended on the fulfillment by the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) of conditions relating to weapons disposal and good governance, of which the ABG satisfactorily met; and
  • That the choice for separate independence was guaranteed under Section 339 (c) of the National Constitution as one of a number of possible choices available to Bougainvilleans in the referendum; and
  • That the both Governments had agreed to the definition of independence before the conduct of the referendum to mean an independent nation with sovereign powers and laws, recognized under international law and by other international states to be an independent state, separate from the state of Papua New Guinea, with a defined territory, inclusive of maritime boundaries and associated exclusive economic zones; and a government chosen by its people; and capacity to enter into and manage international relations and United Nations membership; and
  • That the referendum question and the following two choices presented to Bougainvilleans in the referendum were intended to facilitate a clear result: Option 1 – Greater Autonomy, and Option 2 – Independence; and
  • That the referendum was conducted by an impartial Bougainville Referendum Commission (BRC), headed by Mr. Bertie Ahern of Ireland, which comprised of a fair number of representatives from the National Government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government; and
  • That the referendum that was held between November and December 2019 and witnessed by international observers was free and fair, and according to observer groups “credible, transparent and inclusive”; and
  • That a total number of 181,067 Bougainvilleans voted in the referendum, and out of that 97.7 % of them chose independence; and
  • That the report of the Bougainville Referendum Commission was tabled in both the National Parliament and the Bougainville House of Representatives, and was unanimously endorsed by both parliaments.

In adopting fully these established facts and principles; We hereby agree that the upcoming joint consultations will be moderated by an appointed Moderator and will be, but not limited to, addressing the key issues on the future political status of Bougainville, the method of endorsement by the National Parliament and the Documentation of record of the joint consultation.

Finally, in memory of the late Sir Mekere Morauta, for his contributions to the Bougainville Peace process as a former Prime Minister of our Nation and for his role as a signatory to the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001, this Joint Communique embodies both our Government’s sincerity to continued peace by peaceful means.

God Bless our people.

Hon. JAMES MARAPE, MP, Prime Minister, PNG

Hon. ISHMAEL TOROAMA, President, ABG

 

Jan 4 2021

Bougainville News Year 2021: President Ishmael Toroama has urged Bougainvilleans to stand firm in the region’s aspirations for political independence as Bougainville begins the new year.

President Ishmael Toroama has urged Bougainvilleans to stand firm in the region’s aspirations for political independence as Bougainville begins the new year.

President Toroama made this statement to youths from the different Christian denominations throughout Bougainville who gathered at Roreinang United Church Mission last week.

“The question we have to ask ourselves today is, are we one of those patriotic Bougainvilleans willing to go the distance to achieve Bougainville’s aspirations for independence?” the President said.

“Are we steadfast in our resolve to contribute to being responsible citizens and to create a workaholic society that is committed to Bougainville’s development and the welfare of its citizens?” President Toroama stated.

“Our people must not waiver in our journey to independence, we must unite, we must stand firm so shall we realize Bougainville’s aspirations on political independence as a sovereign nation,” President Toroama said.

“Our new political roadmap is the ninety-eight percent (98%) referendum vote where we voted for Bougainville’s independence,” the President added.

“The will of our people to be independent through the referendum has clearly outlined what the Autonomous Bougainville Government must work towards achieving for the people of Bougainville,” he said.

However, President Toroama also outlined that there are challenges along the way which his government will have to settle in terms of creating a socioeconomic base for the Bougainville to build its political foundations.

The Toroama government has so far begun its plans on reforming the ABG infrastructure to will reflect its priorities on being independence ready.

In its first hundred days the government has already initiated several major economic projects in South and Central Bougainville.

It has also instituted reforms in the Bougainville Public Service through contractual engagements of Senior Management Staff and made an initial move in the Arawa Township with the opening of the Law and Justice Office Complex.

Most of these reforms and development initiatives are part of President Toroama’s drive to see a holistic approach to Bougainville being socially, economically and politically independent.

 

Dec 15 2020

Bougainville News Alert : President Toroama reports on 100-days progress :

The first 100 days of the Toroama led Autonomous Bougainville Government has shown great promise with the government achieving a number of benchmarks since its inception in September.

It has been 80 days following the swearing-in of Ishmael Toroama as the fourth President of the Fourth Bougainville House of Representatives on 25th September this year.

President Toroama presented a progressive report of his government’s First 100 Days in the Bougainville House of Representatives today.

“The priorities for this Government were announced in my inauguration speech. I expected the Ministers to take your cue from my priorities and implement them through your respective Department Plans. I also expected ordinary members to take your cue from my priorities,” President Toroama said.

“My priorities were then packaged into the 100 Day Plan, with 11 Pillars that are being implemented by the various Departments,” President Toroama added.

The very first pillar was the setting up of the new government and cabinet; this was accomplished upon the President appointing his full cabinet to the 14 portfolios in the ABG.

