It is well known that the people of Bougainville want independence. In the 2019 referendum, 98.3 percent of them voted for it.

And in 2025, Ishmael Toroama, a strong advocate of independence, was re-elected to the position of President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, further confirmation of the widespread support for independence among the people of Bougainville.

But what do the people of PNG think about Bougainville independence? Much less is known about this. As a start, we included a question about Bougainville independence in the 2025 annual survey of University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) students.

• READ MORE: Other Bougainville independence reports

When asking the question, we reminded the students we surveyed of the strong support in Bougainville for independence, and told them that, as mentioned above, “in a recent referendum, an overwhelming majority (98.31 percent) of voters in Bougainville chose to have full independence from PNG over greater autonomy.”

We then asked the students to consider this outcome when selecting from one of four options that we presented to them.

They could say that Bougainville should be granted full independence, that it should remain in PNG with greater autonomy, that they oppose any changes in Bougainville’s current status, or that they were unsure.

Only 27 percent of the 389 School of Business and Public Policy students who took the survey supported full independence. The majority, 59 percent said that Bougainville should remain part of PNG but with greater autonomy. Of the balance, 11 percent said they were unsure and 3 percent said that they supported no change in the current status.

Opposition to independence was widespread across all four regions of PNG, but was slightly stronger among students from the Momase and Highlands regions, and lower among students from the Islands and Southern regions.

However, these differences are not statistically significant. Even in the Islands region, which might be expected to be more sympathetic to Bougainville independence, a majority of students were in fact opposed.

The most supportive was the Southern region, but even there 51 percent of students were opposed to independence.

Female students were slightly more supportive of independence (25 percent male vs 30 percent female). Male students were more likely to support greater autonomy (62 percent vs 52 percent) and women were more likely to be unsure (15 percent vs 9 percent). Again these differences were not statistically significant.

In summary, this survey of some almost 400 UPNG students found widespread opposition to Bougainville independence. We want to stress that we are not endorsing these views, nor criticising them. We are just reporting them.

The opposition we find among students is probably reflective of views more generally in PNG, at least among the elite, and might help explain why PNG’s political leaders are dragging their feet on the issue if not “fundamentally opposed” to independence.

Few, such as the former prime minister Peter O’Neill, have come out openly to express their opposition to independence. But few, such as the late Morobe Premier Luther Wenge, have been openly supportive either.

There seems to be a general reluctance among PNG’s political leadership to respond to the 2019 referendum result, much to the frustration of Bougainville’s political leadership.

On the one hand, it seems that no-one wants a confrontation. On the other, PNG’s political leadership, like UPNG’s student body, doesn’t seem to find the 2019 referendum result a convincing reason to support the cause of Bougainville independence.

If our survey is anything to go by, the PNG elite is willing to compromise (to allow Bougainville greater autonomy) but not to support its break away from the nation.

If Bougainville wants independence, it will have to do more to win hearts and minds in the rest of PNG. Our survey shows that it is not enough to simply reiterate the overwhelming support that independence has within Bougainville.

The students were explicitly reminded of this and still only one-quarter supported independence. If Bougainville is to succeed in its independence aspirations, it will need to do more to convince PNG’s elite, or at least its future elite, why it should be allowed to break away.

Anna Kapil is a Lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea. She completed a Master of International and Development Economics at the Australian National University. Anna was a Greg Taylor Scholar at the Development Policy Centre.

Dr Stephen Howes is director of the Development Policy Centre and professor of economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.

For other findings from the 2025 survey, see this article series and the 2025 PNG Update presentation. The results of the first survey, conducted in 2024, are reported here. Statistical significance was judged using the Chi-square test. Republished from the DevPolicy blog under Creative Commons.

Reports in Papua New Guinea say the governments of Bougainville and PNG have agreed to table the 2019 independence referendum results in Parliament.

While discussions are ongoing, some degree of consensus has been reached during the talks, being held at Burnham Military Camp, just outside of Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island.

The talks are not open to the media.

• READ MORE:  Bougainville wants independence. China’s support for a controversial mine could pave the way
• Other Bougainville reports

A massive 97.7 percent of Bougainvillians voted for independence in 2019.

Former Bougainville president John Momis told delegates in Burnham to “take the bull by the horn” and confront the independence issue without further delay.

Both governments have agreed to present three highly pivotal documents to the PNG National Parliament.

The commitment was formally conveyed by PNG’s Minister of Bougainville Affairs, Manaseh Makiba.

Only sovereignty acceptable
Meanwhile, the ABG President, Ishmael Toroama, said Bougainville would not accept a governance model that did not grant sovereignty.

This comes amid talk of other options, such as self-government in free association.

To achieve membership of the United Nations sovereignty is needed.

Writing in the Post-Courier, journalist Gorethy Kenneth said the Bougainville national leaders, for the “first time have come out in aligning with the Bougainville team in New Zealand”.

She reported that Police Minister and Bougainville regional MP Peter Tsiamalili Jr said he was in a peculiar position but he represented the 97.7 percent who voted for independence and he would go with the wishes of his people.

The ICT Minister, and South Bougainville MP Timothy Masiu also said his one vote in Parliament would be for independence as far as his people were concerned.

The PNG government has spoken previously of fears that independence for Bougainville would encourage other provinces to seek autonomy.

Provinces, such as New Ireland, have made no secret of their dissatisfaction with Port Moresby and desire to control more of their own affairs.

But the Bougainville Minister of Independence Implementation, Ezekiel Massat, said Bougainville’s status was constitutionally “ring-fenced” and could not set a precedent for other provinces.

He said “under the Bougainville Peace Agreement, independence is a compulsory option”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The Pacific’s peak diplomatic bodies have signalled they are ready to engage with Papua New Guinea’s Autonomous Government of Bougainville as mediation begins on the delayed ratification of its successful 2019 independence referendum.

PNG and Bougainville’s leaders met in the capital Port Moresby this week with a moderator to start negotiations on the implementation of the UN-supervised Bougainville Peace Agreement and referendum.

Ahead of the talks, ABG’s President Ishmael Toroama moved to sideline a key sticking point over PNG parliamentary ratification of the vote, with the announcement last week that Bougainville would unilaterally declare independence on September 1, 2027.

• READ MORE: PNG and Bougainville to hold more talks on independence issue
• Other Bougainville reports

The region’s two leading intergovernmental organisations — Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) — have traditionally deferred to member state PNG on discussion of Bougainville independence as an internal matter.

But as a declaration of nationhood becomes increasingly likely and near, there has been a subtle shift.

“It’s their [PNG’s] prerogative but if this matter were raised formally, even by Bougainville themselves, we can start discussion on that,” PIF Secretary-General Baron Waqa told a press briefing at its headquarters in Fiji on Monday.

“Whatever happens, I think the issue would have to be decided by our leaders later this year,” he said of the annual PIF meeting to be held in Solomon Islands in September.

Marked peace deal
The last time the Pacific’s leaders included discussion of Bougainville in their official communique was in 2004 to mark the disarmament of the island under the peace deal.

Waqa said Bougainville had made no formal approach to PIF — a grouping of 18 Pacific states and territories — but it was closely monitoring developments on what could eventually lead to the creation of a new member state.

In 2024, Toroama told BenarNews he would be seeking observer status at the subregional MSG — grouping PNG, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS — as Bougainville’s first diplomatic foray.

No application has been made yet but MSG acting Director-General Ilan Kiloe told BenarNews they were also keeping a close watch.

“Our rules and regulations require that we engage through PNG and we will take our cue from them,” Kiloe said, adding while the MSG respects the sovereignty of its members, “if requested, we will provide assistance” to Bougainville.

“The purpose and reason the MSG was established initially was to advance the collective interests of the Melanesian countries, in particular, to assist those yet to attain independence,” he said. “And to provide support towards their aim of becoming independent countries.”

The 2001 peace agreement ended more than a decade of bloody conflict  known as the Bougainville crisis, that resulted in the deaths of up to 15,000 people, and laid out a roadmap for disarmament and the referendum in 2019.

‘We need support’
Under the agreement, PNG retains responsibility for foreign affairs but allows for the ABG to engage externally for trade and with “regional organisations.”

“We need countries to support us, we need to talk to those countries [ahead of independence],” Toroama told BenarNews last September.

The referendum on independence was supported by 97.7 percent of Bougainvillians and the outcome was due to be ratified by PNG’s Parliament in 2020, but was deferred because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Discussions by the two parties since on whether a simple or two-thirds majority vote by parliamentarians was required has further delayed the process.

Toroama stood firm on the issue of ratification on the first day of discussions moderated by New Zealand’s Sir Jerry Mataparae, saying his people voted for independence and the talks were to define the “new relationship” between two independent states.

Last week, the 15 members of the Bougainville Leaders Independence Consultation Forum issued a statement declaring PNG had no authority to veto the referendum result and recommended September 1, 2027 as the declaration date.

“As far as I am concerned, the process of negotiating independence was concluded with the referendum,” Toroama said.

Implementation moderation
“My understanding is that this moderation is about reaching agreement on implementing the referendum result of independence.”

He told Marape “to take ownership and endorse independence in this 11th Parliament.”

PNG’s prime minister responded by praising the 25 years of peace “without a single bullet fired” but warned Bougainville was not ready for independence.

“Economic independence must precede political independence,” Marape said. “The long-term sustainability of Bougainville must be factored into these discussions.”

“About 95 percent of Bougainville’s budget is currently reliant on external support, including funding from the PNG government and international donors.”

Proposals to reopen Rio Tinto’s former Panguna gold and copper mine in Bougainville, that sparked its civil conflict, is a regular feature of debate about its economic future.

Marape also suggested people may be secretly harbouring weapons in breach of the peace agreement and called on the UN to clarify the outcome of the disarmament process it supervised.

“Headlines have come out that guns remain in Bougainville. United Nations, how come guns remain in Bougainville?” Marape asked on Monday.

“You need to tell me. This is something you know. I thought all guns were removed from Bougainville.”

PNG relies on aid
By comparison, PNG has heavily relied on foreign financial assistance since independence, currently receiving at about US$320 million (1.3 billion kina) a year in budgetary support from Australia, and suffers regular tribal violence and massacres involving firearms including assault rifles.

Bougainville Vice-President Patrick Nisira rejected Marape’s concerns about weapons, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

“The usage of those guns, there is no evidence of that and if you look at the data on Bougainville where [there are] incidents of guns, it is actually very low,” he said.

Further talks are planned and are due to produce a report for the national Parliament by mid-2025, ahead of elections in Bougainville and PNG’s 50th anniversary celebrations in September.

Republished from BenarNews with permission.

The first large-scale environmental impact assessment of Rio Tinto’s abandoned Panguna mine in Papua New Guinea has found local communities face life-threatening risks from its legacy.

The independent study was initiated after frustrated landowners in PNG’s Autonomous Region of Bougainville took their longstanding grievances against Rio Tinto to the Australian government in 2020.

British-Australian Rio Tinto has accepted the findings of the report released on Friday but has not responded to calls by landowners and affected communities to fund the clean-up.

• READ MORE: Other Panguna mine reports

Rio Tinto abandoned one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines in 1989 when a long-running dispute with landowners over the inequitable distribution of the royalties turned into an armed conflict.

The Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment report found the mine infrastructure, pit and levee banks pose “very high risks,” while landslides and exposure to mine and industrial chemicals present “medium to high” risks to local communities.

Flooding in downstream from Panguna — caused by a billion tons of mine tailings dumped into the Jaba-Kawerong river system — was reported as posing “very high” actual and potential human rights risks.

“The most serious concern is the potential impact to the right to life from unstable structures, and landform collapses and flooding hazards,” the report concluded, with the access to healthy environment, water, food and housing also impacted.

More than 25,000 people are estimated to live in the affected area, on the island of 300,000 in PNG’s east on the border with Solomon Islands.

“Rio Tinto must take responsibility for its legacy and fund the long-term solutions we need so that we can live on our land in safety again,” Theonila Roka Matbob, lead complainant and Bougainville parliamentarian, said in a statement.

“We never chose this mine, but we live with its consequences every day, trying to find ways to survive in the wasteland that has been left behind.”

“What the communities are demanding to know now is what the next step is. A commitment to remediation is where the data is pointing us to, and that’s what the people are waiting for.”

In August, Rio Tinto and its former subsidiary and mine operator Bougainville Copper Limited along with the Autonomous Bougainville Government signed an MoU to mitigate the risks of the ageing infrastructure in the former Panguna mine area.

