Jan 15 2015

Bougainville Mining News: Does Bougainville mining law open doors to corporate predators

Picture: Renzie Duncan is a mining executive who has run companies like Zues Minerals

This week Papua New Guinea Mine Watch (PNGMW) published an article questioning the motives of Adam Smith International, the company contracted by the World Bank to draft Bougainville’s new mining law (available here). According to PNGMW Adam Smith International (ASI) works for big business interests, and has harmed indigenous communities across Africa and Asia.

PNGMW claimed ASI’s friends like Renzie Duncan in the corporate world were delighted by the new Mining law pointing to his recent post this week in the popular Bougainville Forum on Facebook ,where he expressed his delight at ASI’s handiwork.

At no stage does he declare his past or current involvement in Bougainville mining (see New Dawn article below)

Renzie Duncan is a mining executive who has run companies like Zues Minerals, a miner which PNGMW understands has been used by the Chinese government to obtain access to mineral deposits in the Pacific region

Renzie Duncan activities on Bougainville came to light back in June 2014 in a NEW Dawn Report

ME’EKAMUI’S MIRIORI CHALLENGED TO BE HONEST ABOUT MINING

President of Bougainville, Chief John L. Momis, has challenged “Me’ekamui Government’s” Philip Miriori to be honest about Bougainville mining issues. He was responding to a statement saying discussions about mining can happen only after the referendum on independence, and calling for Australian advisers to “go home”.

President Momis said:

“It’s amusing to see Mr Miriori say mining can happen only after the referendum. For it’s widely known in Bougainville just how deeply involved Miriori is already involved in mining. It was he who worked closely with the Americans involved in Tall J Foundation Ltd.

That company tried to do industrial mining of gold on the tailings on the Jaba River. But the people chased them away. Then a Chinese investor in Tall J. tried to get his lost money back by bringing in Chinese to gather and sell scrap metal from Panguna.

Then there is the Australian, Ian Renzie Duncan, at different times involved with Australian mining companies Zeus Resources and Transpacific Ventures.

It was he who wrote Mr Miriori’s speech delivered when Prime Minister O’Neill visited Panguna. It’s widely talked about in central Bougainville that Miriori is investing with Mr. Duncan, and that Duncan is taking alluvial gold supplied by Miriori.

“These are just a few of the mining interests that Mr. Miriori is involved in. It’s these and other mining interests that have take him off so regularly to meetings in Cairns, Brisbane, Perth, Singapore, and other business tourist destinations.

Everyone around Panguna knows one thing for sure: no other Me’ekamui President has done more foreign travel than Miriori!

“But with all his deep involvement in mining already, how can he talk about decisions on mining waiting until after the referendum? I challenge him to be honest about his long history of mining interests.

“I also challenge him to be equally honest about foreign advisers. He says Australian funded advisers are not welcome. But these advisers have all been requested by the ABG to help us fill in gaps and weaknesses in the Administration.

Although Australian funded, many are not Australian. They include Bougainvilleans.

Until recently our legislative drafting adviser was from Vanuatu. Our Policy Adviser was from Bermuda – all paid for By Australia.

“For the ABG, the two most important things about our advisers are these.

First, we only have them when we have a gap we cannot fill with a Bougainvillean.

Second, they must follow the directions of the Bougainville Government. I am absolutely confident that they do that. They do not control the ABG.

They are not here to make money for foreign companies. “I challenge Mr. Miriori to tell us about his foreign advisers, and what they are doing to make money for foreign interests. They included two Americans with the Tall J Foundation, Stewart Sytner and Thomas Megas.

There are documents freely available on the Internet that show they claim that Mr. Miriori sold them mining rights in areas to the north of the Panguna Special Mining Lease. I challenge him to tell us is what Sytner and Megas claim is true.

What about the other investors in Tall J? What advice did they give to Miriori? What about the Tall J investor who brought in the Chinese scrap metal dealers? What advice did he give?

What about the advice that Mr. Ian Renzie Duncan gives? “Mr. Miriori is not being honest about the future of mining. His hands are not clean in relation to mining. “Mr. Miriori is not being honest about foreign advisers. Again his hands are not clean. “I challenge him to be honest on these matters. I challenge him to enter these debates only when he has clean hands.

Jan 14 2015

Bougainville Education News : Can Innovative SMS stories improve English literacy in Bougainville ?

With Bougainville leading the way in the use of digital technology to improve literacy though the use of Bookgainville Kindles currently being introduced to 15 Bougainville schools in 2015 by James Tanis and Simon Pentanu, its time we investigated other cost efficient technologies such as daily mobile phone text message stories that could improve English teaching and ultimately, children’s reading.

Given the many great challenges facing Bougainville’s education sector, its low current capacity to meet these challenges,
and the fact that ‘business as usual’ is not working, while at the same time Kindle and mobile phone use has been growing rapidly across society, might ICTs, and specifically kindles and mobile phones, offer new opportunities to help meet many long-standing, ‘conventional’ education needs

We welcome your comments and support

SEE Bougainville leads the way Previous article

Picture above leaders of the education revolution promoting Bookgainville Internationally to attract donations

From 500ways Education News

The majority of primary school children in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are unable to read English, a fact that’s exacerbated by limited access to literacy resources in schools across the country. In partnership with the PNG Department of Education, VSO successfully trialled a programme to see if daily mobile phone text message stories could improve English teaching and ultimately, children’s reading. Read about the programme’s success below.

Tackling literacy levels with technology

Like many schools in Papua New Guinea, Bunamgl School has virtually no access to reading materials, making teaching and learning English an enormous challenge. It is among several rural primary schools in the coastal region of Madang which took part in a research project to see whether sending daily stories to teachers via daily text messages could help improve children’s reading. Over a period of 100 days, a daily lesson plan and short story was sent to teachers by text message. The teacher would then write the story on the board, and teach that story to the children. While books and teaching materials are scarce in Papua New Guinea, nearly every teacher has a mobile phone.

“We were really finding it difficult to teach English to our children,” said one teacher, “but these SMS stories encouraged students to come to school every day expecting a new story. They help us teach and make it more enjoyable for us teachers as well as the children.”

SMS Story was designed by VSO’s education programme manager Richard Jones in collaboration with VSO volunteers and local education specialists to support children in reading English, incorporating phonics and keywords. There was no formal training involved so teachers were given a cartoon poster that explained how to use the text messages. For 20 weeks, 50% of teachers received a daily SMS story and a lesson plan via mobile phone, while the other half did not and the children’s reading was assessed before and after the trial. The research was led by a VSO volunteer Nasiib Kaleebu with a team of young Papua New Guinean researchers.

“SMS Stories cut down on our work-load especially for drawing up the lesson plans” explains a teacher at another participating school. “During the few weeks of the SMS Stories, students were reading and also learning to write their own stories” adds a teacher from Kunabau.

Success of SMS stories

After two academic terms, classes which received the daily SMS stories recorded a significant improvement in children’s reading skills compared to other schools. There were also major differences in the teaching and learning strategies used by the teachers. SMS stories recorded a 50% increase in the number of children who could read English. VSO volunteer Alison Gee helped coordinate the project,

“It was a humbling experience and I was fortunate to be part of a team that made such a significant difference to those teachers and children. When we visited the participating schools, the children, parents and teachers were all determined to show us how well their children could read. Parents came to the schools to thank us, some had never learnt to read themselves but wanted their children to do well at school and saw the importance of the initiative.”

Following the trial, some teachers said they would like this approach built into the curriculum and the stories and lesson plans are being included in the new national PNG curriculum.

“Schoolteachers here are very hard working but they get very little training, so this is a way of structuring their lessons for them” adds Richard Jones, VSO education programme manager.