The Toroama government has progressed Bougainville’s Independence preparations which are at an advanced stage, however, consultations are obviously happening slower the expected because of the national political context but the ABG ready to engage as soon as the situation stabilizes in Port Moresby.

The President has also launched the Manetai Lime stone project, the Integrated Agriculture Project at Tonolei in Buin District and the Integrated Landowner Group registration exercise for the Bana Special Economic Zone.

President Toroama said that the ABG is reviewing other failed ABG businesses to find ways of either resurrecting them or shutting them down for good.

In the law and justice sector the President has encouraged dialogue with the Konnou and Tonu factions to encourage reintegration into Bougainville under the ABG.

The Toroama Government is also responsible for funding and launching office space for three key law and justice agencies; the Department of Justice and Attorney General – Community Based Corrections, Office of the Public Solicitor and the ABG Department of Justice and Legal Services in Arawa.

The first 100 Days of the Toroama Presidency is focused on realigning the ABG’s priorities under the President Toroama’s Six (6) Point Strategies on developing Bougainville and making it independence ready.

Xmas Message from the President 

Greetings to you all my people of Bougainville, this is the first Christmas message I am sharing with you as your President, since coming into office 4 months ago.

Christmas is a time of special Joy as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is also a time for reflection and renewal in our spiritual and physical lives.

So, as we observe the spirit of Christmas, I want to give you a message of hope and assurance that we are on the right track in our political journey. And to also ask you to do your part as we walk together the journey towards independence.

My people of Bougainville, 2020 has been both very exciting and challenging.

We started the year with the excitement of the 98% Referendum result, without any complaints lodged within the prescribed 40-day period. This was then followed by the State of Emergency of the Covid-19 pandemic which has greatly impacted on the work of both the government, the civil society and the private sectors. Many small businesses are also struggling as a result.

We also experienced the excitement of forming a new Bougainville Government under my Presidency and the end of term of our most senior and longest serving political leader, Dr Chief John Momis.

As we all take a well-earned rest from our hectic duties, but most importantly, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, I want us to also think about the following Christmas Messages.

The overall theme of my Christmas message is “Being Independence Ready by taking responsibility at your own level”:

Whether it is at the Individual level; the Family level; the Clan level; the Church level; the Community level; at the COE level, and at whatever level you belong to, we all have a responsibility to be independence ready.

My people of Bougainville, let me explain what I mean when I say this.

When we talk about “being independent”, it is not just political independence that we should have in mind but also being independent in the way we live our lives at all levels daily.

We must maintain the spirit of independence or self -help that we have always known in our lives. We have always built our own classrooms, health centres, churches, feeder roads and so one. We have always worked on the land or sea to look after our families.

All communities must be socially and economically “independent” through our own initiatives.

At the government level, ABG officers have already consulted with the PNG counterparts and reached a good understanding on the pathway for addressing the 98% vote for independence in 2021.

As we take “independence ready” actions at all levels, I appeal to you to also think seriously about the forthcoming Bougainville Regional seat by-elections. The next 2 years, is a very crucial period as we go into consultations with the PNG Government on the 98% and political independence for Bougainville.

The Bougainville Regional seat, is equivalent to a Governors’ seat in other provinces. This is not a time to vote for beginners. We need quality and experienced political leaders with active national and international links, who can fight for Bougainville independence, on the floor of PNG Parliament, and also lobby with international friends. There are six candidates from which you are to make your choice of 1, 2 and 3. I appeal to you to put party politics aside and vote for who will best deliver the Referendum result and Independence for Bougainville.

Law and Order:

My people of Bougainville, maintaining Law and Order, is a very important part of being “independent ready”.

When a star was borne in the East, according to the gospel of Mathew, three wise men travelled several days long distances, to offer gold, frankincense and myrrh and to honor the new born king. They were not troubled by any lawlessness on their way to see the new borne king.

We, as Christians in Bougainville, also have the last part of the journey towards political independence, and it is important that this journey is not disturbed by any law and order issues.

We must live peaceful and happy lives especially you young boys & girls. Young generation, you have a lot of opportunity where you are to work the land, or the sea and achieve something and live a good happy live.

Do not waste your lives feeling frustrated that you did not continue your education or that you did not find a job? The truth is that no one will give you a good life on a golden plate whilst you waste your life away on drugs and home brew.

The community is the place where we all live so it is up to all of us to make sure it is a safe and a happy place to live in.

It is impossible for Police to be in every community maintaining law and order because there are simply not enough Police men and women.

From now onwards, I expect the Chiefs, Pastors, Ward Councilors and Elders to take responsibility for maintaining law and order in each community.

Our star is rising in the east, and we must walk the journey together towards it as law abiding citizens.

Corruption:

My dear people of Bougainville, addressing corruption is another element of being “independence ready”. Regulating the behavior of the Public service and Leaders is essential to stopping corrupt behavior.