Last month the three parties struck an agreement to form a “roundtable.”

Rio Tinto in a statement after the report’s release said the roundtable “plans to address the findings and develop a remedy mechanism consistent with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”

“While we continue to review the report, we recognize the gravity of the impacts identified and accept the findings,” chief executive of Rio Tinto’s Australia operations Kellie Parker said.

Rio Tinto divested its majority stake in the mine to the PNG and ABG governments in 2016, and reportedly wrote to the ABG saying it bore no responsibility.

Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama in welcoming the report thanked Rio Tinto “for opening up to this process and giving it genuine attention and input.”

In a statement he said it was a “significant milestone” that would help with the “move away from the damage and turmoil of the past and strengthen our pathway towards a stronger future.”

Bougainville voted for independence from PNG in 2019, with 97.7 per cent favoring nationhood.

Exploitation of Panguna’s estimated U.S.$60b in ore reserves has been touted as a major future source of income to fund independence. The referendum result has yet to be ratified by PNG’s parliament.

The first report of the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment identified what needs to be addressed or mitigated and what warrants further investigation.

The second phase of the process will conduct more intensive studies, with a second report to make recommendations on how the “complex” impacts should be remedied.

A 10-year civil war left up to 15,000 dead and 70,000 displaced across Bougainville as PNG forces –supplied with Australian weapons and helicopters – battled the poorly armed Bougainville Revolutionary Army.

Panguna remained a “no-go zone” despite the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001, and access has still been restricted in the decades since by a road block of former BRA fighters.

A complaint filed by the Australian-based Human Rights Law Centre on behalf of affected communities with the Australian government initiated the non-binding, international mechanism to report on “responsible business conduct.”

They alleged that Rio Tinto was responsible for “significant breaches of the OECD guidelines relating to the serious, ongoing environmental and human rights violations arising from the operation of its former Panguna mine.”

“This landmark report validates what communities in Bougainville have been saying for decades – the Panguna mine has left them living with an ongoing environmental and human rights disaster,” HRLC legal director Keren Adams said in a statement.

“There are strong expectations in Bougainville that Rio Tinto will now take swift action to help address the impacts and dangers communities are living with.”

The two-year, on-site independent scientific investigation by Australian engineering services company Tetra Tech Coffey made 24 recommendations on impacts to address and what needs further investigation.

Comprehensive field studies included soil, water and food testing, hydrology and geo-morphology analysis, and hundreds of community surveys and interviews.

Outstanding demands from the community include that Rio Tinto publicly commit to addressing the impacts, provide a timetable, contribute to a fund for immediate and long-term remediation and rehabilitation and undertake a formal reconciliation as per Bougainville custom.

A class action lawsuit brought by 5000 Bougainvilleans against Rio Tinto and subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited for billions in compensation earlier this year is unrelated to the impact assessment reports. Rio Tinto has said it will strongly defend its position.

Republished from BenarNews with permission.

Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama has called on Prime Minister James Marape to spell out “clearly and honestly” his fears about Bougainville obtaining independence from Papua New Guinea.

Toroama made this call over the PNG government’s delay of the referendum ratification process, which has been stalled beyond the required period for Parliament to give its blessing under the provisions of the Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA).

The national government and ABG convened the Joint Supervisory Body (JSB) meeting in Port Moresby yesterday where Marape and Toroama both addressed the members.

• READ MORE: Other Bougainville independence reports

“Honourable Prime Minister what is your fear? Toroama asked. “What is your apprehension?

“Is it that we will have nothing to do with PNG? Is it to do with the rest of the country seeking the union of PNG?

“Is it that you no longer take our referendum seriously?

“I appeal that we resort to our Melanesian customs, values, strengths which will continue to serve us.

‘Ultimate cry for freedom’
“Honourable Prime Minister, our position on this ratification pathway is simple.

“Bougainvilleans have voted for independence. That is the outcome that the BPA talks about as being subject to the ratification of the national Parliament; and that is the outcome that the national Parliament has to confirm, endorse, sanction, finalise, or ratify, according to Melanesian culture and protocol,” Toroama said.

“Honourable Prime Minister, we must not forget that Bougainville’s journey as a result of the conflict and the ultimate cry for freedom, self-determination and independence has been long, challenging and without a doubt, costly.

“More than 20,000 lives have been lost, infrastructure demolished to basically nothing and the rule of law, while being reconstructed slowly, mainly exists through traditional laws and systems.”

However, said President Toroama, on 30 August 2001, a peace deal had been secured by the people of Bougainville with the government of Papua New Guinea.

“It stopped a decade old conflict, established an autonomous government, and guaranteed a referendum to be held after 10 years but no later than 15 years.

“This was the Bougainville Peace Agreement — a peace deal that has been hailed as a great success story.

“Many years have gone by and the novelty of it all has rubbed off to some extent, yet its real value lies in the unknown nature of the referendum pillar of the agreement.

“The people of Bougainville have democratically exercised their constitutionally guaranteed right to choose their future and have voted for independence through a stunning 97.7 percent vote.”

Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea’s Minister of Bougainville Affairs, Manasseh Makiba, believes an absolute majority is needed for the vote on the Bougainville referendum because it involves changing the constitution.

Makiba told Parliament last month that two thirds of MPs would need to support the independence push, drawing the ire of Bougainville’s Minister of Independence Mission Implementation Ezekiel Massatt.

Massatt said officials from both governments had already agreed that a simple majority would suffice.

• READ MORE: PNG Parliament to decide on Bougainville
• Other Bougainville reports

Last month Massatt told RNZ Pacific that what transpired in the last session of Parliament gave the Bougainville leadership no confidence that they could achieve independence under a government led by Prime Minister James Marape.

But Makiba said the Bougainville Peace Agreement and the Constitution allowed for Parliament to make a decision on the 2019 Bougainville referendum which resulted in a 97.7 percent vote in favour of independence.

The National newspaper reports Makiba saying that, as an issue of sovereignty, the vote on Bougainville’s future has to be done with the same majority as that required for constitutional amendments.

He said officials had overstepped their authority in making a commitment to a simple majority.

Prerogative of Parliament
Makiba said it remained the prerogative of the Parliament to make its decision as to the appropriate voting majority.

He also rejected claims from Massatt that the national government was putting up roadblocks.

Makiba said the national government had been very supportive and committed to implementing the provisions of the Bougainville Peace Agreement and the PNG Constitution.

He said leaders needed to refrain from misleading people with the wrong information.

“The people must hear the correct information and the process and rule of law must be respected, followed, and upheld at all times,” he said.

“If certain leaders are not happy with the ratification process proposed to the Parliament to debate and adopt by way of Sessional Order they have the option to go to the Supreme Court to get interpretation on the ratification process,” he said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama today condemned a visiting Papua New Guinean member of Parliament for “mocking” the autonomous region’s independence aspirations during a drunken exchange in Buka last week, saying that he must “atone for his blunder”.

A video of Ijivitari MP David Arore allegedly abusing security guards and airport staff while getting ready to board a plane out of Buka last Friday has stirred wide condemnation by national and Bougainville leaders.

“Let us take this criticism in our stride and use this as motivation to continue to develop and progress,” President Toroama said in a statement, adding that sovereignty was “rightfully ours to claim”.

• READ MORE: President Toroama’s response to David Arore’s behaviour
• Makiba not impressed by Arore’s drunken behaviour
• Other Bougainville independence reports

“We are a people who have withstood tougher challenges than the words of a drunken man,” he said.

Arore’s visit to Bougainville was part of a delegation led by the Minister for Bougainville Affairs, Mannaseh Makiba. The visit was to help national MPs better understand the autonomous arrangements on Bougainville and meet local leaders and the people.

Toroama said the trip was a success but strongly criticised the behaviour of MP Arore, saying he did not have the “right to use it to insult our leaders and our people”.

“Sovereignty is rightfully ours to claim, we have paid for it with the unfair exploitation of our resources, our lives and the blood of the people who sacrificed their lives fighting for their freedom in an unjust war,” President Toroama said, referring to the now-closed rich Panguna copper mine and the decade-long civil war over the exploitation and environmental degradation.

Unfair comparison
It was unfair for Arore to even compare infrastructure development on Bougainville to that of the rest of the country because Bougainville was a post-conflict region that was only now “steadily gaining traction on development and peace”.

“Bougainville bankrolled PNG’s independence and set the very foundation for every form of development in this country,” President Toroama said.

“Subsequently, we had a war waged on our people by the very same government we built.

“You [Arore] can mock our shortcomings in development but do not mock the sanctity of our aspirations to be an independent nation.”

President Toroama thanked Bougainvilleans who witnessed Arore’s “tirade of insults” directed at the Air Niugini and National Airports Corporation (NAC) staff for “maintaining civility”.

“In this respect we proved that despite his inebriated state and the discourteous behaviour our people still showed respect for the office that he occupies as a national leader.”

But President Toroama called for an investigation, saying Arore “understands our Melanesian traditions” and he was “stlll subservient to the law”.

Minister apologises
A PNG Post-Courier report by Gorethy Kenneth and Miriam Zarriga said the delegation leader, Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makibe, had apologised for the behaviour of MP Arore.

“We left in good note. However, such behaviour by an MP is wrong and unacceptable,” Makiba said.

“We will not allow the unfortunate incident to deter the progress we have made and good working relationship we have with Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) leadership and people.

“We were not aware of this incident until now. Generally, our visit was well appreciated by ABG.

“I apologise for Mr Arore’s behaviour.”

According to reports, Arore insinuated that Bougainville’s independence was “not negotiable”, among other derogative comments he made at that time.

Arore told the Post-Courier he would not apologise as what he had said was not intended to upset Bougainville, its people and the leadership.

“I will not apologise. I have nothing to apologise for because I did not say something wrong, I did not abuse anyone and there was no commotion,” Arore claimed.

“All I said was, ‘Yumi laik kisim independence (if we want independence), yumi stretim balus na stretim hausik (we must fix our airport and our hospital)’.

“I said these same sentiments in Manus, where I said to the leaders there, ‘Manus has a big and very good airport but the town is in shambles’.

“I think we have made this very minor issue a very big one.”

‘We’ll have him arrested’
Police Commissioner David Manning said the incident of a MP allegedly drunk and disorderly on a flight would be investigated with him waiting on NAC and Air Niugini for a report and complaint.

“We will have him arrested. We are awaiting the NAC and Air Niugini,” he said.

Civil Aviation Minister Walter Schnaubelt said: “He (Arore) was also allowed to board the plane drunk, which is a security breach.

“So (we are) getting a report from our team on the ground so further preventative action can be taken. This sort of behaviour must not be tolerated, and we leaders must lead by example at all times.”

MP Arore is a member of PNG’s parliamentary law and order committee. The Ijivitari Open electorate is in Oro province.

In 2019, a non-binding independence referendum was held in Bougainville with 98.31 percent of voters supporting independence from Papua New Guinea.

Report compiled from Bougainville News and the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

RNZ Pacific

The autonomous government in the Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville is finally organising byelections next month in two seats that have been without representation for many months.

The elections, in Nissan and Haku constituencies, will be held on February 22, with nominations set to close tomorrow.

The Nissan seat has been vacant since July 2021, after then-Health Minister Charry Napto and his wife and child were among seven people lost at sea when a banana boat carrying them disappeared.

The Haku seat became vacant after the death of Xavier Kareku in March last year.

The writs were issued by the Speaker of the Bougainville House of Representatives, Simon Pentanu, in Buka on Tuesday.

Pentanu said he was happy to issue the writs so that the people can exercise their democratic rights and he called on candidates to campaign peacefully and let the people decide the leaders of their choice.

Acting Electoral Commissioner George Manu said the delay was due to a lack of funding.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) wants to delay the next meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body with the Papua New Guinea government, claiming Port Moresby is “dragging the chain” on drawing up critical constitutional regulations..

The key focus of the ABG is on achieving independence by 2027 by the latest.

This latest dispute comes despite both governments committing last April to the Era Kone Covenant which lays out how the independence referendum results would be tabled in the national Parliament, and the manner in which that institution may ratify the results.

• READ MORE: Other reports on Bougainville independence

At that time Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama commended the national government for its unwavering support for the Bougainville Peace Process.

He said the Era Kone Covenant laid out a timeline and a roadmap for the ratification of the referendum results in the national Parliament.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape at the time reaffirmed his commitment to the outcomes, saying his government would continue to work within the spirit of the peace agreement.