In the absence of reading materials and materials to help plan lessons, SMS Stories provides a simple and low-cost way to raise literacy levels. The cost was K2.01 per child (50p) and it is estimated this cost would drop further if the project is scaled up, as Richard Jones explains, “It’s a very cheap way of getting reading materials to schools – we found that no one has ever done this anywhere else in the world.”

Bougainville should be promoting literacy with mobile phones ?

Submitted by Michael Trucano On Mon, 03/10/2014

FROM World Bank

Last year I spent some time in Papua New Guinea (or PNG, as it is often called), where the World Bank is supporting a number of development projects, and has activities in both the ICT and education sectors. For reasons historical (PNG became an independent nation only in 1975, breaking off from Australia), economic (Australia’s is by far PNG’s largest export market) and geographical (the PNG capital, Port Moresby, lies about 500 miles from Cairns, across the Coral Sea), Australia provides a large amount of support to the education sector in Papua New Guinea, and I was particularly interested in learning lessons from the experiences of AusAid, the (now former) Australian donor agency.

For those who haven’t been there: PNG is a truly fascinating place. It is technically a middle income country because of its great mineral wealth but, according to the Australian government, “Despite positive economic growth rates in recent years, PNG’s social indicators are among the worst in the Asia Pacific. Approximately 85 per cent of PNG’s mainly rural population is poor and an estimated 18 per cent of people are extremely poor. Many lack access to basic services or transport. Poverty, unemployment and poor governance contribute to serious law and order problems.”

Among other things, PNG faces vexing (and in some instances, rather unique) circumstances related to remoteness (overland travel is often difficult and communities can be very isolated from each other as a result; air travel is often the only way to get form one place to another: with a landmass approximately that of California, PNG has 562 airports — more, for example, than China, India or the Philippines!) and language (PNG is considered the most linguistically diverse country in the world, with over 800 (!) languages spoken). The PNG education system faces a wide range of challenges as a result. PNG ranks only 156th on the Human Development Index and has a literacy rate of less than 60%. As an overview from the Australian government notes,

“These include poor access to schools, low student retention rates and issues in the quality of education. It is often hard for children to go to school, particularly in the rural areas, because of distance from villages to schools, lack of transport, and cost of school fees. There are not enough schools or classrooms to take in all school-aged children, and often the standard of school buildings is very poor. For those children who do go to school, retention rates are low. Teacher quality and lack of required teaching and educational materials are ongoing issues.”

[For those who are interested, here is some general background on PNG from the World Bank, and from the part of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that used to be known as AusAid, a short report about World Bank activities to support education in PNG from last year and an overview of the World Bank education project called READ PNG.]

If you believe that innovation often comes about in response to tackling great challenges, sometimes in response to scarcities of various sorts, Papua New Guinea is perhaps one place to put that belief to the test.

Given the many great challenges facing PNG’s education sector, its low current capacity to meet these challenges,
and the fact that ‘business as usual’ is not working, while at the same time mobile phone use has been growing rapidly across society,
might ICTs, and specifically mobile phones, offer new opportunities to help meet many long-standing, ‘conventional’ needs

in perhaps ‘unconventional’ ways?

A small research project called SMS Story has been exploring answers to this question.

—

Project overview

In the words of a very interesting impact assessment report [pdf] that was recently released (those pressed for time may just wish to make due with the executive summary [pdf]),

“The aim of the SMS Story research project was to determine if daily mobile phone text message stories and lesson plans would improve children’s reading in Papua New Guinea (PNG) elementary schools. […] The stories and lesson plans were designed to introduce children to reading English and followed an underlying phonics and key word based methodology. Teachers in the trial received a cartoon poster explaining how to use the daily text messages and received a total of 100 text message stories and 100 related text message lessons for two academic terms. They did not receive any in-service training. Research was conducted in rural elementary schools in two provinces, Madang and Simbu, and has involved a baseline reading assessment, mid-point lesson and classroom observations and an end-point reading assessment.”

Results and impact

The project, which was funded by the Australian Government and designed and managed by Voluntary Services Overseas, in partnership with the PNG Department of Education, was implemented as a small controlled experiment utlizing the popular Frontline SMS tool.

Some key results observed include (I am quoting directly from the evaluation report):

[-] Children who did not receive the SMS Story were approximately twice as likely to be unable to read a single word of three sub-tests (decodable words, sight words and oral reading). In other words the intervention almost halved the number of children who could not read anything compared with the control schools.

[-] The research did not find a statistically significant improvement in reading comprehension and generally children showed low reading comprehension skills in both grades and little progression between grade 1 and 2.

[-] All participating schools had very few reading books, if any, available in the classroom.

[-] In the absence of reading materials and scripted lessons in elementary schools SMS Story provides a simple and cheap strategy for raising reading standards.

The evaluation also notes that:

[-] There remained a worryingly large number of children who scored zero on the tests, particularly in grade 1, even after the intervention.

As Amanda Watson, one of the researchers, commented in a recent interview about the project with Radio Australia, “I think the content was really important, because no one involved in this trial would suggest that schools shouldn’t have books. We all would like to see more books in schools, but the reality is that in these schools there are very few books and so the content created a lot of enjoyment for both teachers and students.”

In addition to whatever value the content itself offered, Watson noted another benefit: “the teachers were actually receiving materials and ideas and suggestions daily. So rather than perhaps being given a training manual a couple of years ago or having been given a guide at the start of the school year or something. The teachers actually received almost like a reminder to teach, a bit of a motivator to keep teaching and they received that every single day and we think that really helped them to realise that they’re supposed to be teaching reading every single day, five days a week.”

While most of the attention of developers and researchers excited by potential uses of mobile phones in education focus on the creation and usage of various ‘mobile apps’ on smartphones, lessons from SMS Story project remind us that, in some of the most challenging environments in the world — especially rural ones — the existing infrastructure of low end phones offers opportunities for creative and innovative groups who wish to engage with teachers and learners in these communities. The results may not be ‘transformational’ on their own, and doing this sort of thing may not win any style points among the ‘cool kids’ in technology-saturated capital cities in much of the ‘developed world’ interested in the ‘latest and greatest’. That said, the best technology is often the one you already have, know how to use, and can afford. In a rural school in Papua New Guinea today, that technology is usually a mobile phone. In many other similar communities around the world, it may be well.

Those who would like more information about the SMS Story project may wish to read the full report on the VSO web site and/or a related paper [pdf] published by the researchers involved.

You may also be interested in the following post from the EduTech blog, which draws on experiences and lessons from places like Papua New Guinea:
[-] 10 principles to consider when introducing ICTs into remote, low-income educational environments

DONATE TODAY a few kina or dollars to help our Bougainville Education revolution BOOKGAINVILLE

Jan 13 2015

Bougainville International News: USA Pacific fleet partnership to benefit Bougainville

BY JENNIFER NKUI

A site survey team from the United States Pacific Fleet will be arriving in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville this week.
According to a statement from the US embassy in Port Moresby, the team hopes to survey potential areas for U.S assistance in Arawa, Central Bougainville under a programme called the Pacific Partnership.

Pacific Partnership was founded to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster resilience to the pacific nations following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Its potential activities range from medical, dental, veterinarian care to construction projects and crisis response training. Papua New Guinea benefited most recently in Wewak and Vanimo in 2013 and this year’s engagement is planned for Bougainville and Rabaul.

The programme as revealed by the statement is a great opportunity to expand people to people ties with the United States and deliver benefits for the people of Bougainville.

Jan 12 2015

Bougainville Mining News: BCL to join Bel Kol Events Committee

“For well over a year, we have been engaging with BCL and landowners regarding the conduct of a reconciliation ceremony or “Bel Kol”, as the first step towards BCL establishing a presence on Bougainville;

Through the ABG budget we have allocated substantial funding (some K7 million) to these preparations from our own resources, a large amount given the small size of the ABG budget;

We have negotiated with BCL, the Government of Papua New Guineas (GPNG) and development agencies to provide funding for ABG and landowners to participate fully and effectively in negotiations over coming years;”

From a speech by John Momis From the Presentation given at the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum in Cairns on May 20, 2014

Picture above: Panguna Negotiations Joint Coordination Committee’ (JPNCC) comprising representatives of the ABG, GPNG, BCL and Landowner Associations meeting recently in BUKA

BCL press release 12 January 2015

Bougainville Copper Limited is pleased to have accepted an invitation to join Bougainville’s Bel Kol Events Committee.