The Ombudsman Commission will be strengthening its presence and role in Bougainville in this regard.

We the people of Bougainville, also have a big role to play in reducing corruption by leaders and the public service. We must stop having expectations of handout mentality by government or the leaders. If we stop expecting leaders to give us money or material goods, the leaders will also stop misusing public monies.

The culture of “false claims” into Govt offices by various stakeholders must also stop because it promotes corrupt behaviors.

Isaiah 1:4 says “Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption. They have forsaken the lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him”.

As we celebrate Christmas as Christians, we voters or constituencies must stop our expectations of leaders for “cargo development” or hand-outs because that will help in reducing corruption.

Economy

My people of Bougainville, another area in which we must be “independence ready” is the economy. At every level, we must be economically independent. The family unit, the clan system and the community are the fundamental building blocks of our Bougainville society. Each of these levels must have strong economic foundations.

Papa or mama noken kamapim pikinini na raun natin natin na spak home brew or marijuana. When you give birth to a child, it is your responsibility to give that child good clothes, good house, good health, good education and a good life for the rest of his/her adult life. From 2021 onwards, I do not want to see idle parent-youths roaming the streets of Buka, Arawa and Buin towns. You mas stap lo ples na kamapim economy blo lukautim pikinini yu kamapim.

At the government level, we have already launched the Manetai limestone project. We are also increasing efforts in progressing the Bana Free Trade Zone through the establishment of the Integrated Land Groups registration process.

In 2021, my government, will develop and implement initiatives aimed at growing the Bougainville economy quickly. These initiatives include increasing the internal tax revenue base, establishing enterprises (such gold marketing) with early revenue returns, reviewing and improving the government business arms whilst also developing medium to long term plans. My government, with the support of international partners, is planning to hold an Economic Summit in April 2021.

Through this Christmas message I want to alert the Bougainville Administration to rise up to the Task of growing our economy and not become a bottle neck to our growth.

Working with Communities

My people of Bougainville, the large majority of our citizens live in villages. And yet we have a system of government where decisions, resources and services delivery are town oriented.

We need a paradigm shift in the way both Govt and private sector do business. On the part of Govt, we must explore ways of transferring some powers and functions down to the district level. This should be supported by necessary social and economic infrastructure and services delivery. People should not be made to travel the whole day to come to Buka to get government services but go to their district headquarters.

Likewise, the private sector should also invest at the District level instead of Buka and Arawa only. That way, both govt and the private sector will promote balanced development throughout Bougainville. I challenge the administration and the private sector to make this change happen.

I am happy to announce to the people of Bougainville that the BEC recently approved the establishment of the Bougainville Strategic Research and Planning Secretariat which will drive the changes that I have been advocating since becoming your President.

Celebrating the meaning of Christmas

Finally, my people of Bougainville, Christmas is a time to remember and celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the earthy beings of Joseph and Mary in a stable in Bethlehem – Bringing Joy to the world!!.

It is also a time of renewing relationships, a time of receiving and giving, and a time of making new commitments.

Some of us may have lost loved ones during the year, and it may be time to remember and honor their memories.

Whichever it is for you and your family, I want to encourage you to stay safe, celebrate and honor in the Christian way.

AND ABOVE ALL HAVE A PEACEFUL AND BLESSED MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY PROSPEROUS 2021

Hon. Ishmael Toroama MHR

President

 

Dec 15 2020

Bougainville News : Reflections of memory and reality , there is rhyme, reason and ritual to hunting, gathering and fishing.

“It is circa 1973/74. We are gutting fish on the main village shore after returning home with a decent haul of tuna to share at the dinner table. The rest will be sold at the fish market. It was a good day out because we returned before sundown with a good amount of daylight still left to do other things.

John next to me in the photograph had recently commenced work and studies with a government entity in Port Moresby. I was almost nearing the end of my undergraduate studies at UPNG and eager to return to full time work with the House of Assembly. We met in the village at Christmas holidays.

These are some of the best times in the lives of our generation. We had just gotten one foot in the modern world in a country with everything going for it, and another foot still supplanted at home so that we combined and enjoyed the best of both worlds. “

Simon Pentanu 

PHOTO above : c1973/74: We are a sensible, sharing and giving society. Greed is incongruent to the values of social egalitarian societies where the community benefits, the family or clan shares from collective efforts of everyone.

It was the land of plenty everywhere in PNG. And it still is but it is not the same place with the same kind of regard it deserves any more. Bougainville, not unlike other  provinces at the time, was a good example of an Island with abundance of resources more than enough to ably support its population.

Generally, then we could not falter people’s enthusiasm. I remember in the villages and in the towns and cities for example no one could falter the enthusiasm for education every child desired to better themselves or to land a good paid job in a government office or in a company business in the city. It was affordable to go to school.