“We’ve established a pathway that we should work towards and we on the national government side, I just want to assure Bougainville that it doesn’t matter who sits in this chair in 3 months’ time, the work for Bougainville has been set and the work we have set will continue on,” Marape said.

Failed to engage
But a national government’s technical team has since failed to engage with its Bougainville counterparts to develop a jointly agreed draft of the regulations.

ABG Minister Ezekiel Masatt said this week this lack of commitment from the national government has frustrated the ABG leadership and prompted its call for a deferral of the Joint Supervisory Body meeting.

The PNG government, and its technical team, have called for nationwide consultations on the Bougainville issue, but Masatt said the ABG’s position was that ratification of the outcome of the consultation on independence was for the national Parliament and not all the citizens of PNG.

He said there was no legal basis for such a proposed nationwide consultation.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Last week the Bougainville Autonomous Government announced an agreement had been reach with Panguna landowners to reopen the island’s controversial gold and copper mine.

Once the backbone of the Papua New Guinea economy, Panguna has been idle since the civil war began more than 30 years ago — a war the mine was at least partly responsible for.

But now the leaders of the five major clans in the Panguna area — Basikang, Kurabang, Bakoringu, Barapang and Mantaa — have said they will allow the mine to reopen.

Don Wiseman of RNZ Pacific asked Islands Business specialist writer on PNG Kevin McQuillan about the significance of the decision:

KMcQ: “This is hugely significant. It’s significant for the people of Bougainville, the Bougainville Autonomous Government, the national government, and, dare I say, probably the whole region. But on the other hand, it also creates a huge dilemma for the national government. Panguna was probably the second biggest copper and gold mine in the world, and at one point and accounted for two fifths of Papua New Guinea’s GDP.

“So when it was operating, that was a huge source of income for the national government. But it wasn’t so much of course, for the people of Bougainville, which prompted the 10 years civil war in part. The other element of that civil war, apart from the poor income that the operators gave the people of Bougainville was the environmental damage to the island of Bougainville.”

DW: President Ishmael Toroama has said that being able to open Panguna again is a critical step on the road to independence, in terms of showing economic viability.

KMcQ: “Yes. And that’s reflected also in the fact that there’s been mounting pressure over the last probably 10 or more years for the mine to open because the generations coming through have had very little in the way of food, shelter, clothing, educational opportunities, so on and so forth. And a lot of that pressure to reopen has come from the younger generation, because they want the opportunities that they know exist.

“For the national government it creates the dilemma of having agreed to discuss Bougainville breaking away, but not wanting to break away. What does it do to keep Bougainville within the fold, because the potential income for not just for Bougainville but for the country as a whole is enormous — 42 percent of GDP when it was operating.

“It may not be as much when it does get back up and running, but it will certainly be a significant contributor to the PNG economy. So where [Prime Minister James] Marape and whoever takes over as prime minister, if he loses the election this year, goes with discussions on Bougainville and its independence is hugely significant for the country as a whole.”

DW: This idea that President Toroama has of it being a conduit to independence may in fact work in the other direction.

KMcQ: “Well, it all depends on the negotiating skills really. The other element that comes into play is that BCL — Bougainville Copper Ltd — is now jointly controlled by the Papua New Guinea government and the Bougainville Autonomous Government, through a company called Bougainville Minerals Ltd. They both own a 36.4 percent share in Bougainville Copper.

“Over the past few years there have been promises from the national government to transfer that 36.4 percent shareholding that the national government has to the people Bougainville, which would give it roughly 72 percent shareholding in Bougainville Copper. It’s never happened.

“The national government has held off transferring that money despite the promises that it would do so. And this is going to be a key negotiating point in the future of independence. The national government, of course, does not want Bougainville to go independent. And there are options. There are other options.

“It’s not a binary choice of either independence or not. It could be that the negotiations see the Bougainville area stay within, if you like the parameters of Papua New Guinea, but having a high degree of independence. But whatever that actually means, nobody’s really going to know until the negotiations finish.”

DW: Yes. So the PNG government could hold on to shareholding and still earn from Panguna. Even if it went to this lesser form of independence.

KMcQ: “Yes, it could. But you can really bet your bottom dollar that if the national government holds on to its 36.4 percent shareholding, which was given to it by Rio Tinto, despite those promises, that will be a matter of a court case.”

DW: Now you talk about a lot of people being very keen to see the mine reopened. But there are also many, many people who certainly don’t want to see it reopen.

KMcQ: “They do but what has given this announcement the impetus is that clan chiefs’ representatives from the five major clans from the area have agreed to this resolution to re-open the mine.

“There will always be opposition to reopening the mine. There always has been, even over the last 10 years, when previous president of Bougainville, Fr John Momis, wanted the mine to reopen.

“There was a significant minority. Well, a vocal minority is probably more accurate, deeply opposed to the reopening of mine on environmental grounds.”

DW: With these announcements the minuscule share price for Bougainville Copper has soared.

KMcQ: “Well, it has doubled on news of this announcement. And it means that BCL has a market capitalisation of around about NZ$260 to NZ$265 or NZ$270 million . The point about the doubling of the share prices is the support that it reflects for the re-opening of mine.

“Plus it also, it paves the way for a company to be a little bit more settled in the prospects of the process of reopening the mine. The last valuation that they had to reopen the mine, which was several years ago now, said that it would cost between around about NZ$6 billion to reopen the mine. But over its lifetime, it would earn roughly $75 billion.

“So it’s a high risk, high reward investment. But the fact that this resolution has been made, declared, share prices doubled. It means that Bougainville Copper is probably a lot more confident this week than it was last week that it could go ahead and do some preparatory work for the reopening of the mine, which could take five to seven years.”

DW: They are just eyewatering figures aren’t they?

KMcQ: Well, it shows the potential. I mean this is a mine that was the second biggest gold and copper mine in the world. And there will be a lot of companies, global companies keen to get involved. Rio Tinto has put its fingers into the air and sniffed the wind and it realises that this could finally happen.

DW: You mean Rio Tinto is lining up to to work with its former company?

KMcQ: “Well, it certainly looks that way. In 2016, because of the criticism that Rio Tinto had, or was receiving because of the huge environmental damage that it caused to the Bougainville area, it gave away its mine.

“It had a choice of either fixing up the environment or walking away, as it saw it. So it walked away — gave those shares equally to the Bougainville government and the national government. But now it wants to get back involved.

“And over the last week it has been talking about repairing some of the environmental damage that it caused during the mine’s operation. But there are other companies involved around the world, which could get involved.

“I’m thinking Glencore, the Swiss-based development company could get involved as well. Now, the reason why this is important is because BCL does not have the financial wherewithal to go and reopen the mine at a cost of $6 billion.

“And it’s only gotten roughly NZ$260 million in play. And really, it doesn’t have the expertise to reopen the mine, develop it, run it. It would have to go into partnership with one of the big mining companies Rio Tinto, or Glencore, or somebody else.

“The former president, Sir John Momis, had negotiations or had talked to China about the possibility of a Chinese company moving in and developing the mine. So in the current climate of debate around China’s role in South Pacific, one has to wonder just what impact that might have on the Australian, New Zealand, American governments.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The dormant Bougainville Copper Limited share value has more than doubled overnight on the Australian Stock Exchange following a resolution to reopen the rich but controversial Panguna copper mine.

Landowners from the mine area and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) signed a joint resolution last Friday to reopen the mine, causing the leap in its share price.

The ABG’s current 36.4 percent (146,175,449 shares) shareholding was worth K146.2 million (NZ$63 million) when the shares were worth 40 cents each on Thursday.

• READ MORE: Panguna mine at centre of bloody Bougainville conflict set to reopen after 30 years

On Friday afternoon, however, the share value was worth K325.2 million (NZ$152 million) when they increased and closed at 89 cents, a jump of 122.5 per cent.

That is an increase of K179 million (NZ$89 million).

It shows what a little bit of good news and perhaps a demonstration of confidence in Bougainville can do.

ABG President Ishmael Toroama acknowledged and congratulated the five clans and their respective leadership for taking the bold stand to reopen the mine.

Facilitate reopening process
Toroama said that following the signing of the joint resolutions, the ABG through the Department of Mineral and Energy Resources and other relevant departments, would now work together with the landowner groups to facilitate the process towards the reopening.

The ABG government is confident that the mine reopening would be a major boost for Bougainville’s economic future and at the same time guarantee Bougainville’s political independence.

“Today marks the ending and the beginning of a new chapter, a chapter to realize Bougainville’s independence,” Toroama said.

BCL general manager and secretary Mark Hitchcock said the significant increase in the volume of BOC’s securities traded from 10 February 2022 to 11 February 2022 and the article published on the Autonomous Bougainville Government website entitled “Panguna Landowners and ABG agree to reopen Panguna Mine” dated 11 February 2022 contributed to the latter.

“We understand the article published relates to resolutions passed during a Panguna landowner summit that was supported by the ABG,” he said.

“The landowners appear to have agreed to work co-operatively with the ABG to reopen the Panguna Mine.

“According to the article the resolutions were endorsed by the chiefs of the five major Panguna clans and the ABG will now work with landowners to facilitate a process towards reopening.

Fair representation of events
“If the article is a fair representation of the events, then this would appear to demonstrate unity amongst the landowners and, would also boost confidence in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville as it pursues economic independence.

“Bougainville Copper Limited is engaged in investment activities.

The company’s assets include the Panguna mine and associated facilities on Bougainville, and equities listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

“There is no change in the status of the shareholdings of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and PNG shareholdings in BOC.

The PNG government’s commitment to transfer their shares to the ABG remains pending and both governments continue to hold 36.4 percent each of the shares in BOC.

“The judicial review of the ABG’s decision not to renew the exploration licence over Panguna remains in process and we anticipate proceedings to commence in the first quarter of 2022.”

The ABG has a 36.4 percent ownership stake in BCL, which is set to become a 72.8 percent majority share with the PNG national government committed to transferring over its 36.4 percent share.

Active presence on the ground
Hitchcock said BCL had long had an active presence on the ground in Bougainville with a locally engaged team.

It had continued supporting community projects and other initiatives.

Bougainville Copper’s board has strong levels of local representation with four prominent Bougainvillean directors – Sir Mel Togolo, David Osikore, James Rutana and Kearnneth Nanei.

Other board members are Sir Rabbie Namaliu, Sir Moi Avei, Dame Carol Kidu and Peter Graham.

“Over time, BCL has transformed into a truly local company,” Hitchcock said.

Decade-long civil war
Panguna mine was at the centre of a decade-long civil war between rebels in Bougainville and Papua New Guinea security forces, reports The Guardian.

It was once one of the world’s largest and most profitable copper and goldmines and still contains an estimated 5.3 mllion tonnes of copper and 19.3m ounces of gold, which would make the reserves worth about $60 billion at today’s prices.

In 1989, amid rising community anger at the environmental damage and the inequitable division of the mine’s profits, locals forced closure of the mine, blowing up Panguna’s power lines and sabotaging operations.

The PNG government sent in troops against its own citizens to restart the foreign-owned mine, sparking a bloody, decade-long civil war. A peace settlement was brokered by New Zealand in 2001.

Gorethy Kenneth is a senior PNG Post-Courier journalist. This article is republished with permission.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has appealed to his fellow Solomon Islanders at the western border not to allow Bougainvilleans into the country.

In his nation’s address last Friday, Sogavare recapped the country’s first covid-19 case recorded from a Shortland islander, dropped off by four Bougainvilleans in Shortland, who was automatically tested positive and is still in a 14-day quarantine with his seven family members who also tested positive.

The four Bougainvilleans returned home the same day and are back in their respective villages.

• READ MORE: Other Solomon Island reports

Sogavare singled out the New Year delta and omicron cases recorded in Solomon Islands which were brought in by citizens returning from outside Honiara.

“The western border continues to be an area of priority for health,” he said.

“For the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and other border force agencies, it represents a potential source of covid-19 incursion into the country.

“For example, on New Year’s Day, a man from the Shortlands travelled with four Bougainville nationals from Bougainville to Shortland.

“The four Bougainvilleans returned straight after dropping off the man.

In quarantine facility at Nila
“The man is now held at the quarantine facility in Nila along with seven of his family members with whom he had made close contact.

“They will undergo 14 days of quarantine and only released if all tests results are returned negative.