The Committee is responsible for the organisation of the Bel Kol ceremony. This event will be an adaptation of the traditional practice in which parties hold a ceremony to begin a process of negotiations to restore relationships.

BCL had requested to be included as part of the Committee and was subsequently invited to participate in preparations for the ceremony.

The Committee had recently closed out a phase of internal negotiations between stakeholders in central Bougainville.

With local alignment strengthened, the Committee moved focus to concentrate on preparations for the event itself and this was another factor in the timing of the invitation for BCL’s participation.

In December 2014, BCL joined a broad representation of Kieta and Panguna stakeholders and the Autonomous Bougainville Government as members of the committee.

Despite uncertainty surrounding legal tenure over its mining leases on Bougainville, BCL remains committed to the process of Bel Kol and to the deliberations of the Joint Panguna Negotiation Coordination Committee.

With more regular visits to central Bougainville, BCL will now progress fact finding with urgency to ensure the company has fulfilled its requirements for participation in the Bel Kol ceremony by mid-2015.

BCL wants to ensure there are broadly shared expectations and support for the Bel Kol ceremony. This will be achieved through discussions and interviews with a range of local stakeholders, as guided by the Events Committee.

Background by John Momis From the Presentation given at the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum in Cairns on May 20, 2014

Let me begin by answering a key question: why would the ABG consider re- opening the very mine that was at the heart of the worst conflict ever to occur amongst Pacific islanders?

There are many factors involved. But the central issues concern the unique political pressures facing the ABG because of the combination of the timetable for the referendum and our lack of a sustainable revenue base. We have strictly limited time in which to get real autonomy working, and before people are faced with a choice about independence. It is that limited time that requires us to focus on exploring the possibility of re-opening Panguna, for all being well, that could occur in the early 2020s, and the ABG would be in receipt of substantial taxation revenues during the projected three year construction period.

I also must make another fundamental point. It relates to the point I have already made about the vital importance of participation by Bougainvilleans in making decisions about the economy.

The ABG’s approach to the reopening of Panguna has been driven, and will continue to be driven, by the wishes of Panguna-affected landowners and the people of Bougainville. I have stated publicly on many occasions that the mine will only re-open if the Panguna lease landowners agree.

So let me outline some of the main things we have been doing to consult landowners and other Bougainvilleans, and to prepare for possible negotiations about the future of the mine. These things have been done slowly, deliberately, and carefully. We have no intention of rushing into making decisions about re- opening the mine. Rather, we are first ensuring that mine lease area landowners are organised in such a way as to be fully involved in every step of the process.

The ABG started to consult with customary landowners about their views on reopening the mine in 2009. Large meetings were held in each lease area in March and July 2010. These meetings established that most landowners were open to the possibility of the Panguna mine re-opening, if certain conditions are met.

Landowners said that problems caused by past mining must be resolved; that new and fair conditions must be applied to any future mining; that landowners must participate fully at all stages of development; and that landowners for different lease areas wanted to have their own representative associations to make sure their specific concerns are adequately addressed.

So from mid-2010, the ABG worked closely with the landowners from the mine lease areas to establish associations to represent their views. There are now nine separate associations. This has been very slow work, but absolutely essential if the landowners’ voices are to be truly heard.

In 2012 and 2013 the ABG organised Regional Forums throughout Bougainville to provide information and solicit the views of stakeholder groups and the Bougainville general public on mining related issues.

The Forums indicated support for reopening Panguna, as long as this could be done in a way that is fair and just and contributes to the welfare, security and wellbeing of the Bougainvilleans.

The ABG also undertook two forums and numerous smaller meetings to engage with ex-combatants, and in late March 2014 held a Bougainville Women’s Mining Forum in Buka attended by over 200 women representatives from all over Bougainville.

Women reiterated the view expressed in other forums that the ABG should consider reopening of Panguna, but only if this can be done in a way that addresses issues from earlier mining and the conflict it created, and if the benefits of any new project are allocated in a way that is fair to Bougainvilleans.

Some critics have said these Forums were staged events, attended only by selected people who the ABG knew supported mining. Nothing could be further from the truth. Invitations went to the widest possible range of organisations. They were asked to select their own representatives. The Forums were open to any who wished to attend. The ABG did not control the agenda or the discussion. So the Forums have provided a very good indication of the views of the community leaders and other opinion leaders of Bougainville.

Against this background of extensive consultations and general support in Bougainville for the reopening of Panguna if stringent conditions can be met, the ABG has undertaken a great deal of work to ensure that customary landowners and the ABG itself are well prepared for negotiations regarding the future of the mine.

Let’s be clear: the ABG is not assuming that the mine will reopen or that, if it is, Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL)/Rio Tinto will be the operator. Panguna will only reopen if the proposed project and its operator are able to deliver sustainable social and economic benefits for customary landowners and all of Bougainville, and can do so in a way that avoids creating further conflict.

Some critics have attacked the ABG for being willing to even negotiate with BCL. I have been accused of being too close to BCL, of ‘selling out’. In fact, as many of you know, from the late 1960s I was a consistent critic of BCL, and have certainly not become beholden to BCL since becoming Bougainville’s President in 2010. Indeed, I was initially seeking other possible developers for Panguna. But we have two main reasons for now engaging with BCL.

First, the leaders of the landowners from the mine lease areas have consistently indicated that they prefer to deal with BCL rather than a new potential operator. They talk of preferring the ‘devil they know, and not a new devil’. In large part they mean that they acknowledge that BCL both accepts that it played a role in what went wrong at Panguna and is prepared to contribute to finding workable solutions. They fear that a new developer may not have the same attitude. They also acknowledge, quite openly, that BCL did some things very well, especially training of Bougainvilleans. If we are committed to fully involving the landowners, we must listen to them on this issue. Second, the ABG accepts that BCL has existing legal rights that cannot simply be ignored.

So, if the negotiations we are preparing for do get underway later this year, as we hope, they will begin with BCL. But if we are unable to reach an acceptable agreement, the ABG and the landowners will seek other potential developers with a proven track record of developing and managing similar large scale but low grade copper and gold deposits.

Authorising the establishment of the nine associations to represent landowners, and the holding of the Forums have been important steps in preparing for negotiations on the future of Panguna. But in addition the ABG has done much else.

We have established:

a Ministerial Committee chaired by the President to provide political direction in the preparation for and conduct of the negotiations;
a Steering Group of senior ABG officials to direct the preparations for negotiations; and
an Office of Panguna Negotiations to undertake the work involved;

We have approved a Negotiation Structure which will ensure input into negotiations by all Bougainvilleans, and specific opportunities for input by key interest groups including landowners, women and ex-combatants;

For well over a year, we have been engaging with BCL and landowners regarding the conduct of a reconciliation ceremony or “Bel Kol”, as the first step towards BCL establishing a presence on Bougainville;

Through the ABG budget we have allocated substantial funding (some K7 million) to these preparations from our own resources, a large amount given the small size of the ABG budget;

We have taken the lead in establishing a multi-donor trust fund as part of mechanisms intended to ensure that funding for preparations for negotiations, and participation by landowners and the ABG, are provided with no strings attached and managed transparently;

The ABG also took the lead in establishing a ‘Panguna Negotiations Joint Coordination Committee’ (JPNCC) comprised of representatives of the ABG, GPNG, BCL and Landowner Associations. The JPNCC has met regularly since March 2013 and has made significant progress in preparations for possible negotiations on the future of the Panguna mine. Its key role is to coordinate preparation for negotiations, including the conduct of environmental and social baseline studies.

