Aug 29 2022

Bougainville Environmental News Alert: Download: Early environmental report on Rio Tinto’s former Panguna mine highlights clear risks for communities

A new independent report reviewing satellite images and other historical data on Rio Tinto’s former Panguna mine has warned of serious risks to local communities posed by unstable mine infrastructure and flooding caused by the build-up of mine waste in the rivers.

The report, produced by global environmental firm Tetra Tech Coffey, is a preparatory desktop study on the mine, which will inform an environmental and human rights impact assessment of the mine due to commence later this year.

The report found that a levee at the junction of the Jaba and Kawerong rivers, constructed at the time of the mine’s operation, “is almost certain to collapse at some stage in the future” and that “structures and people that live on the floodplain downstream of the Jaba River would be directly impacted by flooding or landslide effect”. The report noted that “it is not yet possible to predict when the levee at the junction of the Kawerong and Jaba rivers may fail or how severe its failure may be due to limitations of current information.”

The report also warned that “the bed of the Jaba River has raised over time due to flooding and build-up of previously deposited tailings, such as at the lower Jaba River near Bato Bridge”. This “caused the Jaba River to change course in 2017 and start to flow into the Konaviru wetland and lower Kuneka Creek, changing their flooding patterns and depositing tailings into them.” The report noted that “this change of flow into Konaviru wetland is likely to remain and become the focus of further tailings deposition in the future”, posing future flooding risks for people living in the area. However, “it is not yet possible to predict when this will happen and whether the change will be permanent”.

Due to the urgent nature of these two risks, a rapid risk assessment by Tetra Tech Coffey, including on-ground inspection to verify the report’s findings, is due to commence in the coming weeks. The process has been escalated outside of the formal impact assessment and is being led by the Autonomous Bougainville Government, with the support of Rio Tinto and the Human Rights Law Centre.

The other issues identified in the report, including risks posed by old mine infrastructure and pollution of local rivers and water sources, will be examined by the formal impact assessment, starting later in the year.

Last year, Rio Tinto committed to fund the impact assessment following a human rights complaint brought by 156 local community members, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre. Rio Tinto has not yet committed to funding solutions to any mine-related risks or impacts identified through the impact assessment.

The Tetra Tech Coffey report was released by the Panguna Mine Legacy Oversight Committee – a multi-stakeholder Committee comprising community members, landowners, government representatives, and representatives from the Human Rights Law Centre, Rio Tinto and Bougainville Copper Limited.

Traditional landowner and lead complainant in the human rights complaint, Theonila Roka Matbob, who is also the member of parliament for the area where the mine is located said:

“We welcome Rio Tinto’s commitment to investigating these problems and to supporting the Bougainville Government to escalate the serious levee risk and lower Kuneka Creek flooding risk for urgent investigation.

“This early report shows the world just some of what we live with every day. Every day we worry about levees collapsing on us, about rivers full of mine waste flooding our land and villages and about whether the water we drink and wash with is making us sick.

“We appreciate Rio’s message at the launch of the Secretariat’s office that it is committed to the Impact Assessment process. It is critical that Rio Tinto also commits to supporting the implementation of solutions to the huge problems we face.”

Keren Adams, Acting Co-CEO at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:

“This report reinforces the devastating environmental legacy of the Panguna mine and the dangerous, volatile situation that this has left local communities living in. When we visited these communities, we saw first-hand the devastating effects of mine-waste mud flows on communities’ water sources & fishing areas. We spoke to people who live downstream of the collapsing levees and fear their houses could be swept away.

“Over the coming weeks, we will be working with communities, the ABG, Rio Tinto and the Tetra Tech Coffey team to ensure that the acute levee and flooding risks are urgently assessed. We hope this will help give communities a better understanding of the risks they are living with and to identify options for addressing these serious risks to peoples’ lives and livelihoods.”

Background:

In September 2020, 156 residents from villages downstream of the Panguna mine, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre, filed a complaint against Rio Tinto with the Australian National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The complaint was about the environmental impacts of the mine and the effects these have on the lives of people living near and downstream of the mine from things like pollution of rivers, lack of access to clean water, flooding and land destruction, collapsing levees, food shortages, disease and illness.