Going back to fishing, we didn’t know, or had heard about overfishing. The fish around our Island waters were schooling around in large numbers. You did not have to go far as we do today to make a good catch before heading home.  The migratory pelagic fish were plentiful  in the harbour, other fish were good game around the the edges of the island’s shoals and shores.

It was worthwhile going out not because you expected to bring in a good catch all the time but because the sea was nice, in good heath,  alive and vibrant and thus able to support a lot of sensible fishing. And we could swim as much and as long as we wanted.

It wasn’t just the sea that mattered and the subject of conversation of fishermen. Looking forward returning home the land looked very lush green with thriving forests. It always gave  us a sense and appreciation that our world of the living was not just about our species but about a world where everything thrived all around us.

Our lives were intimated with the natural surroundings that we are very much a part of.

These kinds of memories and stories are rarer, and far and in between to tell. Why? Because we are no longer able to control the scripts and scenarios and tell the stories they represent. Instead we start our mornings reading gloomy stories that are carried on front page newspaper headlines.

These past weeks, instead of working and thinking things through together for the people and for the love of the country, the first love of those who we elect to represent us is self preservation, by and large.

May be all is not lost. Not yet anyway but we can’t say the scepticism and cynicism isn’t around. If we can go back to telling simple, perhaps unassuming, stories about where we have come from, where we are now and where we might be headed, perhaps some sense and sobriety will remain.

We expect leaders to make the hard decisions. But they must be sensible decisions. It is irrelevant who is making the decisions. What is important and relevant is the decisions are in the best interest and benefit of the People. Our leaders are like our trustees, we are the beneficiaries.

If we are not careful, the first thing we may lose is ourselves, our sense and sensibility of who we are and where we are at. The next thing we may lose is care, love and respect for the state. Beyond this starts to get a bit beyond the pale where  only a handful of people care and we must wonder whether the leaders recognise or know where we are going and might end up.

When all is said and done the worst position to be in is to not realise or recognise or feel whether any of  this  may not be a self indictment of how little we care any more for the country.

There is rhyme, reason and ritual to hunting, gathering and fishing. Not so long ago the  beneficiaries which is the community always recognised this knowing that their hunters, gatherers and fishers always brought home something to the dinner table for all to share.

After two adjournments and a third one yesterday after the intervention of the Judiciary I’m not sure what this House will bring anything to the dinner table that is beneficial and palatable to share with its people that are developing a growing concern (may be even fear) and a reason to be sceptical and cynical about leadership and governance in this country.

 

 

Nov 29 2020

Bougainville News Feature : If we have all learnt anything from Panguna, it is this. We have not learnt enough.

 ” PANGUNA and its landowners have had a mixture of these feelings and positions during the time of mining but have not felt much this way since the mine was forcibly shut down at the end of 1989. That is 31 years ago now.

The ordinary folk up there that still wake up to an altered landscape with their women – mothers of the land – are still asking what they did to deserve this as they eke out their livelihood from their usable plots of land which are mostly on hillsides.” 

Contributed by Simon Pentanu

Their biggest local hero Francis Ona came to prominence when he took a stand against his own extended family members and BCL for what he saw as an unfair and unjust payment and distribution of royalty, lease, inconvenience payments and other payments.

Ona was incensed by what he thought and saw as the vanguard of RMTL Executives supported by BCL against a mounting dissatisfaction of younger landowners who felt their grievances and interests for the share of the pie was not being given due consideration.

Their growing frustration culminated in an attempt to out-vote and replace the elderly and duly elected PLOA whose numbers comprised the majority in the RMTL Executive. Rather defiantly, if not boisterously, an AGM was convoked by Francis with this specific aim in mind.

Let us say the rest is history now, a short and sad history that BCL and the rest of Bougainville became embroiled in without any indication or warning that armed conflict, menace and mass exodus was going to follow. It is a history that is intertwined with irreverent behaviour, blood letting and a descent into the abyss that we must never follow or repeat.

The fall out from the voluntary pull out and disbursement of shares in BCL by Rio has developed into arguments and differences between some of the same people that Francis took a singular hard line stance against. If time heals, up in Panguna the healing has been slow though not exactly without some positive progress.

The reverberations have been still audible and the fractures have been still visible. In the mean time everyone else is still trying to figure out what Panguna means now after Rio has pulled the plug and cartwheeled out of Bougainville.

Well not quite! Rio was left in both an unenviable and untenable position that left it little choice but to make the commercial decision it made. The pros and cons, the timing and implications of Rio’s decision will long be argued, possibly in the Court rooms as well. What is most certain is Rio will never find any favour in Bougainville by landowners. Not in any obvious way anyway.

In the beginning everyone rushed into Panguna like honey bees taking to a new beehive. To the mining investor at the time it was seen as a cash cow ideally located in the largely virgin Crown Prince Range. The forest was dense green, the creeks and flowing rivers and estuaries pristine and bird life and marsupials adorning their habitat in plentiful numbers.