These baseline studies must be conducted regardless of whether Panguna reopens or not, because they will generate critical information needed to address urgent environmental and social issues created by earlier mining and related activities.

The studies will also help ensure that Landowners and the ABG have critically important available to them. That will be needed to negotiate strong and fair agreements with the National Government and BCL or other investors. The information will also ensure that the ABG, BCL and the National Government understand what are the most urgent and important issues for landowners and other people affected by Panguna.

All the baseline studies and the consultants undertaking them will be approved and overseen by the JPNCC, rather than only by the developer, which is normally the case in Papua New Guinea. This too ensures that Bougainvilleans (ABG and landowners representatives) are actively participating in decision- making at all stages.

It also means that the ABG and landowners can together ensure that the baseline studies are carried out to a high technical standard. This increases the likelihood that baseline study results can be accepted by all stakeholders. In pursuit of those goals, the ABG is also organising for independent experts like the United Nations Environment Program to monitor the scope and quality of the studies.

Landowners will also be directly involved in the conduct of the baseline studies, for the consultants will be required to employ and train as many as practicable. In this way significant economic opportunities will be created. It also allows landowners to assure themselves of the quality of the studies.

In terms of future preparations for negotiations regarding Panguna, the ABG hopes that the Bel Kol ceremony can happen in July 2014. BCL will then be able to establish an office in Arawa. Work can then begin to identify and address immediate environmental issues.

The immediate focus will be those arising from contaminants that were not properly disposed of because of BCL’s forced departure from Bougainville. Work will also commence on identifying and addressing the most urgent social needs faced by landowners in the Panguna area. BCL will also be able to commence technical investigations necessary for undertaking its next levels of feasibility studies.

One further point concerning preparations is that for the past 12 months or so, the ABG and the landowner representatives have been identifying, and discussing, the agenda of issues that Bougainvilleans will want addressed when negotiations begin. In addition to key issues such as protection of the environment and a fair economic return to Bougainville, our focus is already on those same issues I mentioned above. In other words, if mining goes ahead, it must provide economic opportunities for as many Bougainvilleans as possible, ensure an equitable spread of economic opportunities, and ensure active participation by Bougainvilleans in decision-making at all stages, including once the mine is operating.

An additional key issue already being considered by the ABG is how best to ensure that a significant part of the funds generated by any future mining is used not just for past compensation and immediate needs, but is instead used to build a diversified and sustainable Bougainville economy.

Through the various steps I have outlined, we have moved gradually to the point where I believe we can soon begin negotiations with BCL. Of course, unlike other mining negotiations elsewhere in PNG, they will not relate solely to future mining operations. They will also deal with how best to respond to environmental damage caused by past mining, and also with other significant ‘legacy’ issues.

The negotiations will take time, particularly because of time expected to be needed to conduct baseline and other technical studies. While we hope for a successful outcome, we will be ready to negotiate with other highly reputable miners if an agreement cannot be reached with BCL.

Ultimately, while we hope for success, we cannot even assume that Panguna will prove a viable project for re-opening. It is for that reason that I have made it clear that the ABG will be identifying other prospective areas, where landowners are open to exploration and mining. Exploration may then be permitted in a limited number of such areas. Of course, ‘green-field’ exploration projects are a different proposition from re-opening the already proven resource at Panguna. It’s likely that if minerals are found, it would be at least 15 years from exploration to beginning of production.

* From the Presentation given at the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum in Cairns on May 20, 2014

Jan 12 2015

New Bougainville coastal vessel MV Rapoise Chief to arrive soon

“The work done on MV Rapoise Chief by far exceeds my expectations and this I believe will provide the best shipping service for our maritime needs in the west coast and to those in the atolls .A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work into this project, the ABG and Bougainville Executive Council, the Bougainville Administration and of course the Chebu Shipping Company who have and are still working tirelessly to ensure the vessel comes home soon,”

President Momis said: Story Anthony Kaybing

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville’s journey into the shipping industry has achieved another milestone with the soon to arrive vessel, MV Rapoise Chief.

The vessel as it has been christened will service the West Coast of mainland Bougainville as well as the atolls that are in desperate need of this service. MV Rapoise Chief will carry a crew of 6 and 53 passengers and can carry approximately 15 metric tonnes of cargo.

Though the vessel is second hand it has undergone a complete refitting with new two new engines, navigational equipment and a complete overhaul of the hull at the Marala Vitas Central Terminal & Shipyards Corporation in Manila, Philippines.The vessel is currently undergoing sea trials before it can set sail for Bougainville waters and the trials have shown that the vessel can reach speeds of up to 12 knots.

Not to be outdone by Bougainville’s flag carrier, the MV Chebu, MV Rapoise Chief also offers aluminum seats and a fully functioning air-conditioned cabin area for the passengers to travel in comfort and style. The vessel also features a sick bay and separate male and female toilets and showers for the passengers and crew.

Due to the stringent measures put in place by the PNG National Maritime Service Authority the vessel will require minor tweaks to its operations and functions to meet the safety requirements enforced by the NMSA. The Autonomous Bougainville Government President, Chief Dr. John Momis said he was impressed with the work being done on the vessel so far.

“A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work into this project, the ABG and Bougainville Executive Council, the Bougainville Administration and of course the Chebu Shipping Company who have and are still working tirelessly to ensure the vessel comes home soon,” he added.

The President has assured Bougainvilleans that once the vessel has passed the NMSA requirements it will set sail for Bougainville which maybe in the next month or so.

Jan 11 2015

Bougainville News: Is the AB government ‘too concerned with mining and neglecting our agriculture’?

“Since the cocoa had been introduced to Bougainville, there is no millionaire in the cocoa industry, the local farmers are just sweating their guts making money for other big companies like Agmark, Monpi and others, We have been working for our bread and butter with no such improvements to date.

“I want to challenge leaders to put in some strategic plans to revive that quality of cocoa Bougainville had seen and produced before the conflict and make it possible for processing to happen in the region rather than selling our dried cocoa beans.”

Simeon Karena, once a subsistence farmer of Doreinang

Watch World Bank Video here (STORY HIGHLIGHTS Below)

The cocoa industry, which used to be among the backbone of rural economy, was grounded to a halt after a nine year conflict.
A project is helping to grow back cocoa production by providing better seedlings, training and tools.
Nearly a million cocoa trees have been rehabilitated or planted, to benefit thousands of smallholder cocoa farmers and their families

“The government is so concerned about the mineral sector and has relegated agriculture to the back burner”

Picture above Bougainville Chocolate Project

Post-Courier | Ishmael Palipal

COCOA was introduced in Papua New Guinea even before coffee was introduced to the Highlands of PNG but it did not get the help and attention it deserves, a Bougainvillean cocoa grower says.

Simeon Karena, once a subsistence farmer of Doreinang area in the South Nasioi Constituency of Kieta District, expressed his concern that cocoa had not made the locals become wealthy as opposed to coffee in the Highlands.

“Coffee has downstream processing centres at the local level but for cocoa, I’m still waiting for that quality chocolate to be processed here in the region but no such improvements have been made to help local cocoa farmers process cocoa right at home,” Mr Karena said.

Mr Karena said farmers in the New Guinea islands must improve their cocoa beans and produce chocolate or other products in the region.

“Since the cocoa had been introduced to Bougainville, there is no millionaire in the cocoa industry, the local farmers are just sweating their guts making money for other big companies like Agmark, Monpi and others,” said Mr Karena. “We have been working for our bread and butter with no such improvements to date.

“I want to challenge leaders to put in some strategic plans to revive that quality of cocoa Bougainville had seen and produced before the conflict and make it possible for processing to happen in the region rather than selling our dried cocoa beans.”