In 2021, Rio Tinto publicly committed to fund an independent environmental and human rights impact assessment of the mine. The company has not yet committed to fund the clean-up and remediation of affected areas and communities.

A tender process is currently underway to select an independent company of environmental, social and human rights experts to carry out Phase 1 of the Impact Assessment, which is expected to start by the end of the year and run for around 18 months.

Following the impact assessment, further discussions will be held between the company, community representatives and other stakeholders regarding the assessment’s recommendations and next steps.

The Tetra Tech report is available here.

For further background on the impacts of the mine, see the Human Rights Law Centre’s After the Mine report.

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.

Mar 1 2017

Bougainville Mining News : BCL proposes a re-opening mine start up by 2020

” Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), under a new regime, is keen on re-opening the Panguna mine with promises of more equitable sharing of wealth with landowners and the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

Company chairman Robert Burns was in Buka last week and met with Bougainville cabinet ministers and landowner groups to put forward BCL’s proposals for start-up by year 2020.”

Panguna talks re-open Source: Post Courier
Date: March 01,2017, 01:39 am BY SEBASTIAN HAKALITS Image Axel Mosi

According to BCL’s proposals on full operations from 2020 and beyond, it will inject US$350 million (K1 billion) a year to the Bougainville Government.

BCL has projected to pay about US$25 million (about K70 million a year) to the nine landowner associations to distribute among themselves.

The details of the BCL forward plans for Panguna were made at a presentation by the company recently.

BCL operated the Panguna mine for 18 years as a subsidiary company of Rio Tinto until it was shut down by the infamous Bougainville crisis from 1988 to 1999.

But the company was under a new regime after Rio Tinto left and during the process, off-loaded its majority of 53 per cent shares, of which a majority of 36 per cent belongs to Bougainvilleans, to the ABG.

The National Government owns 19 per cent, Panguna landowners 17 per cent and the rest other shareholders in Europe.

Mr Burns said in his presentation that BCL would engage with the ABG and landowners to fast-track and remove the impending issues to “create something very special for Bougainville”.

He said the company was ready and very much interested and committed to access Panguna and carry out the activities of feasibility and environmental studies before re-developing the mine. But he insisted that the ABG must support the company in its endeavours to remove any impediments so that it can have easy access to the Panguna mine area.

Article 2

Source: Post Courier
Date: March 01,2017, 01:39 am…

BY SEBASTIAN HAKALITS

BOUGAINVILLE Minister for Minerals and Energy Resources Robin Wilson says Panguna mine is the single largest project that can move Bougainville forward.

Mr Wilson said it would ease financial hardships for landowners of Panguna and Bougainville, therefore, it was in their interest to re-open the mine. He was speaking during the presentation by Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) of its future plans for Panguna mine. Mr Wilson urged the landowners re-open, adding. “you have the veto power and whatever decision you make must be for the good of the whole of Bougainville”.

“Let’s have one voice and move forward,” Mr Wilson said at the BCL presentation that was later graced with the initial payment of K5 million to two landowner associations in outstanding 1989 to 1990 compensation payments.

The other seven groups will be paid after completing the compiling and verifying names of families. They will be

Comments

Peter Quodling

With all due respect to the original author Article 1 above

there is a glaring technical inaccuracy in this.

Firstly, There was no “new Regime” at RIO that saw it divest it’s sharing holding.

Secondly, it didn’t “offload” them, it gifted them equally between GovPNG and ABG. and 36% is not a majority.

Thirdly the statement “The National Government owns 19 per cent, Panguna landowners 17 per cent and the rest other shareholders in Europe.” is wrong – the national government no longer owns just the 19% it was originally gifted, It now owns 36.4% of the BCL Shareholding, exactly the same as the ABG.