“Five who had been held at the Nila isolation ward at Shortlands will be released after serving 14 days if their results return negative.

“These five individuals have made close contact with people from Bougainville.

“My good people, living along the western border, I ask you to refrain from going across the border to Bougainville.

“I also ask you to not allow any visitors from Bougainville to your villages during the period of the State of Emergency. Please continue to be vigilant to prevent the entry of covid-19 through our western border.”

ABG health chief ‘not aware’
Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) Health Secretary Dr Clement Totavun told the Post-Courier they were not aware of the incident singled out by Sogavare but also said the border had been closed since 2020 when the covid initial measures were released and PNG Immigration and other border offices had ordered immediate closure.

“There is currently a ban on traditional border crossing,” he said.

“The border is closed.

“The Border Protection Authority is supposed to man the border but surveillance at the moment is not effective.”

He said he would communicate with National Pandemic Controller David Manning on this issue.

Gorethy Kenneth is a senior PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama has urged his people not to take a surge in covid-19 positive cases lightly, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

He said the pandemic had reached a large proportion globally — and even locally in Papua New Guinea where the seriousness of the crisis was shown by an alarming number of deaths and reported positive cases.

Toroama said the measures being instituted by the government were not to subdue individual rights to freedom of movement and the freedom to health care, they were a protective measure to protect lives.

• READ MORE: Other PNG covid crisis reports

“Under the new normal initiative, we must contain covid-19 and mitigate its spread throughout the region. We must work together to manage it,” he said.

Toroama also said vaccination was voluntary and no one would be forced to take it.

“However, those who opt not to receive the vaccine must not impede the rights of those who are willing to take it — everyone is entitled to healthcare in the region,” he said.

“No one must impose on the rights of the ones who want access to it.

Covid protocols apply
“For the Autonomous Bougainville Government, we do not have a ‘No Jab, No Job’ policy but covid-19 protocols still apply in the workplace environment.

“The 14-day lockdown imposed by the covid-19 response team is a direct response to the recent surge of covid-19 cases that we have in the region.”

He said the steps taken by the Pandemic Controller and Secretary of Health Clement Totavun were necessary to “keep our people safe”.

“I urge all to support the Covid-19 Response Team’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus and adhere to the measures imposed.”

He said the simple action of adhering to these measures would help protect the lives of “countless Bougainvilleans”.

• According to the John Hopkins University covid dashboard, Papua New Guinea has 32,279 cases of infection and 415 deaths from covid-19. Health officials believe this is an under-estimate and less than 2 percent of the population are vaccinated.
  

Republished with permission.

Ten years ago, a dinghy carrying 5 medical research institute scientists disappeared in Papua New Guinea’s West New Britain waters.

The scientists — 3 men and 2 women — have never been found.

A few weeks ago, the PNG Medical Research Institute finally closed its book on the missing five.

• READ MORE: Other reports on PNG piracy
• Global piracy on The Conversation

What remains interesting in this case is an open finding in a coronial inquest several years ago, which did not rule out an act of piracy in its conclusion.

Last Friday, hundreds of angry protesters marched in the town of Buka, raising their voices against piracy and venting their anger against the new Autonomous Region of Bougainville for failing to take action against sea pirates.

They, just like every other Papua New Guinean, have every right to know how their loved ones have vanished without a trace while travelling along the shores or out in the open oceans.

In recent years in East New Britain, sea pirates caught by police were prosecuted and sentenced to death.

In the Gulf of Papua, travellers from Gulf and Western fall victim to sea and river pirates.

Along the Northern Province waters and Milne Bay waters, sea piracy is becoming a common law and order issue. In the last two years, wanted criminal Tommy Baker led a string of piracy attacks.

He is still on the run.

Papua New Guinea has a vast coastline and many islands.

In fact, our coastline is said to be 5,152 km (3,201 miles) long. And out in the open seas, there are many big islands and even more smaller islands, many uninhabited.

Policing the vast coastline and the islands is nonexistent.

Once in a while, we hear of piracy, boats shot up, people robbed, women kidnapped and sexually abused, children subjected to trauma.

Some victims are never to be heard of or seen again.

In the absence of anything resembling a coast guard, the government needs to have a policy on this that works for public confidence, public protection and interest.

The NMSA needs to seriously consider this as a national threat to the safety of our travelling public who use small craft and smalls ships for movement of passengers and cargo.

Police boats given to maritime provinces are virtually useless given that they are hardly used on anti-piracy patrols due to lack of funding.

Boat travellers and seagoing ships are tired of this. Incidences of piracy are now being reported on our country’s big rivers and waterways. This is adding to the fear our people face.

Some years ago, the NMSA made it compulsory for small boats to be registered, and owners to provide emergency equipment on their craft.

This law is not effective, just as taxi meters for taxi operators is non operable on land.

In this age of rocket science, internet and robots, and drones, finding missing boats or hijacked craft using GPS, should be made mandatory and the costs passed onto dinghy manufacturers to include Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon on their products.

Frankly, we have had enough of piracy on the high seas and on our rivers.

This editorial was published by the PNG Post-Courier today, 29 September 2021.

Full independence will be top of the agenda pledges Ishmael Toroama, the newly elected president for the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

Straight after his declaration yesterday at Hutjena in Bougainville, President-elect Toroama, a former rebel commander during the Bougainville civil war of the late 1980s, said he was looking forward to consulting with the PNG government to drive home the will of Bougainvilleans for independence.

But immediately after the return of writs for all seats, he said he would roll out a 100-day plan following the forming of his cabinet.

• READ MORE: ougainville president-elect Ishmael Toroama – rebel, peacemaker, farmer
• Father, daughter team win seats in Bougainville general election

“After the return of the writs, I will then see and fully understand who the people have voted in and start allocating ministries,” he said.

“This goes to the members who have retained their seats. I will screen and check them out whether they have participated well in their previous ministries or not in order to give them ministries.”

President-elect Toroama also highlighted that he would like to rearrange the public service within the first 100 days to put in place strategies to help the people of Bougainville.

He said this election, which had been held just after the independence referendum, was about the same issue – independence – which he said had been going on for quite a while now.

Independence the right of the people
“In fact, in this election independence has been the right of the people, for them to be democratically free … the vote has just been spelled out to bring us to some kind of numbers but consultation with the national government is still around.”

He said he was sizing up and looking at his government to play that vital role in embracing the people’s will to talk about independence.

“It gives us a good opportunity to select those who have voted us into Parliament so that we can pursue and strengthen the development happening in Bougainville through consultation.”

Toroama has also extended an “olive oil branch” to rival candidates if they wanted to work with him to create a peaceful Bougainville.

“They are most welcome,” he said. “They are leaders on their own rights and it is something for us to sit down and discuss and see what we can come up with and fit those people who’ve run the race with me.”

‘Corruption-free’ administration
The National’s Miriam Zarriga reports that President-elect Ishmael Toroama is expected to be sworn in tomorrow in Buka before he forms a caretaker government and sets in motion his plans for a “corruption-free” administration.

The 51-year-old former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander was declared the winner on 51,317 votes after the 23rd elimination on Tuesday night, beating former Central Bougainville MP Simon Dumarinu who had 33,088 votes.

“I am honoured to get this seat. I salute our good Lord for making things happen,” he told The National from Buka yesterday.

“It is my great honour to serve my people of Bougainville,”

The writs of the 2020 Bougainville election are expected to be returned to the Speaker Simon Pentanu in the House of Representatives today, marking the end of the election, and the end of the previous administration.

Toroama will then pick a male and a female elected member to be part of his caretaker government.

They will be sworn in by Justice Sir Kina Bona, the resident judge in Buka tomorrow.

Victory dedicated to Francis Ona
In an early interview with the PNG Post-Courier yesterday morning, Toroama battled tears as he remembered the late Francis Ona and Joseph Kabui’s dream for Bougainville as he was preparing to be declared president-elect.

President Toroama, in the company of his three children, said he would honour the late Ona’s dream which he held on to – and this was independence and restricting the use of alcohol.

Toroama said as he was closely associated with Ona and two things he always talked about were alcohol and independence.

“One of the two things the late Francis Ona always talked about with me and my team was alcohol drinking,” he said.

“It was something I said [that I would] do if I take the seat and that would be to make sure that alcohol will be served only in hotels, that’s one thing mi laik mekim long behalf blong em taim mi kisim seat.

“I will use my powers to stop this! And the other one [Ona talked about] is independence. I want to say that we are still struggling along the way but every struggle we make, there is a victory, every fight that we fight there is always a victory, without a fight, there is no victory!

“So I must say, what we struggled for, there is hope for achievement now, and this will be high on agenda when we start consulting with the national government forward.”

Toroama paid tribute to the late reclusive leader Francis Ona and said he could now implement Ona’s dream which was independence for Bougainville.

He also paid tribute to the late Joseph Kabui, whom he also served.

Congratulations from Marape
The Post-Courier reports that Prime Minister James Marape had congratulated Ishmael Toroama on his success.

“Congratulations of the highest order to Ishmael Toroama. Your win was conclusive and I offer my support to work with you to deliver on my commitments to Bougainville,” Marape said.

“Let me appreciate also the hard efforts of outgoing President Dr John Momis for his undying and untiring efforts for people empowerment both in Bougainville and greater PNG. Your legacies and ideologies will live on.”

This composite article is drawn from reports from The National and PNG Post-Courier with permission.

A father-daughter team will join the Autonomous Bougainville Government House of Representatives after winning their seats in the recent election.

Raymond Masono retained his seat as the Atolls MP while daughter Amanda Masono Getsi was declared the winner of the North Region Women’s Representative seat.

She told The National she was overwhelmed by the support of the 80,000 people of North Bougainville who had confidence in her.

• READ MORE: ougainville president-elect Ishmael Toroama – rebel, peacemaker, farmer

“I was voted by both men and women and I will do my best to represent the women of North Bougainville in the ABG (House of Representatives),” she said.

She has a bachelor of law degree from the University of Papua New Guinea and a masters of law degree from the University of Melbourne.

Getsi has more than 10 years of experience as a public servant, during which she played a role in the Bougainville Referendum Commission.

She won one of the three reserved seats for women in the House of Representatives to represent the North, Central and South regions.

Theresa Kaetavara had earlier won the South Bougainville seat and Yolande Geraldine Paul won the Central Bougainville seat.

Kaetavara too will be joined in the House by her son Emmanuel Carlos Kaetavara who won the Baba constituency seat.

Paul will also be joined by her partner Morris Opeti who won the Taonita-Teop constituency seat.

Former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander Ishmael Toroama was yesterday declared President-elect of Bougainville following the election process that began in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region six weeks ago.

The Central and South ex-combatant representatives have already been declared with 33 constituency seats.

The Pacific Media Centre republishes The National articles with permission.

Ishmael Toroama built his reputation as a bold fighter and later a commander in the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) in its struggle to close the Panguna copper and gold mine and gain independence for Bougainville from Papua New Guinea in the 10-year civil war of the 1990s.

Later, in 2001, he became a signatory of the Bougainville Peace Agreement under the auspices of which last year’s referendum on Bougainville independence recorded a huge vote in favour of the province’s separation from PNG.

But in more recent years, Toroama, from Central Bougainville, returned to what his family has done for generations – peacefully grow cocoa.

• READ MORE: Ishmael Toroama declared president-elect of Bougainville

In this capacity he once told a journalist that he had a dream: “One day I’d like to be able to buy a bar of Amataa chocolate – with a focus on the flavour.”

And now he stands on the threshold of becoming the next president of Bougainville. A Bougainville which itself may be standing on the threshold of independence.

Bougainville Presidential Count Update
21st Elimination – Tuesday afternoon
47,145 – Ishmael Toroama
29,896 – Simon Duraminu
20,953 – Peter Tsiamalili
20,107 – Thomas Raivet

Toroama, whose body bears the scars of many hard fought battles, joined the BRA in its early days and according to one story was the first BRA guerrilla to obtain an automatic weapon from the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF).

In a journal article ‘The Gangs of Bougainville’ by Stan Starygin, Toroama was portrayed as a ‘Rambo’ . He came to wider attention in the documentary film, The Coconut Revolution, which sought to portray the BRA as a band of convivial guerrillas in pursuit of self-reliance and a return to a traditional lifestyle.

Field commander
Toroama did not take long to become a prominent ‘field commander’ in the BRA and later succeeded the BRA’s first ‘chief of defence’, Sam Kauona, who happens to be an eliminated candidate in the current election.