He called for the revival of that Bougainville flavour which was once one of the top cocoa flavours in the world market. Mr Karena said the government is so concerned about the mineral sector and has relegated agriculture to the back burner.

Mr Karena said the blame must be squarely labeled at the government’s failure because since the end of the Bougainville crisis, the government had no resource people such as the agriculture extension officers working with local farmers.

“In the past the government had such officers who helped the local farmers to produce high quality cocoa beans and farming products. “Now we have a drop in prices of cocoa. Doesn’t the Government have control over that?” asked Mr Karena.

He said the government is here for such downfalls but it is not doing what it should to help farmers. Increase in price will motivate the local farmers and that’s what I have seen, he said. He said mineral wealth will not be the future of PNG and called once again for a shift in government policy.

Bougainville chocolate project

The Kickstarter pledge period has ended, but the real fun is just beginning! Visit http://thewellingtonchocolatevoyage.wordpress.com/ for the most current info about progress on the Wellington Chocolate Voyage.

If you missed out this time on being the first to experience real Bougainville chocolate fear not – we will be posting updates on when chocolate will become available so stay tuned by reading our blog or visiting our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thewellingtonchocolatefactory

Restoring the ‘Stream of Cocoa’ to Bougainville

From the World Bank WATCH VIDEO

Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, September 17, 2014 – In the 1980s, Bougainville produced the most cocoa of any province in Papua New Guinea. Alongside copra, this was the backbone of a thriving rural economy, and it provided critical income for thousands of people.

But from 1989, Bougainville was to experience a devastating nine year conflict. The economic impacts were crippling. Industry was decimated; villagers were unable to access their land or markets – and production of cocoa and copra grounded to a halt.

After a limited revival, the cocoa industry has stagnated: aging trees mean poor yields, and cocoa pod borer (CPB) has ravaged remaining crops. Cocoa production in Bougainville fell by more than 41% from 2009, to reach its lowest level since the crisis.

Cocoa has declined as valuable skills and knowledge have been lost

The highland areas of Tinputz, on the east coast of Bougainville, are known for their fertile soils, and were once a hub for agriculture in Bougainville.

David Vaorete, from the village of Namatoa, has watched the community’s cocoa gardens turn to jungle. He says that the younger generation now lack the skills and knowledge to take cocoa production forward. During the conflict, many young people were killed in the fighting. Many more grew up away from their land.

“Looking at the new generation after the crisis, a lot of them did not know how to plant and cultivate the cocoa crops,” he explains. “So it was done by those who had already learned how to tend to cocoa – mostly elders in the community. The younger generation was not taught how.”

A new project is restoring skills, tackling CPB and helping revive interest in cocoa

Now, David is involved in implementing a new program, the Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project (PPAP). Supported by the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development and the European Union, it engages farmer groups and the cocoa industry to help rejuvenate growers’ gardens. Several lead partners—including exporters; NGOs or grower cooperatives—have been recruited by the project to help farmers revive cocoa production.

As part of this project, David chairs the Namatoa village nursery, which is growing and distributing hundreds of new cocoa plants to participating farmers. These seedlings are hybrid clones, specially grown to be more resistant to CPB. The trees are shorter and easier to manage, and they are relatively quick to bear fruit. He is also working with schools to develop skills and interest among young people.

Farmers are further supported with training, crop diversification activities and tools provided by lead partners.

Where the new cocoa varieties have been planted, growers are already seeing a big difference in the amount of cocoa they can harvest, which is translating into higher incomes for their families. With good management, growers can eliminate as much as 98% of CPB infestation and bring it firmly under control.

Maristella Sira is a farmer in Tinputz and she has received training, seedlings and tools through a PPAP-initiated partnership with Monpi Cocoa Exports.

“I think we have produced over a 100 bags – we’ve seen an increase. With the additional income, I’ve been able to build a new house, buy a new water tank, a lawn mower and other household tools,” says Maristella.

For David, Maristella’s story is not surprising, and explains growing interest in cocoa among villagers. He sees cocoa as key to restoring economic vibrancy to Tinputz.

“I treat each cocoa clone like it is a gold bar,” he says. “I don’t want to see poverty among my people. That’s why I say cocoa is like gold to us.”

“I treat each cocoa clone like it is a gold bar. I don’t want to see poverty among my people. That’s why I say cocoa is like gold to us.”

David Vaorete
Cocoa farmer

Expanding the project is producing results for small farmers

Earlier this year the World Bank Board approved an additional $30 million to expand PPAP, aimed to double coffee and cocoa production, and increase income for an estimated 60,000 smallholder farmers. The European Union has recently contributed an additional EUR5 million, and IFAD will soon add $22 million of financing to further increase these benefits.

This year is the first that farmers are really seeing the impact of the project. In the cocoa sector alone, as of May 2014, nearly a million trees have been rehabilitated or planted, to benefit thousands of smallholder cocoa farmers and their families.

Rejuvenating the cocoa industry in Bougainville

For Papua New Guinea’s cocoa industry, this is merely the beginning. Like many others, David believes there is huge potential for Bougainville-origin chocolate on the global market.

It is a product which is granted coveted “fine flavor” status; the industry also stands to benefit from its proximity to Asian grinders in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia – countries which are now buying as much as 46% of PNG’s cocoa.

“The saying used to go about a ‘stream of cocoa’ flowing, back when it used to thrive. Now they can say, the ‘stream of cocoa’ is flowing again to Tinputz,” David assures. “And I must stress, it will be of the very best quality!”

In 2015 Bookgainville hopes to be selling Bougainville Chocolate in Australia to raise funds for our Education Projects

www.bookgainville.com

Lead by James Tanis and Simon Pentanau

Jan 8 2015

Bougainville Development News: Why does Bougainville constantly have “systems down” and blackouts ?

“The public using the services like the bank, air services providers etc established recently in Arawa are complaining that it is time that these essential services must get into full swing.

We are tired of hearing “system down, system down” every time we go to such offices like the bank; Air Niugini office plus others like MVIL etc stated many of the public.

Ishmael Palipal Intro article

While most of the government services have been restored in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, one of the state-owned entities in charge of electricity power supply have been bombarded with critics for failing to address constant blackouts.

By Fabian Hakalits – EM TV (second article below) VIEW TV REPORT

People using these services urged the service providers to step up their offices in Arawa so that they can serve the purpose for which they are set up.

People are becoming frustrated about how these services are being provided as most people who travel long distances are told to go to Buka or else told to come back tomorrow, and so on but when they come again they will be told to come some time later.

“It’s really frustrating,” said one father from the coast line of Bana District in South Bougainville.

“We have to spend so much money to and from our places,” said one mother from Buin.

She stated that travelling from Buin to Arawa costs about K60 both ways and if sent to Buka when services in Arawa are not serviced will cost another K100 and if travelling with family is very costly. She said this while at the Airlines PNG agent office in Arawa when trying to check the air lines services schedule for Aropa.

Speaking to Ben Madaku at the office of Bougainville Tours who are the agents of Airlines PNG, she questioned why are the air services providers not putting out their schedule for Aropa but Buka only.

She stated that by this time, 3 airlines supposed to start service at the newly opened Aropa Airport and should be in full service because these are the peak times when our children (students) will be travelling out.

Ben Madaku told this reporter that other people also expressed the same frustrations about these essential services in Arawa.

“Most of them said that they want to farewell their children at the Aropa Airport because for long they have been travelling to Buka which is very costly and also a proper farewell of their children is not made before leaving their homes for some of them leave their homes early in the morning but since now the airport is opened, they want the airlines to start their services early so that they can farewell their children as they depart for schooling out of the region,” Madaku told this reporter.

Mr Madaku said that many people are commenting that offices are here but services are not felt, even BSP bank is not fully servicing the people as it mostly goes ‘system down’ or ‘cash out’.