Fourthly, The Panguna Landowners do not own 17% at all (there might be some residual token individual shareholdings),

Fifthly. “the rest other shareholders in Europe” – well, that is just as wrong – while there are some vocal European shareholders that made some speculative investments in BCL stock, they certainly do not comprise the “rest” in fact, in the top 20 shareholders (a matter of public record) the lion’s share are institutional investors (JP Morgan, Citicorp, HSBC, ABN-AMRO), with the only significant European holding being a german chap, with a shareholding of about 1.1M shares (or 0.29% of the total)

There are issues in relation to the ownership/equity and operation of mining operations that could be structured to give the people (and government) of bougainville significant leverage moving forward in this. I have offered (through channels) to consult to Pres Momis on this, but he chooses to ignore.

Feb 25 2015

Bougainville Development : New K8.25 Million roadwork’s Buka to Arawa -the economic and social lifeblood of this island

“Transport infrastructure is fundamental to the ongoing social and economic development of Bougainville and we are delighted to be able to fund these works and partner with ABG to improve the safety and reliability of the road network

Australian High Commissioner, Ms Deborah Stokes said she was proud to be able to support this project.

Work has now begun on six kilometres of resealing works to support the essential road link between Arawa and the capital Buka. The project is funded by the Government of Australia.

This project falls under the Papua New Guinea – Australia Transport Sector Support Program and is part of Australia’s long term commitment to transport infrastructure in Papua New Guinea. Maintaining sections of the network such as this stretch is a vital part of keeping the road reliable, in good condition and reducing the lifetime cost of the road.

ABG’s Chief Secretary, Monovi Amani, was quick to highlight the impact that a well maintained road network has on the people of Bougainville. “The road between Kokopau and Arawa is the economic and social lifeblood of this island. Maintaining a reliable and safe road means a better chance for businesses and for our citizens to access crucial services.”

The K8.25m project will ensure that small businesses like the Rising Sun guest house in Arawa will be able to reduce operational costs with a well maintained road. “My business relies on the road to bring guests and goods to town. The condition of the road has a direct impact on my running costs; regular new tyres and vehicle maintenance can be very costly.” said owner Betha Lorenz.

The works contract has been awarded to local company Dekenai who have considerable experience working in this part of Bougainville and provide major employment opportunities for local workers. Resealing is expected to be completed by April of this year.

The resealing will start at the entrance to Panguna at Morgan Junction, providing two sealed PMV laybys next to the market area, and finish at the Tunuru turnoff. Australian High Commissioner, HE Ms Deborah Stokes was proud to be able to support this project. “Transport infrastructure is fundamental to the ongoing social and economic development of Bougainville and we are delighted to be able to fund these works and partner with ABG to improve the safety and reliability of the road network

Feb 22 2015

Bougainville Development News: Implementation of High Impact Projects accelerates in 2015:

“The year 2015 will be an exciting year for Bougainville as more projects will be implemented throughout the Region as restoration and rebuilding continues”

Implementation of High Impact Projects in Bougainville accelerates in 2015:

The high impact projects funded by the Special Intervention Fund (SIF) as a conditional grant to Bougainville continues to gain momentum as the year 2015 begins.

Despite criticisms from different people with different reasons, the Joint Programme Management Unit together with the ABG Department of Technical Services and other relevant implementing agencies were able to mobilise projects after the firs…t K100million was released by the National Government in April 2014.

In just eight (8) months (April-December 2014), Twenty one (21) projects out of twenty seven (27) projects to be funded under the SIF for 2013 and 2014 were mobilised in preparations for implementation and some were already in the implementation stages.

These projects included the Aropa Airport Redevelopment Project which was completed on record time of two (2) months twenty (20) days and was officially opened by the Prime Minister Hon Peter Oniel and the ABG President Chief Dr John L Momis. The airport is now operational and taking in 3 flights a week .

The other projects which are currently being implemented are the Buka Ring Road Sealing (first 20kms from Malasang to Malis) , the Buka Town Sealing ( all the streets within the town area),

the NBC Upgrade project which is will see the NBC Coverage extended throughout the whole of Bougainville by April 2015,

The bridges along the West Coast of Bougainville (Nagam, Shuun, Dirty Wara) to be built by POGE Limited, Also the realignment of the Road in South West Bougainville.