As journalist Dominic Rotheroe wrote in an article in The Independent (The Green Guerrillas, 13 September 1998) Toroama is nothing if not a very strong and intimidating man:

“Ten minutes further into this training patrol, a mock ambush is launched and Ishmael Toroama hurtles into the bush, M-16 blazing, while his soldiers blast the jungle with a mix of captured M-l6s, rejuvenated Second World World War guns, and home-made rifles. This may be to keep the ‘boys’, as everyone calls the BRA, on their toes. But the tear gas is purely for us, a short sharp dose of Bougainville reality.

“Ishmael is fond of dishing out such medicine. Later, as he accelerates his battered 4×4 Hi-lux truck along a track more hole than road, he admits that on these training exercises he attacks his men with live ammunition.

“‘Ever hit any?’ I ask. ‘Oh yes.’ ‘How many?’ ‘Twelve.’ ‘Twelve! Seriously injured?’ ‘Er, one yes, very.’ It is training like this that has turned the BRA into such an effective fighting force. There are no half-measures here.”

But Jesus was to come into Toroama’s life when, during a skirmish with PNG government forces in 1997, he was critically wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Rotheroe wrote:

“Jesus has come into Ishmael’s life in a big way. The big man is ‘no longer proud to be a fighter’. Inside his house a picture of Rambo is now dwarfed by a flock of evangelical posters. He tells us how Jesus appeared to him after he was wounded. ‘He said to me, you are an inch from death now. Follow me, because I am the Lord.’ And this he did; when the war ends, he says, he would like to become a preacher.”

Peace agreement
Well, this did not happen. First Toroama helped negotiate the peace agreement, then took the lead in subsequent reconciliations, next benefited greatly from selling scrap mine equipment from Panguna and later returned to the family tradition of cocoa farming.

During this post-war period, Toroama and his group not only expanded their activities by dismantling and selling scrap metal from Panguna but by offering ‘protection services’ to local businesses and visitors.

Starygin writes that during the disarmament process endorsed by the peace agreement, “Toroama presented himself as an agent of peace”.

Toroama’s role was accepted by the international peace brokers who worked with him on the disarmament process and he acquired status by tapping the largesse they brought to Bougainville, becoming the virtual master of ceremonies at peace and reconciliation events.

This role, Starygin says, “went beyond the use of his celebrity to bring disputants together and grew to include event management by Toroama’s gang and those businesses in which Toroama ‘had an interest’ which, in turn, became the main conduits for AusAid and UNDP’s reconciliation dollars.”

Starygin writes:

“Toroama’s BRA-days notoriety, his role in the peace process, the magnitude of his post-crisis ‘economic activity’ and the possession of weapons and loyalty of the men who carry them have made Toroama a viable political force in Central Bougainville. Toroama has not won an election yet but it is not for want of trying.

“He is no underdog and has come a solid second in the last two elections, although the voters each time preferred a civil servant with a record of service to Toroama. Encouraged by his numbers and undeterred by defeat Toroama has announced his candidacy for President of Bougainville for the 2015 election.”

Distant second
He finished a distant second to John Momis (who in that election received more than 51,000 votes to Toroama’s 18,466) but now, five years on, it seems that his political ambition is about to be fulfilled.

Ishmael Toroama – fighter, rebel leader, peace broker, scrap metal dealer, security boss and coca farmer – now seems likely to be fifth president of Bougainville.

We can only surmise from his background that he is well experienced and that he is a formidable man.

But we don’t yet know how this personal history will transition into how he will perform in the role of a significant Melanesian political leader.

What we do know is that Toroama has been an independence fighter, that a majority of the Bougainville people want independence, that the Papua New Guinea government has shown no support for this and that the epic question of Bougainville independence is one that is up for answering.

What we do suspect is that, although Ishmael Toroama has shown himself to be a shrewd operator, there is no proof of any illegality or corruption in his varied and volatile career.

That is an important consideration given that corruption in Bougainville, as it is in PNG, has been a problem of mounting concern.

We do indeed live in interesting times.

Keith Jackson is a retired educator, school publications editor and communications lecturer and consultant in Papua New Guinea who has managed radio stations in Rabaul and Bougainville and was head of policy and planning in the National Broadcasting Commission at independence in 1975. He has also worked in development and communication roles for UNESCO in Fiji, Indonesia, India, Maldives and the Philippines. He began his PNG Attitude blog in 2006. Pacific Media Centre articles are republished with permission.

• Former BRA leader Toroama increases his Bougainville poll lead over rivals

The trend is your friend, it is said, and the trend in counting votes for the next president of Bougainville remains firmly with former Bougaiville Revolutionary Army commander Ishmael Toroama, who continues to move ahead of the field.

With the elimination of the 14th presidential candidate late afternoon it became clear that only the two leaders among the 11 remaining contenders can come close to an absolute majority of 71,725 votes.

The release of updated figures this afternoon showed Ishmael Toroama consolidating his position as the likely winner as he moved out to a 10,500 vote lead over second-placed candidate Father Simon Dumarinu.

READ MORE: Earlier Bougainville vote stories

There were a few changes in the positions of the top 10 candidates during the day, the main one being Peter Tsiamalili moving into fourth place pushing Fidelis Semoso down to fifth.

But it seems that neither candidate can win from here.

Dumarinu remains about 7000 votes ahead of a bunch of three candidates – Thomas Raivet, Peter Tsiamalili and Fidelis Semoso – who all need the current preference trend to switch steeply their way to remain in the race.

Standings after the 14th count:
Ishmael Toroama – 33,007
Simon Dumarinu – 22,474
Thomas Raivet – 14,779
Peter Tsiamalili – 14,324
Fidelis Semoso – 14,038
Samuel Kauona – 9,240
Joe Lera – 9,325
James Tanis – 9,096
Wesma Piika – 5,159
Sione Paasia – 4,973

Keith Jackson is a retired educator, school publications editor and communications lecturer in Papua New Guinea who has managed radio stations in Rabaul and Bougainville and was head of policy and planning in the National Broadcasting Commission at independence in 1975. He has also worked in development and communication roles for UNESCO in Fiji, Indonesia, India, Maldives and the Philippines. He began his PNG Attitude blog in 2006. Pacific Media Centre articles are republished with permission.

Bougainville’s retiring president says some candidates are bullying or offering inducements to buy their way into the new parliament.

John Momis first raised his concerns while speaking during Papua New Guinea’s 45th anniversary celebrations on Wednesday.

Momis praised the success of PNG’s constitution, and contrasted this with the way some in Bougainville were flouting the Bougainville constitution.

• READ MORE: PNG-Post-Courier: ‘Future of Bougainville at stake, choose wisely and carefully’

He said these people were not respecting the rule of law which was the essence of democracy.

Momis said some candidates had used a variety of tactics, including money inducements, to frighten people into submission.

“Because, I guess, because we have a very weak police, rule of law is a very real problem in Bougainville,” he said.

“Especially this year when you don’t have international observers here for the elections, it’s quite clear that some people were more or less forcing people to vote for them, or using all types of propaganda to get people, to scare them into submission.”

Momis, who is due to finish his 10 years as Bougainville’s president in the coming week, said some parties, including his own, were preparing demands for vote recounts.

The election count was this week extended by nine days with the Electoral Commissioner, George Manu, saying there were about 30 percent more voters and candidates than in the last poll.

Manu hoped to finish the count on Tuesday or Wednesday, with the writs to be returned to the Speaker next week on September 24.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander, Ishmael Toroama, is starting to build a substantial lead after count 206 in the presidential vote.

With counting of the northern votes happening through the weekend, Toroama has established a buffer of more than 2200 votes over second placed Father Simon Dumarinu.

A number of other candidates continue to pick up significant numbers of votes, with Thomas Raivet in third but nearly 10,000 votes back, the former head of the Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation, Peter Tsiamalili, making up considerable ground to be fourth, Toroama’s BRA colleague Sam Kauona coming into the picture.

But as James Tanis, who is slipping down the leaderboard, has previously pointed out, the critical factor will be how the preference votes end up being allocated.

And with 25 candidates in the race there are many thousands of those.

Count toss up
There was an unusual event near the end of the count in the southern region seat, Makis, on Saturday.

The Bougainville Electoral Commission reports that the two leading candidates were tied with one elimination stage to go, so a coin toss was used to decide which of them would go forward before the last of those preference votes could be shared.

So one candidate was duly eliminated but the eventual winner was Junior Tumare, who had been lying in third spot before the toss.

Confirmed returns
Several incumbents have been returned, including long time Bougainville MP, Ezekiel Masatt, in Tonsu, John Tabinaman in Mahari and Chris Kakapetai in Teua.

Kakapetai’s success came as no surprise to one of his competitors, Chris Siriosi.

He finished third after the 8th elimination and said Kakapetai got a large number of votes from one part of the constituency.

Siriosi said, in addition, he lacked the funds others had going into the poll.

He is a former acting secretary for the government and said he will now focus on getting a job.

“I have got to get back to the government on employment. That kind of arrangement, either with the Ombudsman Commission – my interest lies with the Ombudsman Commission, or with the administration. My services are needed there anyway, ” Siriosi said.

Peace focus
One newcomer to the Bougainville Parliament is hoping to continue his work in peace building.

Emmanuel-Carl Kataevara won the Baba constituency in South Bougainville.

He said it was his second attempt to get into Parliament and he came more prepared this time round.

Kataevara, who has worked with the Bougainville government and the United Nations as a peace builder, is hoping he can still be involved in that process.

He said he hoped for a cabinet role and his focus remained on Bougainville achieving its independence goal.

“We shouldn’t lose focus, we shouldn’t lose sight of the objective and the whole reason for the conflict on Bougainville, and as much as possible ensure that the process works towards achieving that objective,” he said.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Thomas Raivet has roared into contention as the Bougainville presidential vote count continues while former rebel military leader Ishmael Toroama retains the lead.

Raivet, who is the surrogate for retiring President John Momis, is now in second place behind Toroama.

In third place is the former president, James Tanis.

• READ MORE: Toroama widens lead in Bougainville presidential vote

Toroama believes that as the vote count moves north he will continue to hold his lead, though Tanis says it is too early to call.

Raivet was put forward as a candidate after the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled out Momis’ bid for a third term.

He is a former naval captain and has been the acting chief secretary of the Bougainville government.

There are 25 people contesting the presidency and the proportional voting system in Bougainville means votes are re-allocated when candidates fade during the count.

Meanwhile, a number of constituency seats have been decided and they include one notable loss, that of Albert Punghau, in the Siwai district.

Punghau, as the Minister of Peace Agreement Implementation, had been instrumental in ensuring last year’s referendum on independence from PNG went smoothly.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

An almost half-empty Bougainville House of Representatives has farewelled John Momis, the region’s longest serving president to date and a senior Papua New Guinea statesmen,  in a shunned and scandalous lack of attendance in the final session of the Parliament on Friday.

The Bougainville Legislature has 40 Members. However, The Bougainvillean counted not more than 20 of them present.

While President Momis and his 10-member Cabinet were present, many other seats of constituency members in the chamber were empty.

Some members left the session halfway through, while others took their leave soon after paying their tributes to the out-going president, who is one of the co-authors of the national constitution and father of decentralisation in the country.

President Momis had taken up to an hour with his final address to the House of Representatives – recounting his political life since 1972, and the floor was then opened up for tributes.

With almost 50 years in politics, many members remembered Momis as a young, spirited Catholic priest with political intentions.

Born during World War II, Momis has been acclaimed on the world stage as well as papua New Guinea, as someone who strives to empower people realising their potential.

Public seek independence
But the now 81-year-old has been viewed by analysts as more in favour of continued autonomy and continued integration with Papua New Guinea – a view not shared by some MPs and the wider public who are for outright independence and severing of political ties with mainland PNG.

Many MPs praised his leadership and his mentoring and ability to weigh up options and his use of peaceful means to consult and achieve his government’s goals and desires.

Momis’ Post Referendum Consultation and Dialogue Minister Albert Punghau said many Bougainvilleans still wanted him to continue his leadership, and he could easily be returned if the courts had not ruled him ineligible to contest a third term.

Fidelis Semoso, the Member for Tsitalato, former national MP, former cabinet minister in an earlier Momis government and Momis’ political rival for the last two years, said politics would remain politics and that he had nothing personal against Momis. He described Momis as having served both Bougainville and Papua New Guinea in an “illustrious” career.