For everyone, including the often bewildered, sometimes excited and expectant landowners this was probably the best opportunity to catapult Bougainville from the backwaters to unimaginable affluence. No one foresaw or imagined the stuff of effluence that everyone from miner to landowner, hardliner to politician and the environmentalist would be mired in.

When the decision was made to mine, its timing and the set and scene was ideal. To the colonial administering authority Panguna provided the perfect investment to finance the Territory of Papua and New Guinea which was already showing signs that its political independence was emerging as an issue for open and frank discussion with Canberra. To Australian PM then, John Gorton, and his Ministers at the time Charles Barnes, Andrew Peacock and those in Konedobu like David Hay, APJ Newman, Tom Ellis and others Panguna looked a very promising prospect if Independence was going to be forced and fostered on PNG sooner than later.

As the turnstiles sometimes turn in history, it turned out it was Gough Whitlam and his Labour Government that gave the inevitable nod to Independence.

The dye was cast both for Panguna to go ahead as a real mining proposition and for the inevitable political process and transition to Independence for Papua and New Guinea as a single entity and as one country.

I’m not sure whether Panguna today is lying flat on its face or lying down on its belly. I don’t think it is either. After the landscape has been defaced and the booty and loot is gone there isn’t much of the old Panguna face that is left to be recognizable any more. And it has no belly to speak of or talk about after it has been gutted out.

But for the insatiable world hungry for minerals there is not any aota of doubt that Panguna and and its surroundings and vicinity still hold billions worth of copper, gold and silver below people’s customary land.

So what else is left of Panguna? Among the LOs they are pitted at different ends of the same table but they are seeking the same outcomes in different ways with different foreign interests.

The remnants of the old and new LOs may not be obviously visible but some of the same players that bore much of the brunt of Francis Ona’s spite and antagonism still differ in their demands and approach, even the modus operandi on how the last of the spoils from the damages might be shared or divided and how the mine might be regurgitated into the future.

What is more and more stark is, in the landowning family and extended family the differences and cracks in their arguments and claims about who has more rights to entice investors or negotiate with ABG or deal with anybody for that matter has never been more uncertain and never more confusing.

The alliances and dalliances landowners have formed with foreign interests has also added to the differences and arguments, and even doubts, as to who has more rights and claims to SML and other leases up there.

In this regard the Bougainville mining law has been tested more or less whether it adequately covers the interest of the landowners as espoused or intended in the preamble and opening provisions of the Bougainville constitution.

IF we have all learnt anything from Panguna, it is this. We have not learnt enough.

 

 

Oct 26 2020

Bougainville News Webinar Alert : The use of mobile technologies in the 2019 Bougainville referendum presents both opportunities and challenges for the future of democracy in the Pacific

 ” The use of mobile technologies in the 2019 Bougainville referendum presents both opportunities and challenges for the future of democracy in the Pacific, Amanda H A Watson, Jeremy Miller and Adriana Schmidt write.

In late 2019, the people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea (PNG) voted in a non-binding referendum offering two choices: greater autonomy or independence. People voted overwhelmingly for independence (97.71 per cent) in what was widely regarded to be a successful process, with an informed and engaged citizenry.

In the pre-referendum period, there was a strong emphasis on the need for widespread voter education to enhance the credibility and legitimacy of the vote itself, and to maintain unity and peace. A number of initiatives were undertaken by the Bougainville government and other partners to overcome people’s lack of access to traditional mass media (radio, television and newspapers).”

This article is based upon a paper published by the ANU Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) as part of its ‘Discussion paper’ series. The original paper can be found here.

The research will also be presented in a webinar on 27 October 2020. 

This article focuses on one initiative, a telephone information hotline that operated for eight weeks just before polling. It allowed people to ring a free-call number and hear pre-recorded messages about peacebuilding and the three pillars of the Bougainville Peace Agreement. Callers were able to press 1 to hear information on peacebuilding, 2 for autonomy, 3 for the referendum and 4 for weapons disposal.

Each message was less than two minutes and recordings were updated weekly. This provided about an hour’s worth of audio information in total. The service was promoted through traditional media channels, but principally through an introductory, automated ‘robocall’ from the President of Bougainville. This was followed by subsequent weekly text messages announcing the availability of new recordings. 

The service was the first of its kind in PNG and was envisaged as a short pilot to identify the usefulness of the technology for public information dissemination in Bougainville. It was implemented by the Autonomous Bougainville Government with the support of the PNG, Australian and New Zealand governments, and operated by Digicel.

Research into the efficacy of the service was undertaken during its final two weeks, just prior to polling. Eight group interviews were conducted with local community leaders, women and youths in a mix of rural and urban settings across Bougainville.