The Arawa Town Road sealing will also commence in March 2015 and so it will be co-funded funded by SIF and DFAT through thier Transport Sector Support Program (TSSP). The same arrangement will be done for the Buin Town Roads which will also be upgraded and sealed this year. The outcome would be to have all three township ( BUKA, ARAWA, BUIN) roads upgraded and sealed.

The Kokopau to Buin Raod Sealing project is being divided into different sections. The sections include, Kokopau to Siara , Siara to Arawa, Arawa to Kieta , Kieta to Toimanapu, and Toimanapu to Buin. Implementation for sections from Kieta to Buin will be done in two sections…the first ones from Kieta to Toimanapu and the next section will start from Buin coming back to Toimanapu. Contracts for these two very high impact project estimated to be awarded soon.

The other programmes that have projects being implemented are the Bougainville Economic Feeder Roads Programme which already has 10 feeder projects awarded and are being implemented , and by the end of these month 4 more feeder roads around Bougainville will be awarded.

The year 2015 will be an exciting year for Bougainville as more projects will be implemented throughout the Region as restoration and rebuilding continues.

Guava Access Road in Panguna rehabilitated after 24 years:

The Guava Access Road in Panguna , Central Bougainville is being upgraded for the first time after 24… years. The access road leads to Guava Village in the Mountain Ranges of Panguna which provides access for the people around those areas.

Villagers along that mountain range use the access road to transport thier cargos up to thier villages on foot for many hours. The project is under the Bougainville Economic Feeder Roads Programme funded by the Special Intervention Fund.

The contract was awarded to Nairobi Constructions, local company from the area. The rehabilitation of the Guava Access Road is a big relief to the Mothers and Children who most of the times carry thier cargos on and travel by foot back to the Mountains around the Guava Area.

Edwin Moses ,who is from the area and also the Managing Director of Nairobi Constructions thanked the Autonomous Bougainville Government and GoPNG for funding through the SIF and said that the project is all about “confidence building ” to the people from Panguna, especially the Guava Area.

And in other news

COE’S GET TRANSPORT ASSISTANCE
By Aloysius Laukai

The ABG is strengthening its local level governments with transport support starting this year.
And today three TOYOTA LANDCRUISERs and several Boats were presented to the COE’s throughout Bougainville.…
Last week the KONNOU COE was presented a Toyota Open back to the chairman, ALOYSIUS MASIU to carry out peace building activities within the COE which is the biggest constituency on Bougainville.

AND today three TOYOTA land cruisers and boats were presented by the Bougainville administration. New Dawn FM understands this is the first time COE’s have been given vehicles and Boats to assist with their transport problems. During the Bougainville Provincial Government days all Community Governments had their own vehicles to carry out their work.

Dec 8 2014

Bougainville Good News Story: What Rorovana has done is a good example of community engagement and equal participation.

The road that locals have maintained. Picture: The locals who took part in the maintenance initiative.

By Ishmael Palipal

THE Rorovana community in Torau has teamed up with its leaders to maintain their only access road from Arawa to the two villages.

According to their supervisor Raphael Moses, the road maintenance initiative started the previous week and is expected to be completed this week.

The work, organised by the council of elders (COE), was to involve the community and the youths to create a means of income for the unemployed.

This means that the funds allocated for the maintenance work by Central Bougainville MP Jimmy Miringtoro – about K200,000 – will be used to pay the locals who volunteered to do the work.

Mr Moses said at this time of the year, seas are rough and the locals, most of whom depend on the catch and sale of fish to earn an income, must resort to other means. He said the road maintenance initiative is one such avenue.

The council and leaders have decided that the money set aside for the road maintenance can be utilised by using the community to do the maintenance, which involves work such as bush and grass cutting, clearing, digging proper drainage system, patching and levelling portholes and muddy areas along the road.

“We see that most times when we hire contractors, they only work for the money and they do not do the roads properly; that’s why we decided to involve the community so that when they are working, they can at the same time take ownership of what they are doing and do it properly since it is the gate way to other services,” said Mr Moses.