“The worst thing that our clients,” said Madaku “are expressing is the air service. They really want other airlines to start their schedule by next week and so on; also they are frustrated about the Air Niugini office in Arawa which is always ‘system down’ or ‘blackout’ because of PNG power.

“People are saying that these essential services must start servicing the people now especially the Aropa Airport which many said it was a relief to their long bumpy ride to Buka when it was re-opened.”

The people are asking for these air service providers to put out their schedules for Aropa so that they can farewell their children right at their home atra, said Mr Madaku.

by Fabian Hakalits – EM TV,

While power-users have appreciated the restoration of electricity supply by PNG Power Limited, on the other hand, it is criticised for the constant power blackouts in Arawa, Central Bougainville that has irked power users.

Kieta district office executive manager Lucy Travertz, said with the growth of business and economic activities, this is disgraceful for a state-owned entity.

Daily operations have been affected by this occurrence from administration, business houses, homes and health facilities.

Business houses are worried about the freezer goods accommodated in shops and guest houses that are unhealthy for consumers.

PNG Power Limited management has been called on to at least explain the reasons for the outages rather than keeping its power users in the dark.

Meanwhile locals have also raised concerns on the lack of regular inspections despite connection fees being paid for. comments from PNG Power management was unsuccessful.

Jan 8 2015

Bougainville Economic News: Momis responds to critics about Bougainville economic accountability

“Responding to all four demands from the BRA General, ISHMAEL TOROAMA, President Momis said that he does not and will not create instability to Bougainville but wants stability and development for the region and because of this he wants total unity in diversity from all Bougainvillean’s”

By Aloysius Laukai : Picture above Dr Momis with Henry Chow at launch of MV CHEBU one of many issues

The ABG President, Chief Dr. John Momis has responded to critics regarding the Bougainville Mining Law, the recent appointment of Monovi Amani as Bougainville’s new Chief Secretary, investments in the Torokina Oil Palm Project and the ABG investment with MV CHEBU

See recent international blog below

Speaking on New Dawn FM, PRESIDENT MOMIS said that people who are spreading rumours have hidden motives and he does not like it one bit.

Responding to all four demands from the BRA General, ISHMAEL TOROAMA, President Momis said that he does not and will not create instability to Bougainville but wants stability and development for the region and because of this he wants total unity in diversity from all Bougainvilleans.

President Momis said on the appointment of MR. MONOVI AMANI he had already explained that the Bougainville constitution requires the Senior Appointment Committee which is an Independent Committee to make appointments after all checks and processes are met and him as the Chairman is only part of the team.

Chief MOMIS said that the outgoing Chief Secretary will be best utilized in other important functions of the Bougainville Administration and has already accepted this change.

On the second demand why him and several Ministers have shares in the POGE LIMITED, President said that these shares were held on behalf of the Bougainville Government and would be transferred to a Bougainville Holdings Company that will manage and control all Bougainville Government Shares including those of the MV CHEBU.

President Momis response on his association with the TOROKINA OIL PALM Project, CHIEF MOMIS said that he has no personal interest in the project but had to continue this project approved by the previous Government under the Late JOSEPH KABUI.

He said that before he became the President in 2010, the project had already commenced and some funds were misused and some heads had to be rolled to stop the misuse of funds for the project.

President Momis said that when tender was called only three companies made bids to do a feasibility study on the project of which One Company BIDDED for more than 30 million Kina, the Second Company did not put a figure on their bid whilst HAKAU had the lowest bid of 10 Million Kina.

President MOMIS also announced that the study has been completed and Landowners have formed and registered their Land groups and will be making their presentation in Buka next week to seek for possible developers of this TOROKINA OIL PALM PROJECT which can become an Impact project for this part of Bougainville.

On the MV CHEBU, President MOMIS said that the project is 50/50 owned by HENRY CHOW and his company and all profits will be shared according to the shares.

President MOMIS said that the ABG will be paying management fees and these people have the management capability to manage this company on behalf of the two shareholders.

On the Bougainville Mining Bill, PRESIDENT MOMIS said that the ABG will pass the permanent Bougainville Mining Bill at its next sitting.

He said that the Department of Mining has been making awareness in all parts of Bougainville since the Transitional Mining Bill was passed last year.

Bougainville’s President Momis must explain widespread financial mismanagement

PNG Exposed

Bougainville’s President Momis has launched a scathing attack on villagers across Bougainville looking for economic alternatives to large-scale mining. Speaking on New Dawn he demanded they produce a coherent economic plan for turning ‘tomato sales’ into sustainable revenues.

The issue of economic accountability is an important one, here are five reasons President Momis should not be exempt.

1. The Torokina Oil Palm Project and Sir Henry Chow

President Momis must explain why during 2010/11 the Torokina oil palm project received ten million Kina in government grants, and what, if any benefits, the people of Bougainville have received for investing nearly the entire ABG agricultural development budget on one project? He must also explain any benefits which Sir Henry Chow received from these grants, through Hakau Investment Limited or any other company owned by Chow.

Given that the Torokina oil palm plantation was expected to bear fruit by 2014, can the President explain what has happened since 2011?

In March 2013 Islands Business reported that the ABG Public Accounts Committee would ‘inquire into the two joint ventures done by the ABG with the Hakau Investment on the Torokina Oil Palm Project, and the China Business Corporation’. Can the President report back on the findings of these investigations?

2. Employing Hedge Fund Traders as ‘Development’ Advisors

In 2012 President Momis employed public revenues to contract a hedge fund, Seagate Global, led by US expatriate, William Lawton, to become his ‘economic and development Advisor’. Seagate claims it was hired ‘to design and implement comprehensive community and economic development in Bougainville’. How much has the President spent on this contract? What tangible outcomes has this had for the people of Bougainville who have little interest in hedge funds? Why did the President choose a financial speculator to advise him on rural development?

In 2013 Seagate Global stated on their website ‘Seagate Global is the economic and Development Advisor to the President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, the location of the Panguna mine, one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world, and a country rich in numerous resources’. The page also states, ‘Seagate Global entered the mining business as one of the best ways to help people’. The first statement was subsequently removed from the company’s website! The President must explain whether Seagate Global has obtained any tangible interests in Bougainville’s natural resources through its relationship with the ABG?

3. Joint-Venture with Filipino Business Accused of Human Rights Abuses

Following visits to the Philippines President John Momis has engaged the ABG in a joint-venture with Filipino executives allegedly involved in land-grabbing, violence against landowners, illegal labour practices, and environment breaches (the full scandal was exposed here). How much money has the ABG spent on Bougainville POGE Development and its ventures with Filipino businessmen the subject of serious human rights allegations? How much has the ABG spent flying the President and his wife around the Philippines? During his extensive foreign travels has the President received any gifts from foreign companies?

4. The Panguna Mine Fiasco

Then there is the Panguna mine scandal. Before President Momis began expending significant sums of government revenues on mining – including on the Office of Panguna Mine Negotiations, an expanded Mining Division and extensive foreign advice – did he conduct an economic and social feasibility study to ensure this was money well spent?

After all, we know that the expert advice given to the ABG and the Australian government in 2008 was that reopening Panguna would be heavily resisted by landowning communities, and a potential spark for heightened tension. As a result they were advised ‘in the interim, a strategy for economic recovery through agricultural production appears the most viable among the possibilities’.

Did President Momis conduct any study that overturned these findings, and offered a strong evidence base suggesting that the significant government investment in reopening Panguna had a strong chance of bearing fruits?

And if he is to be transparent, President Momis should reveal how much has been spent on this ill-fated exercise to reopen Panguna, including money that has come from donor organisations such as the Australian government and World Bank.

5. The Public Housing Crisis

The President was also warned by auditors that public housing in Bougainville was being abused by some public servants who were not paying rent, while retired and retrenched staff were monopolising public properties. Given many public servants are forced to find housing on the inflated private market, has he done anything to rectify the abuse of public housing?