Of the 42 people who participated in the group interviews, 37 owned mobile telephones at the time of the research. Many of the handsets were basic mobile telephones – suitable for text messaging and calls only – rather than smartphones. Many handsets had flat batteries on the day of the group interview – this indicates a technological challenge of daily life in Bougainville, which has consequences for mobile telephone initiatives.

While 79,285 calls were made to the hotline over the eight-week pilot, overall, the knowledge of the telephone hotline amongst research participants was generally low. The automated ‘robocall’ from the President announcing the service was not in fact received by most participants, and many did not consistently receive the weekly text message reminders. This indicated that the strategy fell short of its promise, which reduced uptake of the service.

As intended, some users gathered in groups to listen to the recordings. Also, the hotline had been used in places where people had no access to radio and very limited access to other forms of media. Participants generally thought the hotline should be continued in the post-referendum period but suggested increasing awareness of the service itself.

There was much discussion about the need to improve mobile network coverage, which participants said was weak and inconsistent, with no coverage in some villages. There were also requests for improvements to other communication mediums, particularly radio broadcasting. Despite these challenges, it was perceived that referendum awareness had been thorough. Most participants felt they and their fellow community members had sufficient knowledge about the referendum and were ready to vote. 

The research found no striking differences in the awareness or use of the service by age or gender. Differences were noticeable, however, between the three regions of Bougainville regarding access to mobile network coverage, as well as access to other information and communication mediums. For example, in South Bougainville, participants reported substantial challenges with the quality and reach of mobile network signals and said that they had almost no access to radio stations, newspapers or television.

As Hogeveen argues, there is a trend in the Pacific region towards ‘digital aid’ in which international donors utilise information and communication technologies. The Bougainville hotline is one such example. Chand contends that, given limited access to radio, textbooks and other information sources, the utilisation of digital technologies could allow delivery of basic services in Bougainville. For example, as part of their emergency response to COVID-19, both the PNG and Bougainville governments are operating free-call telephone information hotlines for their citizens. 

The design of the referendum hotline was in line with published guidelines for the strategic use of mobile telephones in PNG. For instance, that technology should be simple to use for people with low literacy, numeracy and technical skills. This hotline was relatively simple to use, providing a free-call number, with four options of audio messages to listen to.

 Even so, some research participants did not understand how to select the four options or that the messages changed each week. Careful consideration of ‘mobile telephone literacy’ is needed in the design and promotion of future innovative services.

Research participants commented that the free-call design was beneficial for them. Lack of mobile telephone credit is a huge barrier for people throughout PNG, due to both affordability and logistical challenges of locating a place or method to buy credit. 

So, what are the implications for the delivery of public information in Bougainville and elsewhere in the Pacific? 

Effective government-to-people communications are vital for an informed and engaged citizenry and are essential for the effective operation of democracy. For Bougainville, it could be argued that the post-referendum negotiation process now taking place between the Bougainville and national governments requires an even more intensive communications and community engagement effort. If there are broader lessons to be learnt, it is that an engaged and informed population, reached through a range of mediums, can make a positive contribution to the process. 

If there are to be future iterations of a telephone hotline in Bougainville or elsewhere, it must be but one tool in an multi-channel effort. The technology must be pre-tested and well promoted. Research participants also suggested leveraging the hotline for use in community-based, face-to-face activities.

Some asked if the audio files could be made available through other means, such as flash drives. Sharing of digital content by Bluetooth or local Wi-Fi hotspots does present another opportunity for those with suitable devices.

Mobile telephones, particularly when paired with other mediums, can play a role in delivering civic education and increasing community engagement throughout the Pacific. However, the design of future mobile telephone-led interventions may benefit from being realistic about the effective reach of current mobile telephone service and infrastructure. 

This bigger issue of large information ‘blackspots’ in Bougainville, due to poor access to mobile telephony, radio or other information channels, will continue to challenge government and development communicators alike. Mobile telephone users in Bougainville struggle with accessing continuous, reliable mobile network coverage and keeping their handset batteries charged – and they want radio coverage restored to pre-conflict standards. Both in Bougainville and elsewhere in PNG, there is a large gap between ideal and actual service delivery. 

——-

This article is based upon a paper published by the ANU Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) as part of its ‘Discussion paper’ series. The original paper can be found here. The research will also be presented in a webinar on 27 October 2020. 

Oct 20 2020

Bougainville News Alert : WEBINAR – Mobile telephones on for public messaging: Did the Bougainville referendum information hotline make a difference? @AdrianaAdri09 @ahawatson @GordonPeake @Jezzamiller

 

Last year, the people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville voted overwhelmingly to break away from Papua New Guinea in a non-binding referendum.

In the pre-referendum period, there was a strong focus on informing voters about the two referendum options (independence or greater autonomy) to enhance the credibility and legitimacy of the result and help maintain peace in a post-conflict setting.