“Also we engaged the unfortunate ones such as youths to earn an income.” Another local, Nathan Birio, said road infrastructure is an important service because through that other services will reach the people.

He said the government should look into this more closely and what the people of Rorovana have done is a good example of community engagement and equal participation. About 180 people volunteered to work on the road, including men, women and youths.

The volunteers were happy to give their service through the road maintenance initiative and urged the government to adopt such community-engagement initiatives throughout Bougainville so that the people can take ownership of government facilities and services in their areas. They said the communities will also stand to benefit from such partnerships

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You can support another community based project for education HERE

Dec 4 2014

Bougainville “good news” Story: 2014 has been a very progressive year for Central Bougainville

The current government’s free education policy has seen increase in the number enrolments at schools around Central Bougainville. Numbers of schools are also on the increase and this means that more money must continue to put into education every year. Bougainville has missed out on education during the crisis and we have to bridge the gap created when children could not go to school during the troubled period.

What we need is a broader based economy instead of just relying on extractive industries that may run out one day. One of the biggest assets Bougainville has is its people who are creative and innovative. This is why there must be emphasis in putting a lot of money into education.

Picture above : A new classroom building funded by member for Central Bougainville, Jimmy Miringtoro at Raiovi Primary School Wakunai District, Our thanks to Chris Baria for assistance with this article

Good things ahead-On the Sunny Side

This year 2014 has been a very progressive year for Central Bougainville. The region started the year on a positive note with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O’Neill visiting all three regions of Bougainville including Central. During his visit he made a commitment to the people of Bougainville to fund high impact projects, several of which are in Central Bougainville.

These are the water and sanitation restoration for Arawa Town, the Aropa Airport re-opening and the other major project is of course the sealing of Bougainville Coastal Trunk from Buka to Buin.

This is a clear indication of commitment that the National Government with the support our four Bougainville MPs has a strong desire to see the Autonomous Region of Bougainville prosper in the coming years.

We have come a long way since the peace agreement was signed and there is a lot to be done as yet for Bougainville to achieve what was agreed to in the peace process. In Central Bougainville we have devoted a lot of time and money in improving education by providing more classrooms to accommodate ever increasing number enrolments in schools in the bid to bridge the gap left by the Bougainville crisis.

Education is one of the priority sectors that the government is putting money into along with Health, Infrastructure Development, Law and Order and Business Development. Health centers and aid-posts are also receiving funds from my electoral office. The police in Arawa have benefited from a vehicle allocation from the office of Member for Central as part of his community efforts to enhance the law and order sector. Funding has also been made available to the local Business Association as a form of assistance to grow small businesses in Central Bougainville.

Rural Communications Project and Integrated Government Information System (IGIS)

The government has already rolled out a rural communications project. You many have noticed new towers set up in areas that were not formerly serviced by mobile phone network. By the end of 2015 the government hopes that Bougainville will have more than 50% mobile network coverage that will include data, Internet and telephony. By 2016 Bougainville should have 100% mobile network coverage including remote and rural locations, which are not service by roads.

The main aim of the Rural Communications Project is to provide access to telecommunications and other ICT services including TV, internet, FM Radio and Data storage and transmission to rural and remote locations that lack these services.

The government has also established the “integrated government information system” or IGIS for short. This is the forerunner of e-government for Papua New Guinea. Under this ICT infrastructure all government departments and divisions will be interlinked through a computer network, which also has a data bank. This will prevent duplication and enable data and information sharing with ease.

Information can be stored at central location where those who need it and/or if they require it. The Rural Communication Project roll out will establish communication network that will become integrated into IGIS and link up all local level governments with the main government network and data center. This will mean that leaders will have to be more transparent in their work because the people will be able to monitor their performance online through IGIS.

Supporting sustainable development

Papua New Guinea is heavily reliant on logging, minerals, oil and gas for its revenue generation. These industries while they may bring economic boom to a country do have large problems associated with them and for one thing they are non-renewable, and finite and therefore unsustainable. Central Bougainville has had its taste of mining activity during the 70s and 80s.