Jan 8 2015

Bougainville Referendum News: Siriosi appointed as CEO of new Office for Bougainville Referendum.

Autonomous Bougainville Government President (ABG), Chief Dr John Momis, said the new department will manage and coordinate the ABG’s relationship with the National Government to see the successful implementation of the referendum.

“Bougainville’s referendum will determine the ultimate political future of Bougainville,” the President said.

By Anthony Kaybing

Former Bougainville Acting Chief Secretary, Chris Siriosi, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the new Office for Bougainville Referendum.

With the arrival of the New Year Bougainville has welcomed that the start of the referendum period which, under the conditions of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, is to be held between 2015 and 2020.

With the opening of this window the Bougainville Executive Council has sanctioned the creation of the Office for the Bougainville Referendum.

“Bougainville’s referendum will determine the ultimate political future of Bougainville,” the President said.

“We must all be ready to decide fairly and without fear the choice for our next political destination.

“We have struggled long and hard and this is the goal that we desire so much.

“The ABG is now ready to embark on this journey and the Office for Bougainville Referendum will be the lead facilitator.”

The President said the Office will attain departmental Status and will be headed by Chris Siriosi as its Chief Executive Officer.

Siriosi was a natural appointment for the new role due to his vast experience with legal aspects of Bougainville Peace Agreement and the referendum clause..

“Mr Siriosi’s knowledge and experience on this issue will be a great asset to the government and his legal background will also be of great use to the new department,” Momis continued.

Mr Siriosi has accepted the position and will be acting as the new CEO of the Office for the next six months, until the position is advertised as required by law.

The President asserted that the new department will be responsible for facilitation of education and awareness of the coming Referendum within the Bougainville populace.

This step by the ABG shows the commitment the government has to seriously addressing Bougainville’s referendum.

Jan 7 2015

Bougainville News Summary over New Year: New ABG budget ,appointments and election act changes 2015

In this issue of Bougainville News we have a summary of news that happened over the Xmas/ News Years break

1.Unite under one banner says President Momis as the referendum window opens in 2015

2.Bougainville welcomes new Chief Secretary Monovi Amani

3.Protests on the appointment with four demands

4.ABG Budget 2015 summary

5. Outgoing Chief Secretary Siriosi asks Bougainvillean’s to respect

6.New amendments to Bougainville election act

1.UNITE UNDER ONE BANNER SAYS MOMIS
By Aloysius Laukai

The ABG PRESIDENT CHIEF DR. JOHN MOMIS has called for unity as Bougainville moves into the Referendum window in 2015.He made these remarks when commenting on the ABG 2015 Budget . PRESIDENT MOMIS said that Bougainville although has more factions then before have one common goal that is self determination for Bougainville.

DR. MOMIS said that Bougainville must address two important issues before the referendum.They are a massive awareness on the Peace Agreement and the activities of the government and the removal of all weapons before the referendum.

He said that because a lot of people invested funds on buying weapons the ABG will look at a program of buying back these weapons for some small amount of funds to be agreed at.

President Momis said that Bougainville must be united as the famous saying that United we stand or divided we fall which will be not in the best interest of Bougainville.

2.BOUGAINVILLE WELCOMES NEW CHIEF SECRETARY
By Aloysius Laukai

The Bougainville Public Employees Association(PEA) has welcomed the announcement by the President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and chairman of the Bougainville Senior Appointments Committee, Chief DR. JOHN MOMIS on the appointment of the new Head of the Bougainville Public Service, Chief Secretary MONOVI AMANI. President of the PEA, PATRICK HEROMATE whilst responding to the appointment said that the PEA trusts the appointment of the Bougainville chief secretary is in line with the new process of appointments by the BSAC.

The intended aim of the procedure of appointments by the BSAC is to give effect to transparency in the appointments.

Whether or not this has been achieved is yet to be realized and as far as PEA is concerned, we want to ensure that no stones are left unturned.

“We want to see that all due diligence checks have been made into questions of wether or not any of the candidates have pending investigations by relevant authorities have been declared by the shortlisted candidates and appointed officer” said MR. HEROMATE.

As far as PEA is concerned, there are rumours of pending investigations by the Ombudsman Commission on the appointed officer.

In order to give effect to transparency in the appointment process and also to gain confidence of the people of Bougainville, this rumour has to be dispelled.

We congratulate the new head of the Bougainville Public Service Chief Secretary, MONOVI AMANI and wish him best in his new role.

PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW CHIEF SECRETARY
By Aloysius Laukai
The ABG President and Chairman of the Bougainville Senior Appointments Committee, CHIEF DR.JOHN MOMIS has announced the new Chief Secretary for Bougainville as MONOVI AMANI 52 years from Mortlock Island. In making the announcement, President MOMIS said that this was done after an extensive recruitment and selection process that the Bougainville Senior Appointments Committee had to go through to come with the final selection.
Mr MONOVI AMANI has been notified to take up the position of Chief Secretary and Head of the Bougainville Public Service.
He is currently the Provincial Administrator for New Ireland Province a position he has held for the last two years.
Prior to that he was CEO Planning and Finance in that Administration.
The new Chief Secretary has previously been a business and taxation consultant, a
lecturer in finance and accounting, a senior officer in the National Housing
Corporation and a tax assessor with IRC.
Mr Monovi Amani has degrees in Commerce, Accounting and Business Administration. He also has certificates and diplomas in financial management and tertiary teaching.
Since 1992 Mr Amani has been a member of the Australian Society for Chartered Practising
Accountants.

3.PROTESTORS HAPPY WITH EXPLANATION

FORMER BRA General, ISHMAEL TOROAMA has put in four demands to the ABG President Chief, DR. JOHN MOMIS following the appointment of MONOVI AMANI as the new Chief Secretary for BOUGAINVILLE. In a letter addressed to the President and copied to NEW DAWN FM, MR TOROAMA said that the Bougainville Veterans are not happy with the appointment made by the Senior Appointments Committee.
MR. TOROAMA said that the appointment of MR. MONOVI AMANI is not the only insensitive decision that the ABG under DR. MOMIS has made causing instability to the fragile Bougainville Peace Process.
He said that the appointment is a slap in the face for the people of West Coast, Bougainville and Bougainville as a whole.
MR. TOROAMA said that this decision only indicates that the current Government has no confidence in hardworking Bougainvilleans on Bougainville who have continued to build Bougainville in very tough times.
The for demands are, WHY the acting Chief Secretary was not confirmed to the position to continue the remarkable work that he has started.
TWO, That the Ex Combatants want to know why the ABG President and several Minister have personal shares in the POGE Limited based in the Philipinnes.
THREE, That the President declare the relationship of the President with the failed TOROKINA OIL PALM Project.
AND Four, that the President outline the benefit sharing arrangement between HAKAU and ABG on the MV CHEBU Project.
Apart from these four, the former BRA GENERAL also condemned the recent comments made by the ABG President on the South Bougainville Commander, THOMAS TARI at the launch of the Australia/New Zealand funded Radio Station in Buin.

By Aloysius Laukai

More then one hundred people especially ex combatants fronted the ABG House this afternoon to protest on the appointment of the new Chief Secretary, MONOVI AMANI by the ABG Senior Appointments Committee.

The former combatants presented a petition to the ABG President, DR. CHIEF DR. JOHN MOMIS who promised to look into their grievances addressed in their petition.

PRESIDENT MOMIS told the protestors that the appointment was made by an Independent Committee as per the Bougainville Constitution.

He said that the Bougainville Costitution says that the Appointments must be made by a Idependent Committee that includes a representative of the Churches and in this case the Bishop of United Church TIM AUTHER, Women’s rep, MRS HONA HOLAN,LAWYERS REP, HUBERT KIKIRA, JOHN KALI from the Department of Personal Management and President Momis as the Chairman.