This seminar will include brief presentations by the producers of a telephone information hotline that operated for eight weeks just before polling. The hotline was a national first in the application of a mobile telephone-based platform to deliver public information en masse.

 It allowed Bougainvilleans to ring a free-call number and hear pre-recorded messages about the referendum and the two other pillars of the Bougainville Peace Agreement – autonomy and weapons disposal.

The hotline was one element of a multi-media package of government information initiatives supported by Australia and New Zealand.

There will also be a presentation by the audience researcher who analysed the impact of the service.

The qualitative research findings, which were recently published as a part of the Discussion Paper Series of the Department of Pacific Affairs, assess the effectiveness of the telephone hotline in delivering government information directly to citizens. Recommendations will be made about whether such a service should continue.

NOTE: For our audience in Port Moresby and Bougainville, the event will be at 3PM and 4PM respectively (local times).

REGISTER HERE

Chair

Gordon Peake
Gordon Peake is a 2020-2021 Visitor with the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) at the Australian National University. He worked as an adviser to the Bougainville government 2016-2020.

Panellists

Amanda H.A. Watson
Amanda H.A. Watson is a Research Fellow with the Department of Pacific Affairs at Australian National University.

Jeremy Miller
Jeremy Miller is a strategic media and communications adviser with over 15 years of experience in Melanesia. He has worked with the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s Directorate of Media and Communication since 2014. In 2019 he was seconded to the Bougainville Referendum Commission to lead the media and voter communications campaign. Mr Miller’s position is supported by the Bougainville Partnership, a development partnership between the governments of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.

Adriana Schmidt
Adriana Schmidt is the Director of the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s Directorate of Media and Communication, the agency responsible for whole of government communications. The Directorate is under the Department of President and the Bougainville Executive Council.

Oct 18 2020

Bougainville News : ‘Deal with the disaster’: The girl from #Bougainville who grew up to take on a mining giant RTZ

“Panguna mine is often cast as the economic key to Bougainville’s potential independence, but young MP Theonila Matbob says her people, and their land, must come first ” 

by Leanne Jorari and Ben Doherty writing in the Guardian

For all of Theonila Roka Matbob’s three decades, the scar on her land that was once the world’s largest copper mine has cast a pall.

The Panguna mine in Bougainville, eastern Papua New Guinea, has not yielded a single ounce in her lifetime – forced shut the year before Matbob was born – but she grew up in the shadow of the violent civil war it provoked.

When she was just three years old, her father, John Roka, was murdered by the secessionist soldiers who had forced the mine to close. Spending years in a “care centre” run by the PNG defence force, she remembers a childhood dominated by an all-pervasive fear, where the sound of gunshots regularly rang out across the valley, where neighbours disappeared from their homes, their bodies later found slaughtered.

There is peace now, but memories remain, and “we live with the impacts of Panguna every day,” Matbob says.

“Our rivers are poisoned with copper, our homes get filled with dust from the tailings mounds, our kids get sick from the pollution.

“Every time it rains more waste washes into the rivers, causing flooding for villages further downstream. Some communities now have to spend two hours a day walking just to get clean drinking water because their nearby creeks are clogged up with mine waste.”

Panguna is quiet these days. The mining trucks lie rusting in Bougainville’s clammy heat; the massive pit carved into the middle of a mountain is inhabited by a handful alluvial miners, digging with hand tools for what gold remains; and the Kawerong-Jaba river delta downstream is flooded with bright blue toxic waters which poison the land and the people who live there.

And Matbob, the little girl who grew up in the shadow of the mine’s violence, is now a parliamentarian, determined to seek redress for her people.

Newly elected to the Bougainville parliament for the electorate of Ioro, which encompasses Panguna, Matbob has led a formal complaint filed with the Australian government against Rio Tinto for environmental and human rights violations caused by the mine.

The complaint, supported by more than 150 members of her electorate and by the Human Rights Law Centre, alleges that the massive volume of waste pollution left behind by the mine is putting communities’ lives and livelihoods at risk, poisoning their water, damaging their health, flooding their lands and sacred sites, and leaving them “in a deteriorating, increasingly dangerous situation”.

A toxic legacy

Panguna was an immensely profitable mine. Over 17 years it made more than $US2bn for the mine’s former owner and operator Rio Tinto, who pulled 550,000 tonnes of copper concentrate and 450,000 ounces of gold from the mine in its last year alone.

At one point, Panguna accounted for 45% of all of PNG’s exports, and 12% of its GDP.

But for those whose land it was, Panguna brought but a sliver of the wealth and development that was promised – less than 1% of profits – leaving behind a legacy only of division, violence, and environmental degradation.

In 1989, amid rising fury at the environmental damage and the inequitable division of the mine’s profits, customary landowners forced the mine closed, blowing up Panguna’s power lines and sabotaging operations.