“What me and my B-14 group stood for then, was not personal,” he said.

“We only wanted to protect the constitution and ensure there is rule of law which has been confirmed by the Supreme Court.

“You should rest assure that you have mentored and created many young leaders, who will carry on the dream of Bougainvilleans from here on.

“The other part of your legacy is leading Bougainville to achieve the 98.2 percent referendum result which has been praised both locally and internationally as a well-conducted and credible vote.”

Semoso also did not hide his intention of replacing President Momis – “God willing”, he said.

Luke Karaston, the Minister for Technical Services and Member for Suir, said President Momis would be remembered for being there and helping to bring Papua New Guinea into independence and now ushering in a resounding result in the referendum which would pave the way for consultation with the national government.

• Three weeks are being allowed for the Bougainville election – August 12 until September 1 – due to the covid-19 alert in Papua New Guinea.

Over the past month, the Autonomous Bougainville Government has made known its intention to put forward several proposed amendments to the Bougainville House of Representatives.

These amendments include a provision to allow for a president to serve for more than two terms – which would see current President Chief John Momis allowed to contest this year’s ABG Elections.

Last week, the Ombudsman Commission released a statement calling on the ABG to strictly follow process and procedures when embarking on constitutional amendments.

The commission highlighted three proposals:

• Amending Section 89 of Bougainville’s Constitution to allow for an extension of the president’s term to more than two terms;
• An amendment to allow for the establishment of three seats for former combatants,
• and a change of name from Autonomous Bougainville Government to Bougainville Constitutional Transitional Government.

Yesterday, Momis, issued the AGB statement in response to the Ombudsman Commission.

While acknowledging the media statement from the Ombudsman Commission, President Momis clarified the proposed amendments, including the membership of former combatants to the House of Representatives, and to section 89 of the Constitution in relation to the election of president.

The ABG president has denied claims that the ABG and House of Representatives are on a path not complying with the National Constitution.

President Momis called on the Ombudsman Commission to retract its statement.

Republished from EMTV News in partnership.

The chairman of Bougainville Hardliners Group and former combatant-turned-businessman, James Onartoo, has called on the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) Police Minister to explain what the Australian Federal Police (AFP) were doing at the site of the controversial Panguna mine last Wednesday (June 5).

According to Onartoo, members of the communities around the mine site became suspicious when they saw the Australian police taking GPS readings at various points around the mine.

These points included the one where the mining company BCL had considered building an airstrip in the early part of the Bougainville crisis to fly in aircraft supposedly to evacuate expatriate mine workers and their families out of Panguna.

READ MORE: Fury in Bougainville over mining amendment go-ahead

“I think the public is owed an explanation as to what is happening. To the best of my knowledge the AFP were ousted in 2007 on suspicions of spying on the ABG and the people of Bougainville by the former President, late Joseph Kabui,” Onartoo said.

“Their presence at Panguna, which is the site of so much controversy and disagreements plus issues of sensitive nature stemming from proposed reopening by ABG, raises serious questions considering the fact that in the past Australia always supported military intervention by the PNG Defence Force to regain control of the mine.

“If AFP can raid the ABC office in Australia itself, then they are capable of anything, including maybe gathering intelligence on ground for the purpose of regaining control of Panguna and restarting the mine with use of force,” Onartoo said.

Onartoo said that it is a well known fact that Australia’s interest in the mineral deposits at Panguna never declined and Australian advisers to ABG have denounced agriculture, tourism, fisheries and other sustainable industries, claiming that only mining is able to finance Bougainville’s independence.

Several companies which are vying to reopen the Panguna mine, which was shutdown by landowners in 1990, are also of Australian origin.

The AFP party, which comprised three policemen and two civilians – including a doctor – were escorted on their visit to the autonomous region by the Bougainville Service Commander, Francis Tokura and police personnel.

They are also said to have visited the proposed border post sites at Koromira and Kangu Beach.

Onartoo said he had nothing to say about AFP visiting other parts of the Autonomous Region.

• Bougainvilleans will take part in a referendum on October 17 to decide their political future.
• More Bougainville stories

FILM REVIEW: By David Robie

While a gripping film about the apocalyptic Bougainville war, or more accurately the peace that ended the decade-long conflict, opened in cinemas across New Zealand last week, an island roadshow has been taking place back in the Pacific.

Initiated by the United Nations, the roadshow – featuring Bougainville President Father John Momis, many of his cabinet members and UN Resident Coordinator Gianluca Rampolla – is designed to help prepare the Bougainvillean voters to decide on their future.

This future is due to be put to the test in a referendum on October 17 in the crucial political outcome of an extraordinary peace process that began in chilly mid-winter talks at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch in July 1997.

The vote is already four months delayed, partly due to spoiling tactics of Peter O’Neill’s Papua New Guinean government which would avoid the vote if it could.

In any case, the vote is not binding and the O’Neill government may not even honour it, even if there is an overwhelming vote for independence in the island with a population of 250,000.

The choice is simple: Voters will be asked to choose between greater autonomy and full independence. The vote is expected to favour independence.

Also at stake is the future of the Panguna – once the mainstay of Papua New Guinea’s economy and now abandoned because of the environmental devastation caused by the huge Australian-owned copper mine – and the right of a people to choose their own destiny free from rapacious foreign extraction industries.

After almost 10 years of civil war when an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people lost their lives through the actual fighting between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and other armed groups and the Papua New Guinean military, and through deaths from lack of medical treatment and starvation as a result of a military blockade around the island state, a breakthrough was achieved in New Zealand.

Exhausted by the deadlock, the deprivations of the war and 14 failed attempts at negotiating a peace, talks in the bitter cold at Burnham sparked off the long journey for a lasting peace. As former North Solomons provincial government official and a peace process officer Robert Tapi recalls:

The silent majority of Bougainvilleans were tired of war and longed to return to normal village life. Women’s groups, church groups and chiefs increased the pressure on both the BRA and the PNG-backed Bougainville Transitional Government to negotiate for peace.

On all sides, the likely cost of victory was proving too high. The moderate revolutionary leaders realised that even if they did “win”, they “would inherit a hopelessly divided society”.

The first meeting resulted in the Burnham Declaration of July 18, 1997, which urged the leaders to call a ceasefire and for the establishment of an international peacekeeping force with the withdrawal of the PNG Defence Force.

Following the Burnham Truce and the endorsement of a Truce Monitoring Group (TMG) in Cairns in November 1997, a further Burnham meeting in January 1998 produced the Lincoln Agreement and paved the way for the Ceasefire Agreement in Arawa on April 30, 1998.

The success of the breakthrough in Burnham and the following meetings was thanks to the inclusion of women’s groups, churches and local chiefs as well as the political opponents, meeting on neutral territory and with New Zealand not intervening in the talks. Also helpful was then Foreign Minister Don McKinnon’s friendly and chatty style with the delegates, which boosted Bougainvillean morale.

Filmmaker Will Watson stepped up to tell the extraordinary New Zealand peacekeeping story initially through an award-winning 2018 documentary for Māori Television, Hakas And Guitars, following up with this year’s feature film Soldiers Without Guns.

He had been monitoring the war and aftermath while a journalism student and began to put together a project team in 2005. Ironically, due to funding and other obstacles, it took him 13 years to complete the feature film – longer than the actual war.

A couple of years later, in 2007, he had a film crew on the ground in Bougainville to carry out interviews and gain invaluable footage. His documentary is an inspiring and fitting tribute to the innovative “guitars, waiata and wahine” approach of the NZ-led peacekeeping force.

By concentrating on a strategy of winning the hearts and minds through hundreds of kilometres of foot slogging treks to villages and communicating directly and honestly with ordinary people, the soldiers gained the trust of Bougainvilleans from all sides.

It was a courageous and insightful decision by the first mission commander, Brigadier Roger Mortlock, now retired, to go to Bougainville without weapons and guarantee the peace. He had experienced a UN peacekeeping failure in Angola and was determined this mission would succeed.

Another key factor in the success was Major Fiona Cassidy, an Army public relations manager at the time, and her ability to communicate in a meaningful way with the Bougainvillean women in what is a matriarchal society.

In a recent RNZ Pacific interview, she admitted finding the challenge a bit “scary”:

“When you looked at the country brief, you knew that you were not going into a benign environment. It actually was hostile. So it was a little bit scary thinking, ‘Okay, we’re going to a country which has been at war for so long, it still isn’t stable, and we’re going in unarmed.'”

During the start of the Bougainville war, I was head of the journalism programme at the University of Papua New Guinea and reported the first year of the conflict in a cover story for Pacific Islands Monthly. As part of this, I revealed how a New Zealand environmental consultancy unwittingly became a catalyst for fuelling the conflict.

I wrote in my 2014 book Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific:

Apart from convoys with soldiers riding shotgun and yellow ochre Bougainville Copper Limited trucks packed with security forces sporting M16s, you would hardly guess that a guerrilla war was in progress near the Bougainville provincial capital of Arawa. But once you reached the sandbagged machinegun nest in Birempa village at the foot of the rugged mountain jungles of the Crown Prince Range, the tension started to rise.

Scanning the dense vegetation for a sign of the militants of the Bougainville Republican Army (BRA)—known as Rambos in the first year of the decade-long civil war – the Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldier manning the machinegun didn’t notice the irony of the T-shirt he was wearing.

Scrawled across his chest were the words MINE OF TEARS, a word play on the title of Richard West’s 1972 book River of Tears: The rise of Rio Tinto-Zinc Mining Corporation. The book was an expose of the mining operations by BCL’s parent company CRA Limited of Australia—a subsidiary of Britain’s Conzinc-Riotinto—and it had already become the “Bible” of the many of the militants.

At the time I was reporting on the fledgling war for a cover story featured by Pacific Islands Monthly in its November 1989 edition entitled MINE OF TEARS: BOUGAINVILLE ONE YEAR LATER. No other journalists were on the ground at the time, and the only other people staying at the small hotel in the port town of Kieta were soldiers, some cradling guns on their knees when having dinner. The atmosphere was surreal and ghostly in those early days.

The problems of Bougainville cannot be divorced from the rest of the country, or even from the rest of the Pacific. At stake are the crucial issues of a conflict between Western concepts of land ownership and indigenous land values, the equity between the national government, provincial administration and the traditional landowners, and a choice between genuine sovereignty over resource development projects or dependence on foreign control.

For those of us who have had some involvement in the Bougainville war bearing witness, Will Watson and his crew deserve huge praise for bringing this story to the big screen, and honouring New Zealand’s contribution to peace – Australia couldn’t have done it – and providing hope for Bougainville’s future.

With luck, the island will become independent and bring some meaning to all that terrible loss of life and deprivation.

• Soldiers Without Guns, documentary, 92min. Director Will Watson. Narrated by Lucy Lawless.

Professor David Robie is director of the Pacific Media Centre. This review is republished from Pacific Journalism Review with permission.

The national coordination office of Bougainville affairs (NCOBA) plans to take former senior military and police officers to Bougainville for a reconciliation ceremony before the referendum on independence later this year.

The Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Bougainville Affairs William Samb said:
“We have plans to invite Vanimo Green MP and former PNG Defence Force officer Belden Namah, retired PNGDF commander Major General Jerry Singirok, Captain Charlie Andrews and other members of the military and mobile squads who had served in Bougainville during the crisis.”

He said a committee had been set up to organise the reconciliation ceremony at Panguna on June 15.

BACKGROUND: The film Soldiers Without Guns

“It is an important event and next week we will be asking our colleagues from the Autonomous Bougainville Government to come across (to Port Moresby) and together we prepare for the reconciliation ceremony because we want to go to the referendum on October 12 with peace in our heart.”

Samb said they had to give credit to the Bougainvilleans for spearheading the reconciliation ceremony.

“Ex-combatants from both the Bougainville Resistance Force and Bougainville Revolution Army are now working together. Everyone on Bougainville wants peace – including the Mekamui faction.”

Samb said they were working with ABG to prepare for possible post referendum results.

“Such discussion has never been done in other conflict areas in other parts of the world. The ABG and the national government are working together and that’s why we have come this far. We are positive to deliver a successful referendum.

“Two weeks ago we had killed three pigs and hosted a party for the prime minister and ABG president and we all ate together here [in Port Moresby]. We are also working with our development partners like the United Nations, Japan and New Zealand governments and others.”

Clifford Faiparik is a journalist with The National newspaper.