Kindles a revolutionary literacy tool in Bougainville schools

In another first for Central Bougainville and in fact Papua New Guinea,James Tanis (former Bougainville President) has established Book-Gain-Ville E reader Revolution in a number of schools in Central Bougainville including Nariana, St. Judes Pok Pok Island, Dareenai Kavearonau and Piruana .

It was launched as an initiative to improve literacy throughout Bougainville.

Each Kindle can hold up to 1,400 books and by the end of 2014 there will over 50 kindles in 11 Bougainville schools. To date there has been no government support but hopefully in 2015 with the support of Government and NGO’s more schools can get these E reader libraries

See Website for more details or make a donation http://www.bookgainville.com/

Government Development Priorities

As part of its continuing commitment the National Government development policy covers five development sectors, which are in, line with its Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP). These are also applicable to Bougainville. These sectors are Health, Education, Infrastructure, Law and Order and Small Business. In line with this plan Bougainville MPs have funded a number of health facilities. In Central this includes Manetai and Wakunai Health Centres and a number of village level aid posts in the rural communities.

In the health sector, the office of MP for in Central has also funded ambulances to all major health centres in Central Bougainville. More money has been spent on building classrooms and other school infrastructure to cater for the increase in the number of enrolments over the years.

With regard to infrastructure, considerable amount of money is being used on feeder road maintenance including, for the first time a new road into remote and densely populated area in Paruparu previously inaccessible by road. A considerable level of funds has also allocated to restoration of Aropa Airport, which is about to be opened soon. PNG Power also received funding to provide power to Arawa town, Kieta port and to the new Kieta Distict entre in Toniva. Up to K1million has been committed to the Central Bougainville Business Association to assist small business in the region.

Looking ahead

Children are our future

Lot of work has been done to provide much needed infrastructure such as roads, schools, and of course the soon be reopened Aropa Airport. Services such as health and education continue to more draw more funds from the government through my electoral office and the treasury.

A lot more needs to be done to improve current services and to build more roads and schools. The government is ready to help out in anyway it can. However, there are certain areas where the community can contribute to the development process. For example, in order for feeder roads to last longer, drains need to kept clear of debris and grass has to be cut along the roadside. A little preventive maintenance can make a lot of difference.

Same goes for schools. Parents and community must devote sometime to do maintenance work, cleaning and grass-cutting in the school areas. The community must help to look after what the government has provided for them. The government cannot be expected to do everything. In order for us to move ahead it requires joint effort by all.

Nov 28 2014

Bougainville Development Good News: KIETA/AROPA airport set to open

AROPA AIRPORT SET TO OPEN ON DECEMBER 12 2014.

Update: With first commercial flights due on December 26

The Phase 1 of the Aropa Airport redevelopment project is nearing its completion as final touches are being put on the terminal , the runway and also general clearing of the airport surroundings.

The Runway has been sealed all the way from the Southern end of the airport to the Northern end. The Contractor (Dekenai) was still doing some rolling this week near end of the runway. Sweeping of the loose aggregates will be completed by this week.

The Runway markings are yet to be done and this will be done after sealing of both taxiway and tarmac area. The runway edges have been cleaned up so well is giving clearly visibility from both sides of the airport.

The old tarmac has been swept and ready to be sealed. Until the sealing is done, markings will wait until completion of sealing and associated works. Drainage works have been completed with former small island within Tarmac being filled by Contractor and will be sealed along with the whole tarmac. It is anticipated that the sealing of both taxiway and tarmac to be completed by end of this week, weather permitting.

The terminal is 95% complete with minor tidying up to do especially VIP lounge within the Arrival Hall. The Departure Lounge is ready for use by Airlines using 3 check in counters. Two Standby Powers Generators are already installed and in place, ready for official opening.

The Terminal Carpark is bieng tidied up and will be completed by end of November. The Public Toilet for Male/Female has been complete and ready for use at end of Terminal Carpark. The Airport Safety Officers( ASO) residence plus the combination of Tractor Shed/workshop is ready for use. A Tractor (New Holland) with slasher attached is already in place.