Chief Momis said that if we continue to disturb the process that we have established then there is no use of setting up the mechnicism to move Bougainville forward.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Police, ACP PAUL KAMUAI this afternoon thanked the former combatants for presenting their petition quitely and receiving their answer from their leaders.

He said this was a sign that our people were matured and can present their grievance peacefully.

4.ABG Budget 2015

house

The ABG 2015 Budget session today saw the ABG finance and treasury minister Albert Punghau gave the members a rundown of the 2015 budget summary.

Before giving a rundown of the budget summary, the minister stressed to the ABG president chief Dr. John Momis and the members of the House of Representatives that the 2015 budget priorities as tabled in the house in September will be to improve service delivery through a strong focus at the district level, promote economic growth and sustainability, significantly increase revenue volumes and collection of revenues and to strengthen key interventions and functions of the government.

He added that the budget also seeks to increase transparency of all sources of funding available in Bougainville from all sources.
He then urged that the members of the House of Representatives to work together to get the best value out of every kina available to Bougainville.

Mr. Punghau then revealed that in summary, the total Recurrent Unconditional Grant stands at K127, 977, 000, the estimated sub-total of internal revenue stands at K19, 119, 000, while the restoration and development grants is estimated to be K160 million.He also revealed that the K30 million RDG arrears has already been allocated to 17 programmes whilst the 2015 RDG payment of K15 million was allocated to a total of 10 region wide projects.

The minister said for the first time, a budget document records development partner contribution and those of our national member representatives.
He added that in total, the sum of K249, 015, 400 is appropriated from the Bougainville consulted revenue fund for expenditure in respect of the general public services for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015.

Members not happy with budget
By Aloysius Laukai

ABG members who spoke in the ABG Budget tabled today by the ABG Finance Minister, ALBERT PUNGHAU said that the budget did not reflect the wishes of the people as per the ABG Budget meeting held in Arawa recently.
The member for TSITALATO, COSMAS SOHIA told the house that the meeting in Arawa was just another waste of Government funds as their input were not reflected in the 2015 ABG Budget.
Other members who also spoke was the member for SOUTH NASIOI who questioned why his new AROPA HIGH SCHOOL was not in the Budget.
He said that AROPA which is under his constituency was able to get funds under the National Government’s HIGH IMPACT PROJECT and this AROPA HIGH SCHOOL must have been included as part of the ABG’s input to the development in the area.
The member for HAGOGOHE, PETER SOHIA was not happy as the Budget was pushed without providing the Minister’s Speech to all members.
The budget bill was read two times and the leaders will be given tonight to go through the budget before they can debate further tomorrow before passing the bill.
New Dawn FM understands that the law says that the ABG must pass the ABG Budget before the 31st of December and delay in passing the bill will mean not funds to do government work in the new year.

5.SIRIOSI ADDRESSES BOUGAINVILLEANS

BY JENNIFER NKUI

The Outgoing chief secretary for ABG Chris Siriosi is asking the people of Bougainville to respect the decision of the senior appointments committee on the appointment of the chief secretary to the Bougainville Government and head of the Bougainville public service.

He said in a statement today that as a proud Bougainvillean and a loyal public servant, he has sworn an oath to well and truly serve the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and he intends to remain strongly faithful to that oath by respecting the lawful process by the Bougainville senior appointments committee in selecting a well qualified Bougainvillean, Monovi Amani for this important position.

He stressed that no one should be under the misapprehension as he supports our president, the BEC and the senior appointments committee as they work to establish a credible professional Bougainville Public Service under our laws.

He added that recruiting and selecting on the basis of merit a permanent chief secretary and the permanent 13 departmental heads was never going to be an easy task for anyone involved as change is never easy to manage and is even more difficult in a situation such as that faced by Bougainville.

Mr. Siriosi said however, how the public servants in the public service, the ministers and the people handle this process and its outcomes will make a strong statement about Bougainville’s maturity.

The former acting chief secretary believes that the only path to fulfilling the spirit of our constitution and the Bougainville Peace Agreement is to follow the rule of law and our Christian faith in all things.

While he appreciates the strong show of personal support from those who are concerned about him not being selected for the position, Mr. Siriosi said we need to open our doors to those from outside of Bougainville who want to come here to work, especially well qualified Bougainvilleans.

He revealed that he wants to work for the government in any position that best suits his skills and talents as he is not afraid to roll up his sleeves or working long hours for Bougainville.

He said he has enjoyed his time as the acting chief secretary and he is proud of his achievements of the last year or so saying he will accept an invitation from the president and the BEC in an appropriate position.

In the meantime, Mr. Siriosi is asking the people of Bougainville to accept this decision as he has and move in supporting the new chief secretary in contributing to Bougainville’s peace, prosperity and development.

6.NEW AMENDMENTS to BOUGAINVILLE ELECTION ACT

The ABG House of Representatives this week made a number of amendments to the Bougainville Elections Act 2007, as well as an election-related amendment to the Bougainville Public Services (Management and Administration) Act 2014.
The Bougainville Elections Act 2007 is the law under which elections in Bougainville were conducted in the including the first was the Presidential By Election after the death of the first President, the late JOE KABUI in 2008.
The Elections Act was last amended in 2013,unfortunately, following a review of the impact of these amendments, it was realised that many of the changes will be difficult to implement before the next election.
The Acting Electoral Commissioner, MR GEORGE MANU expressed concern that, if these amendments remain in place, his ability to effectively deliver the 2015 general election will be jeopardised.
The key issues addressed under these new changes are on Postal Voting, Polling period the time public servants are required to resign to stand for Elections.
The amendment Bill will be passed at the March session of the ABG House.
Ends

LAW CLARIFIES ISSUES
By Aloysius Laukai
There is strong support for the adoption of measures to allow for voting by post in the coming 2015 ABG General Elections.
And as a result, the 2013 amending Act inserted new sections providing for a complex process of postal voting for electors who will be prevented from voting by illness or physical disability, or who will be outside Bougainville at the time of the election.
The Acting Electoral Commissioner is of the view that application of these provisions in their present form will significantly delay the counting of votes, making it unlikely that the writs will be able to be returned within the 2 weeks allowed under the law.
It is unfortunate, but it will not be possible to implement postal voting measures in time for the 2015 election. The Electoral Commissioner will review the capacity to adopt postal voting for future elections, which will be able to be provided for by regulations.
Before last year’s amendment, the Elections Act required the polling period to commence no earlier than 5 weeks after the issue of the writ, and no later than 8 weeks after the issue of the writ.
After the amendment, the polling period must now commence sometime between 3 and 7 days after the issue of the writ.
This is clearly a drafting error, as it overlaps with the nomination period for candidates.
And according to the Acting Electoral Commissioner If retained in its present form, there will be no time for campaigning, and no time for the printing of ballot papers.
The Acting Electoral Commissioner recommends that the polling period commence sometime between 6 and 8 weeks after the issue of the writ, to allow adequate time for all preparations for the poll to be made.
The amendments of the Bougainville Elections will be passed in the March session of the ABG House.

010115PUBLIC SERVANTS MUST RESIGN TO STAND IN 2015
By Aloysius Laukai
The latest amendments to the law on Bougainville Elections now clears the air on Public servants who want to stand for the upcoming ABG General Elections.
Prior to the amendment, there was inconsistency in the Bougainville Public Services (Management and Administration) Act 2014 between resignation ahead of National elections (where public servants must resign 6 months before the issue of the writ) and Bougainville elections (where public servants must resign 1 month before the writ issues).

This amendment standardises the obligation to resign and, in the case of general elections, provide for time to be calculated from a known date in the past, instead of ahead of an uncertain future date.
This means that there will be transitional arrangements for the 2015 Bougainville general election, as the amendment will mean that the date by which a public servant must resign will have already passed.
As a result, public servants wishing to contest the next Bougainville election will have to resign no later than 9 January 2015