Bougainvilleans have been urged to present a unified front in casting their votes when the Autonomous Region of Bougainville goes to the polls for the referendum on its political future in October.

“As your leader I urge you all to vote for option two and that is independence,” President John Momis said during the final stage of the week-long Bougainville referendum roadshow.

“Having a result that presents a unified Bougainvillean choice gives our leaders the power to negotiate with the national government,” Dr Momis said.

READ MORE: Delayed but looming – the Bougainville independence referendum

He reminded the people that after the referendum the result would still have to be ratified by the PNG Parliament as stipulated under the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

“If the national parliament fails to ratify the result of the referendum then we still have the option of a negotiated outcome where both governments will collaborate to get the best outcome for the people of Bougainville,” he said.

“This is our time to exercise our right to self-determination, it is our time to forge a new future for our children and the generations to come.

“Our civil polity must be built upon a strong national identity that adheres to freedom, tolerance and equality,” Dr Momis said.

“While we embark on the final leg of our journey together there will be challenges. Challenges that we cannot ignore but must face with grit and perseverance.

“In our journey to self-determination, permanent peace on Bougainville necessitates a credible outcome of the referendum.”

When the women of Bougainville march today to mark International Women’s Day, the recent violence in Buka will be at the front of their minds.

Fighting, which claimed two lives and resulted in the torching of 34 houses on nearby Sohana Island is easing, according to Helen Hakena of the Leitana Neham Women’s Development Agency.

But Hakena said that as the autonomous Papua New Guinea province prepares for an independence referendum in October, it needs to be united and for that reason the theme of the march is “We Are More Powerful Together”.

“United people moving together towards referendum. We don’t want to be divided so today the women are calling for that,” she said.

“We will be calling for a total ban on alcohol because that is also triggering a lot of violence around Buka and the rest of Bougainville.”

Helen Hakena also said the women want to see illegal weapons surrendered because they were still being used to frighten people.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

The Autonomous Bougainville Government, led by president Dr John Momis, has been accused by a research and advocacy group of allowing a “reckless land grab” with its planned mining law changes.

The proposed amendments to the 2015 Bougainville Mining Act, along with accompanying legislation, will give the ABG the power to hand over mining leases to all parts of the island not under existing leases to Bougainville Advanced Mining, a new entity created for this purpose.

The ABG would have 60 percent ownership of Bougainville Advanced Mining, while 40 percent would be owned by a foreign partner.

READ MORE: Bougainville’s mining deal meets widespread opposition

Statements made President Momis last week suggested that Caballus mining, a Perth-based company headed by Jeff McGlinn, would be the foreign partner involved, said Jubilee Australia.

“These are radical changes and appear to be nothing more than a reckless land grab,” Jubilee Australia’s executive director Dr Luke Fletcher said in a statement.

“First, this would hand over control of the majority of the island to the President and his foreign partner, Mr McGlinn.

“Second, the president would have the power to unilaterally distribute leases without any consultation or permission from landowners.

‘Cut out of process’
“As a result, landowners will be cut out of the process. These amendments undermine the principal of free, prior and informed consent,” said Dr Fletcher.

“Doing so is both anathema to Melanesian culture and vitally important in the Bougainville context.

“It is not clear to us that this legislation is even constitutional,” said Dr Fletcher.

“It is a startling and dangerous move. Given the disastrous history of the Panguna mine in Bougainville, which has caused irreparable environmental damage to the Jaba river and was the major cause of the Pacific region’s worst ever civil war, forcing through such enormous changes with very little consultation is a reckless and desperate ploy.”

President Momis told Radio New Zealand the move was justified to enable the Bougainville independence referendum taking place.

“The people of Bougainville are determined to have the referendum and they must find the money to fund the referendum,” the President reportedly.

“One way of doing it would be if we started our own company and generated the revenue to enable us to conduct the referendum. We cannot sit on our hands.

Dubious over plans
However, Dr Flectcher said: “As our recent study of the question demonstrates, we are highly dubious that mines like Panguna could ever raise enough revenue to satisfy both foreign investors and the people of Bougainville,’ said Dr Fletcher.

“It is certainly impossible that the mine will raise any revenue before the independence vote.

“It will take years for the building/repair of infrastructure, the completion of environmental studies and other importance processes that need to take place before the mine can generate revenue.”

The Panguna mine was one of the world’s biggest copper-gold mines until a 10-year civil war forced its closure in 1989.

The war cost up to 20,000 lives and displaced 10,000 people. The Panguna mine was a leading cause of the war and communities have not been offered redress for the damage.

Since 2009, there has been a push to re-open the mine, with proponents claiming that Bougainville needs the mine to be economically independent.

President Momis has been at the forefront of this fight, under the auspices of former operator Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), claiming that it would be the best and quickest option to generate revenue.

In December 2017, however, the president announced a moratorium of mining at Panguna and revoked BCL’s mining licence, after a meeting of landowner meetings voted against such an extension.

• Jubilee Australia

A highly controversial proposal by an unknown and newly registered company, Caballus Mining, is attempting to grab a monopoly over all large scale mines in Bougainville, reports PNG Mine Watch.

It is alleged that the Caballus plan is to override the fundamental principle of the Bougainville Mining Act – Customary Landowner ownership of the minerals in Bougainville and confer ownership on a McGlinn entity, Bougainville Advance Mining (BAM).

“Are Caballus the next rogue that is trying to take advantage of us, the customary owners and steal our minerals?” asked Philip Miriori, chairman of the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners Association (SMLOLA).

READ MORE: Bougainville mining plan faces outrage

Miriori claimed Caballus had no relevant mine development experience.

“Caballus has no assets, and yet is demanding a monopoly on all major large scale mining projects in Bougainville.

“They are demanding an initial 40 percent interest, which will increase further over time, without any upfront cash and only a shallow promise of future money if he is granted those rights first.”

Miriori said that when Caballus was presented to representatives of SMLOLA earlier last year, they were officially rejected in writing.

Clear position
“This is where it gets confusing as despite that clear position from the owners of the minerals at Panguna, Caballus is now demanding that the most fundamental principle of the Bougainville Mining Act (BMA) – customary ownership will now be stripped from the BMA.”

SMLOLA special adviser Lawrence Daveona said that by avoiding all the protection afforded to them under the BMA, which is fundamental to the Peace Agreement and the Bougainville constitution – “in fact the very grant of autonomy”, they would be stripped of their rights.

“The central tenant of our Peace Agreement is good governance.

“We will fight this to the end and hope our ABG will step in first and protect all customary owners in Bougainville.”

Miriori said it appeared some people were trying to take advantage of a severe funding crisis which their government faced in the lead up to the referendum on Bougainville this year. They were promising money but only if they were first given the keys to every large scale mine in Bougainville with zero up-front investment – “unbelievable”.

“Whoever puts up the money will ultimately control BAM, and all of Bougainville’s mines.”

• More Bougainville stories

A mysterious Australian businessman, Jeffrey McGlinn, is the sponsor of a major amendment to Bougainville’s Mining Act, reports PNG Mine Watch website citing news reports.

McGlinn is said to be behind the company Caballus Mining, and is proposing to set up a local firm, Bougainville Advance Mining (BAM).

According to Radio New Zealand, the McGlinn group ‘wanted to shortcut a number of what it calls complicated requirements in the [Mining] act to fast track vital infrastructure development in Bougainville and boost employment ahead of the referendum on independence from PNG, due in June this year’.

READ MORE: Bougainville to change Mining Act for new investor

“A major report from the ground, included below, has gone so far as to suggest the McGlinn consortium plans to seize control of all major mineral deposits across Bougainville,” says PNG Mine Watch.

“If true, this appears to be yet another scheme cooked up by the Momis government with foreigners, to make quick bucks under the banner of independence preparations.”

Worryingly, McGlinn it can be confirmed, is linked to a Somali national, Qamar Khan, aka Stephen Khan, who is a close affiliate of PNG politician Belden Namah, a former deputy prime minister, reports PNG Mine Watch.

McGlinn acted as a director in a company owned by Qamar Khan, AUSPNG Holdings Limited. Khan sold the company to Siniwok Limited in 2015. Siniwok is owned by Beldan Namah. Khan was also a director at Siniwok Limited.

This comes after Beldan Namah was recently rumored to have travelled to Bougainville for talks with President Momis.

McGlinn also heads the firm Caballus Excellence. The latter boasts:

“A whole world and even more, is everything that Caballus Excellence World selects for the lifestyle of its members that have chosen excellence in their daily lives: from the refinement of taste in food, to reception in the most prestigious hotels, from luxury shopping online, to services reserved for art collectors, from travel by car, jet and yacht to the most exclusive destinations. This is our tribute to the elegance of the good life”.

If the below communique is accurate, it appears a small few may see ‘the elegance of the good life’ courtesy of this amendment to the Mining Act, but the many on Bougainville will suffer.

Proposed ABG Legislation to bypass LOs in SML allocation – Report from Bougainville
This is the proposal that ABG is seeking to legislate in the coming week. There is no work, let alone consultation done to drive the legislative changes to BMA to accommodate Caballus (a mining company in partnership with ABG)

“We must oppose it for the following reasons among others,” says PNG Mine Watch:

1. Caballus is suggesting amending legislation to completely side step all the safeguards, protections, procedures, and ownership rights, including the Customary Owners ownership provided for in the Bougainville Mining Act.Here you have a foreigner, who is trying to secure a significant personal interest, recommending the ABG strip the rights and ownership of the Customary Owners of Bougainville.Further this special vehicle (BAM) will be the only entity to which Special Mining Licences in Bougainville can be issued. It seeks to bypass the Mining department and the ABG administration.It covers all SML’s not only Panguna and effectively nationalises every SML- Mining Project and gives one man, Jeff McGlinn a 40% interest in every SML on Bougainville.
2. Final point makes it clear the ABG’s interest is dilutive, so it does not have a non dillutive interest. Jeff McGlinn will arrange for the distribution of new shares to other investors. This mean Jeff McGlinn and his investors will personally control every mine in AROB, not the AGB and not the LO’s.It removes the LO’s direct ownership in the mining project, and right of veto over EL and SML’s.It is not as Jeff McGlinn says a “slight change” but a draconian change which takes away all the LO’s rights and ownership, and places them in the hands of one man Jeff McGlinn, and the ABG.The Caballus proposal does not say they are raising US$150m for the ABG for it to use, at its discretion eg the referendum costs.
3. Jeff McGlinn has to be given title first (he will try and raise the funds only after all approvals have been given). Caballus will then only “assist” the ABG with an initial capital raising. So McGlinn gets title first, only then does he “try” or “assist the ABG” to raise the money. In fact no guarantee, only a vague promise to “assist” the ABG to raise money. Again it’s not the ABG’s money but BAM’s money.So if he fails to raise the money. He still walks away with the title (40 percent) for nothing. So he is asking for the titles of all mines, only for a promise to “assist” with raising money.
4. It says he is going to raise money from Sovereign States (and private investors): Note the investors will be foreign countries. This gives rise to all sorts of national security and independence issues for the ABG. Foreign governments directly controlling Bougainville’s most strategic asset.
5. It says the US$150 million raising will be for the purpose of funding for the mine-Pre-construction and pre-operation: The first stage funding will be circa US$150 million to commence the bankable feasibility study. This is not and will not be the ABG’s money therefore. As the ABG currently believes.It suggests the US$150 million will be for new shares in Bougainville Advance Mining (BAM). The money therefore will be BAM’s and will be used for the above (point 14) specific purposes, not the ABG’s personal use.Further the very initial or starting deal is 60/40, but the proposal is absolutely unclear as to what percentage the investors who put up US$150 million get, and what percentage the ABG will be left with. It appears everyone gets diluted pro rata but completely unclear.There is definitely no guaranteed minimum floor for the ABG.
6. Role of ABG: Second to last point: The ABG will distribute, administer, and maintain the BAM shareholding for Traditional Owners – not the Customary Owners themselves. The Landowners will not have a direct project interest (and therefore direct access to cash), as the current Bougainville Mining Act provides, with direct access and control over their share of the cash generation.
7. Use the income to rebuild Bougainville (infrastructure and facilities): This is illusionary and highly misleading. ABG will only have ultimately a minority interest in the shares of BAM- not a direct project interest. It will only get a dividend if BAM declares and pays a dividend. They cannot control that decision. If the BAM Board wants to retain the cash for expansions or new developments, there will be no cash for the ABG. The ABG will not have a direct share of project profits and revenue.