Last week a team from NAC and a team from CASA PNG were in Aropa as part of the Certification Process. They were in Bougainville to check and ensure basic and minimum safety requirements are being considered during construction, to check and see how far the Project has progressed and or how long more before official date (Tentative Friday 12th December 2014) and also to check on Operational Requirements immediately after the Construction (Personnel, Security etc.)

The Organising Committee( NAC/ABG) for the opening ceremony , have already put plans in place and will further consult frequently to make the day a historic and memorable day for the whole of Bougainville.

For Bougainville Tourism information : Government Website

For Bougainville Tour Bookings Bougainville Experience Tours

Nov 5 2014

Bougainville News: Six tonnes of unexploded munitions cleared from a World War II Bougainville battle site

Australian soldiers have cleared more than six tonnes of unexploded hand grenades and mortars from a World War II battle site on the island of Bougainville, east of Papua New Guinea.

Watch the Australian Department of Defence VIDEO Here

The huge haul of munitions came in just the first week of Operation Render Safe 2014.

Report from Liam Cochrane ABC network Australia

Photo from the Australian High Commission PNG

The Australian-led international mission is clearing potentially deadly munitions from the villages and food gardens around Torokina, on the west coast of Bougainville.

The Australian Army said the sheer amount of rusty old munitions surprised even seasoned explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts.

“They are mostly two-inch-high explosive mortars and hand grenades, in varying conditions, left in place after the war,” EOD operator Warrant Officer Class Two David Austin said.

An Allied air base was built at Torokina by the US in 1943 and was the launching place for Australian ground attacks against the Japanese in 1944-1945.

More than 500 Australians died and 1,500 were injured in the Bougainville campaign.

Seventy years later, the Australian army has returned to clean up the deadly remnants of war.

More than 500 Australian military personnel are involved in Operation Render Safe 2014, with support from HMAS Choules, an MRH90 helicopter, landing craft and amphibious vehicles.

With little infrastructure at Torokina, soldiers have landed vehicles on the beach and trekked into the jungle to look for unexploded ordinance.

Despite five months of awareness-building activities, there were criticisms of the munitions clearance by some former combatants in the more recent conflict on Bougainville.

Australia’s role on Bougainville is still a sensitive issue due to the civil war in the 1990s, sparked by disputes over the Panguna mine, operated by Rio Tinto subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited.

“Former combatants have said that this operation is a breach of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, but I had explained to them that the operation… enhances the peace that the people of Torokina want,” said Patrick Nisira, vice-president of the autonomous government of Bougainville.

Local police help soldiers locate storage pits

Australian army personnel said the reception on the ground had been friendly.

“The people of Bougainville have been most welcoming and we have been working very closely with them to identify explosive remnants of war which pose a threat to local communities,” operation commander Captain Jay Bannister said.

Members of the Bougainville Police Service and locals have helped soldiers locate the munitions storage pits, with assistance from explosives experts from the US, UK, Canada, News Zealand and Solomon Islands.

“As well as helping the community, this is a great training opportunity for the younger EOD guys,” Mr Austin said.

“For the past 10 years we have been focused on the Middle East region but this gets us back to the grass roots fundamentals of our job.”

The mortars and hand grenades were stacked in pits and destroyed by a controlled blast.

Operation Render Safe 2014 will end on 8 November.

Previous Operation Render Safe missions have removed unexploded ordnance from Solomon Islands and Rabaul in Papua New Guinea.

Nov 2 2014

Bougainville News : A lost decade? Service delivery and reforms in Papua New Guinea

“The positive results revealed by the survey not only show that progress in service delivery is possible in Papua New Guinea, but also show how progress can be made. A large chunk of the report is devoted to understanding the impact (or lack of impact) of recent reforms, such as free health and education, and the reasons for the differences and trends that we observe.”

The full report, a summary, and a two-page overview are available here.

A report based on two surveys ten years apart and two years of analysis has been by a team of researchers from the National Research Institute (NRI) and The Australian National University (ANU).