The PNG government sent in troops against its own citizens to restart the foreign-owned mine – at the behest of Rio, it says – sparking a civil war that would rage for a decade. Along with a protracted military blockade, it led to the deaths of as many as 20,000 people.

Rio Tinto cut and run, and has never returned to the island, claiming it is unsafe, despite pleas from landowners to repair the vast and ongoing environmental damage.

“These are not problems we can fix with our bare hands,” Matbob says. “We urgently need Rio Tinto to do what’s right and deal with the disaster they have left behind.”

‘We expect a fair share’

A product of Bougainville’s matrilineal society, which bestows women with custodianship of land and community authority, Matbob speaks quietly but forcefully.

A teacher by profession, and mother of two, she studied at universities in Madang and Goroka before working as a social worker and running for parliament. She beat a field of 15 candidates, including several former revolutionary soldiers, and even her own brother.

But the parliament to which Matbob has been elected has another primary and overwhelming concern, though one intimately related: negotiating independence from Papua New Guinea.

Last year, the province voted 98% in favour of seceding from Port Moresby, and the new president, former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander Ishmael Toroama, has promised to deliver liberation.

Despite resistance from PNG’s government to losing its resource-rich eastern province, there is genuine expectation amongst Bougainvilleans that their decision to secede will be honoured.

Upe men line up to vote in the 2019 independence referendum in Teau, Bougainville. Photograph: Jeremy Miller/AP

But the argument allied to political independence in Bougainville is that it can only be achieved alongside economic autonomy.

To that end, the argument runs, re-opening Panguna is the surest, perhaps the only, way a small province of just 300,000 people can survive as an independent nation. On Bougainville, the issue of independence has become inextricably linked to that of resources, for which Panguna has become a grim synecdoche.

“Large-scale mining provides a route to fiscal self-reliance, but this strategy has risks,” a report by Dr Satish Chand for the National Research Institute of PNG found, arguing of Panguna, “the viability of this project, the… profitability of the mine, and the revenues generated for… government are all speculative”.

Deeply embedded in Bougainville’s political psyche is a belief in the transformative power of political and economic independence – most likely achieved through mining – to bring prosperity, development and stability after decades of turmoil and privation.

But those expectations may prove difficult to marry with reality: an independent Bougainville would likely face a revenue shortfall of tens of millions of dollars a year.

“The Autonomous Bougainville Government had, by 2016, reached just 6% of the distance to fiscal self-reliance,” Chand found.

Unquestionably there is money to be made on Bougainville: the potential profits to be pulled from Panguna alone have been valued at close to $60bn. But profits for whom?

New president Toroama, once a leader of the militancy that forced the mine to close, says any decision on its future lies with local landowners.

“Panguna mine will be a key target but we will not put all our eggs in one basket,” Toroama told Bougainville’s parliament last month in his maiden speech.

“We welcome foreign investment, because without outside funding and technologies, we may not be able to exploit our natural resources. But we expect a fair share of return and participation.”

As their elected representative, Matbob is more definitive. Her people must come first.

“Though there is a future for Panguna,” she tells the Guardian from her electorate, “… it will have to be shelved until the needs of my people are well addressed.”

Crowded with outsiders

Bougainville’s acute political uncertainty – poised, potentially, on the threshold of nationhood, with all of its attendant vulnerabilities – has brought ferocious renewed attention on Panguna.

An alphabet soup of foreign mining companies – at least four registered in Perth alone – have sought to carve up the province for future exploitation.

The jostling for position and favour with both the Bougainville and PNG governments has been sharp-elbowed, with accusatory press statements and missives to the stock exchange, even spilling into Australian courts.

Companies have variously accused others of corruption and bribing government officials, of being responsible for environmental vandalism or complicit in military atrocities.

And a Chinese delegation reported to have travelled to the province in 2018 was rumoured to have pledged $1bn to fund its transition to independence, accompanied by offers to invest in mining, tourism, and agriculture.

An allied, independent, and resource-rich Bougainville – in the middle of Melanesia and so soon after neighbouring Solomon Islands flipped to recognise Beijing over Taipei – would be of significant strategic value to China.

Even Rio, after years of claiming it could never return to Panguna, has recently indicated it is not entirely out of the picture, saying it was “ready to enter into discussions with communities”.

“We are aware of the deteriorating mining infrastructure at the site and surrounding areas, and acknowledge that there are environmental and human rights considerations.”

For a small island, Bougainville is, suddenly, very crowded.

Matbob understands the enthusiasm of outsiders to return to Bougainville. But for too long, she says, her people’s priorities were subsumed to those of foreign interests, and to profit.

“The Bougainville revolution… was founded on the protection of people, land, environment and culture,” she tells the Guardian.

“Though there is a future for Panguna… there are a lot of legacy issues attached to it. As the new member representing the Ioro people, I say it will have to be shelved until the needs of my people are well addressed.”