In 2002, the Papua New Guinea National Research Institute (NRI), in collaboration with the World Bank, surveyed some 330 primary schools and health clinics across the country, from the national capital to the most remote districts. In 2012, NRI, this time in collaboration with the Development Policy Centre at ANU, went back to many of the same primary schools and health clinics in the same eight provinces, this time surveying a total of about 360 facilities.

The end-product is a data set of unprecedented detail and depth in relation to service delivery in PNG. Indeed, very few countries around the world can boast of a panel survey of facilities of this type which enables comparisons to be made over time.

The NRI-ANU research team has spent the last two years analysing the data sets, and today released their results at the report launch at the NRI campus in Port Moresby.

The report, A lost decade? Service delivery and reforms in Papua New Guinea, shows that PNG’s primary schools have expanded rapidly over the last decade, but that fewer services are now provided by its health clinics.

Since the difficulties of service delivery in PNG are already well-known, what is perhaps more interesting are the areas of progress shown in the report. There were 89 per cent more children enrolled in the average PNG primary school in 2012 compared to 2001. Whereas there used to be one girl at primary school for every two boys, now there is almost one girl for every boy. The number of teachers has grown by a third over the decade, and the share of female teachers has grown from a quarter to a half. The number of ghost teachers (teachers claiming pay but not actually working) has fallen dramatically. The average school has more and better classrooms, teacher houses and textbooks. More have drinking water and electricity.

Of course, PNG’s primary schools and – to a much greater extent – health clinics still face many challenges. A third of classrooms require rebuilding: the same share as in 2002. Class sizes have increased a lot, and there are broader concerns about the quality of education on offer. Though the number of children in school has certainly increased, absenteeism has risen.

Nevertheless, the positive results revealed by the survey not only show that progress in service delivery is possible in Papua New Guinea, but also show how progress can be made. A large chunk of the report is devoted to understanding the impact (or lack of impact) of recent reforms, such as free health and education, and the reasons for the differences and trends that we observe.

Getting finances to the service delivery front-line stands out as critical. A lot more funds are reaching schools today than health clinics. About 40 per cent of health clinics receive no external support at all (in cash or in kind), whereas nearly all schools receive the twice-yearly subsidy payments. And schools receive more than twice as much funding than they did ten years ago, even after inflation. What they have lost in school fees they have more than made up for through generous government support.

Local governance and supervision also matter. Schools have mature and increasingly powerful Boards of Management which provide local oversight. They receive community support through P&C Committees. And most schools are inspected.

Resolving workforce issues is also key. The Education Department has been able to hire new teachers, whereas many retired health workers continue in place since there is no-one to replace them. Significantly, about half the health workers we interviewed felt they were not being paid at the correct grade. That was true of teachers ten years ago, but now it is only 10 per cent. Again, progress is possible.

In summary, getting funding to the front line, providing community and administrative oversight, and sorting out human resource problems seems to be the secret for the success of PNG’s primary schools. It is a recipe that could be applied more to primary health care, perhaps starting at the bigger district-level facilities.

Regular monitoring of basic data across PNG is critical for understanding what is working, what isn’t working, and why. Without it, we will be in the dark about service delivery. We look forward to the discussion that we hope our report will generate. In our next phase of research, we’ll be going back into the field to undertake more detailed case studies to better understand the conditions required for service delivery success. And perhaps in another five years or so we’ll be able to further develop this unique data set by undertaking another nationwide facility survey.

Professor Stephen Howes is Director of the Development Policy Centre. Andrew Anton Mako was a Research Fellow at NRI for most of the duration of this project. Dr Grant Walton and Dr Anthony Swan are Research Fellows at the Development Policy Centre. Dr Thomas Webster is the Director of the National Research Institute. Colin Wiltshire is the Project Manager for the PEPE project at the Development Policy Centre.

The NRI-ANU PNG Promoting Effective Public Expenditure (PEPE) project aims to understand how Papua New Guinea allocates its public funds and how these funds are provided to and used by those responsible for delivering basic services. PEPE is supported by the Australian aid program through the Economic and Public Sector Program (EPSP).

The full report, a summary, and a two-page overview are available here.

Our previous blog posts on PEPE research are collected here.

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