Hopelessly simplistic and misleading. No provision for independent directors. Everyone is an executive director.

No directors either representing the investors putting up the supposed US$150m or capital thereafter. This is just not possible.

The Bougainville President, John Momis, says he has been assured by Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, that the absence of a vital grant from the 2019 Budget was an “administrative error”.

Both leaders met last week in Port Moresby

PNG’s budget, announced last week, makes no mention of the Restoration and Development Grant which is constitutionally guaranteed under the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

READ MORE: PNG budget reports lack transparency, says economist

Momis said Bougainville relied on this grant for essential projects and a failure by the national government to pay it would reflect badly on both Port Moresby and Bougainville.

The budget did feature a cut to recurrent funding for the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

Next year, 2019, will be a critical year with a referendum on Bougainville’s long term political future scheduled to take place in June, Momis said.

The PNG and Bougainville governments must ensure that together they provide the funding and support needed to allow the vote to take place and for the important work of peace building to continue, he said.

O’Neill has promised to rectify the issues.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

• Other Bougainville reports

The people of Bougainville should present a unified front at the dawn of the referendum to secure a viable option of self-determination, says Autonomous Bougainville Government President Dr John Momis.

If Bougainville can secure more than 90 percent of the popular vote next year, it would have the bargaining power to negotiate with the Port Moresby national government, he added, reports The National.

“After the referendum vote, we will still have to negotiate with the national government before the referendum result is ratified by parliament,” Dr Momis said.

“Securing a majority vote on one option of the referendum question secures support from the international community and it proves to the national government that this is what our people have chosen as the new path for our future.

“Apart from presenting a unified front, it is imperative that we implement the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

“It does not matter if the government is failing to honour the peace agreement, we must continue to strive to implement it so that when it comes to the ratification of the outcome of the referendum, we can proudly say that we implemented it in its entirety.”

Dr Momis said it was the moral and legal obligation of the Bougainville government to honour the peace agreement despite capacity constraints which had hampered the full implementation of the autonomous arrangements on Bougainville.

He urged factions who have been causing problems for the government to end their dissension.

“We must realise that we stand on the threshold of a definitive period in our history yet we continue to be diametrically opposed to the government and the rule of law,” Dr Momis added.

The people of Bougainville will only accept independence from Papua New Guinea and nothing else, says concerned Bougainvillean and independence hardliner Gabriel Moses.

And no amount of greater powers or autonomy will appease the people – especially after the loss of over 15,000 lives during the 10-year Bougainville War.

Moses was speaking in reaction to comments made by Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, this week, who reportedly said that the PNG Constitution did not permit the granting of independence to any province or region in the country.

“It is hard to compensate the 15,000 to 20,000 lives that were lost during the conflict even with K20 million or 100 pigs or even greater autonomy, free and just association or whatever.

“The only answer is to grant independence or sovereignty to the people of Bougainville after the referendum is conducted.

“The fact is that Bougainville already won independence through the blood that was shed during the crisis and referendum is just a process that will formalise the wishes of the people who I believe will overwhelmingly vote for independence from PNG.

“The three or four questions that are being suggested to be answered during the referendum are just to confuse the people especially those who are not educated enough to understand and interpret the questions,” Moses said referring to the questions yet to be decided by the Joint Supervisory Body for the referendum due next June 15.

Unlocking resources
He said Bougainville was ready for independence because of its vast natural resources and minerals and only independence would allow the people to unlock these resources for development under their own government and country.

“There is no economic value for Bougainville to remain under Papua New Guinea as PNG is a sinking ship and has nothing to offer Bougainville even though the Panguna mine, at one time, contributed largely to the development of the country through the national budget.

“PNG has continued to fail us in terms of providing sufficient funds to operate systems like the provincial government which it gave to us to prevent secession in the 1970s and now the autonomous government.

“What guarantee do we have that by continuing to remain as an autonomous region we will address our developmental needs as currently the ABG is cash-strapped and continues to be starved off funds legally owed to it under the peace agreement,” Moses said.

He called on all Bougainvilleans to vote for independence from PNG and prove to the world that there was overwhelming support for self-determination and independence.

“The people of Bougainville or Buka are ethnically and culturally connected to Solomon Islanders but were separated from their relatives by the British and German colonisers and included under PNG in the 1800s,” Moses said.

“So the fight for self determination dates back to the 19th century and PNG should realise by now that Bougainvilleans will stop at nothing to continue to push for their independence.”

Patrick Makis is a Papua New Guinean journalist who has worked with the PNG Department of Defence.

• O’Neill accused of ‘undermining’ Bougainville referendum

A former Bougainville regional vice-president has condemned Australia for political interference over the independence referendum process, saying Canberra would be better served dumping their diplomatic and aid corps in favour of “a drunk rugby team”.

Bougainville is preparing for a referendum on independence to be held on June 15 next year.

Joseph Watawi, Bougainville Member for Selau and former vice-president of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), Joseph Watawi has accused Canberra of “tokenistic efforts” and contrasted Australia with New Zealand’s “trusted and respected” role because of its cultural awareness.

READ MORE: RNZ Pacific’s Don Wiseman talks to Joseph Watawi

Watawi is chair of Bougainville’s parliamentary select committee responsible for the referendum preparation, weapons disposal, peace and unification.

“Without consultation, the Australian government has sent ‘advisers’ to all of our political offices while making only tokenistic efforts to actually help the people here,” he said in a statement.

“Let us not be naive, Australian aid is not about helping people but about gaining political power and influence. The problem is that in Melanesian cultures the only way for outsiders like Australians to gain political power and influence is to actually start at the grassroots and help people and communities.”

Watawi said the “top down approach” of the Australians in “attempting to hijack our political system merely confirms the suspicions of many Bougainville people that the Australian programme is one of spying and jockeying for position over our natural resources in the lead up to next year’s independence referendum”.

Real task
The real task facing the Australian government and their representativeness was to deal with Australia’s legacy issues.

“It was the Australian-owned mine at Panguna that started the Bougainville war that led to the deaths of at least 10,000 Bougainvilleans and it was Australian helicopters and pilots who contributed to that death toll [by] shooting people from the air and burning villages,” Watawi said.

“Australia [had] also contributed to the naval blockade of southern Bougainville, stopping essential food and medical supplies from reaching civilians in the conflict area.

“In the past 10 years we Bougainvilleans have put a lot of work into the reconciliation process among our various factions and language groups. Australia, as one of the key causes of the war, has been noticeably absent from this process.

“If you go to the Panguna [mine] pit today and ask the women who are the traditional landowners there they will tell you that in the life the wealthiest mine on the planet at the time, they did not get paid enough to buy food from the mine supermarket

“If Australia is genuine about rebuilding its relationship with us they need to send us useful people like nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers – not bureaucrats,” Watawi said.

“Australia would have won more power and influence here if they had sent us a drunk rugby team rather than their current batch of bureaucrats.

“Compare this to New Zealand [which has] slowly and carefully with great cultural awareness built the Bougainville police force and law and justice sector since the signing of the peace agreement in 2001,” Watawi said.

“The result is that New Zealand is a trusted and respected international partner and member of our community.”

• MP upset at Australian advisers in Bougainville

By Meriba Tulo in Port Moresby

With just a year to go before the people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville go to the polls to determine their political future, the Papua New Guinean government has defended its handling of preparations for this exercise.

During question time in Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said the government, under his leadership, had done more for the Autonomous Region during his term than at any other time.

He said the next Joint Supervisory Body meeting would be of the utmost importance for the Bougainville referendum in June next year.

During question time, Member for South Bougainville Timothy Masiu asked a series of questions of the Prime Minister regarding the national government’s efforts in support of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville’s preparations for the referendum.

Of particular concern, according to Masiu, the recent appointment of a Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Bougainville Affairs, which he claimed would cause challenges for the region on conducting the referendum.

The Prime Minister emphasised the steps taken by the parties – the national government, and the ABG – to have the Chairman of the Referendum Commission in place, as well as agreeing on the all-important referendum questions.

While there has been some sentiments regarding possible independence for Bougainville, the Prime Minister was quick to point out that it would be difficult to let go of the Autonomous Region, especially at a time when there was need for unity in Papua New Guinea.

The national government and Autonomous Bougainville government are due to meet in June for the Joint Supervisory Body meeting.

This meeting, scheduled to take place in Arawa, is expected to iron out several issues relating to the referendum, including the all-important question, or questions, which will be put to the people of Bougainville.

Meriba Tulo is an EMTV reporter. This story was first published by EMTV News and is republished here with permission.

Two court hearings next week – one in Port Moresby and the other in Melbourne – will help determine the future of the exploration licence for the Panguna copper mine in Bougainville.

The decision to refuse an extension of Bougainville Copper Limited’s exploration licence and to impose an indefinite moratorium over the Panguna resource followed a statutory Warden’s meeting in December 2017.

There was “a narrow divide between those supporting the mine to be opened by Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL) and those that oppose it”, according to Bougainville President John Momis.

BCL has successfully sought leave to apply for a judicial review of the decision to refuse its licence extension, citing legal and procedural concerns.

“While the moratorium has been gazetted, it has no impact on existing exploration licences or applications for extension, lodged prior to the moratorium,” said BCL company secretary Mark Hitchcock.

“BCL remains the holder of the exploration licence (EL1) until the matter is ultimately determined,” he said.

BCL has held the licence since the mine closed in 1989. The company is now owned by the PNG national government (36.4 percent), the Autonomous Bougainville Government (36.4 percent), European shareholders (four percent) and 23.2 percent through the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

Rio Tinto gave away its stake in 2016.

Opposing BCL
Those opposing BCL’s involvement are led by Philip Miriori, who claims chairmanship of the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners’ Association (SMLOLA).

He has thrown his support behind a bid by Perth-based junior miner, RTG Mining, to gain the exploration licence, setting up a joint venture company, Central Exploration, of which RTG owns 24 percent.

One of RTG’s major shareholders holds another 32 percent, and the SMLOLA retains 44 percent.

Miriori’s chairmanship of the SMLOLA remains in dispute. The 367 authorised customary heads of the 510 blocks of land within the special mining lease area of Panguna say they do not recognise Miriori as the chairman of the SMLOLA and support the extension of BCL’s exploration licence.

On the same day as the Port Moresby hearing, on May 17, BCL will be in court in Melbourne, seeking disclosure about the relationship between RTG Mining and the SMLOLA.

Miriori and other supporters admit they are being paid by RTG, but Miriori has told the ABC that the payments are legitimate salaries, not inducements.

“That is always a normal part of anything, nothing is free,” he said.

Seeking disclosure
The action seeks disclosure from RTG Mining and Central Exploration about any compensation or benefits paid to the SMLOLA.

One analyst close to the proceedings says any disclosure could determine the possibility of “unlawful interference” with BCL’s exploration licence.

For his part, Momis said his government believed it would be “untenable under current circumstances” for any developer to develop the mine.

“BCL has an extensive database of historical data and project information from the mine operations prior to closure.”

“We have some problems with RTG right now,” Momis told RNZI.

“In fact, they are causing a lot of confusion and division in the community and we are not prepared to go ahead while this situation prevails.”

Exploration data
Should RTG Mining or any other company win the exploration licence, the next battle will be over the data about the location and extent of resources.

“BCL has an extensive database of historical data and project information from the mine operations prior to closure in 1990,” said Hitchcock. “This data remains the intellectual property of the company.”

Even if that data is not protected by intellectual property law but is only considered confidential information, it will still require cooperation from BCL to access, according to Alexandra George, senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales, who specialises in international intellectual property law.

She said it might be expensive and time-consuming to obtain.

She said that under Australian copyright law, ownership of a database is not straightforward. Whether or not RTG Mining could access the data may depend on the terms of the exploration licence, any special legislation, and on the terms of any contracts or licence agreements that have been entered into.

“If [the data] was not available, having to reinvent the wheel would add significant costs,” said George.

“Perhaps the safest way of assessing value is what the market is prepared to pay.”

Hitchcock said: “We estimate it would take any other company or entity at least two-to-three years to replicate the BCL database through exploration activities and would cost in excess of A$200 million (K400 million).”

Kevin McQuillan writes for Business Advantage PNG. This article is republished by Asia Pacific Report with the author’s permission.

• More PNG stories

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

A Bougainvillean leader has accused Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill of “undermining” the island’s 17-year-old peace agreement and the independence vote due next year.

Martin Miriori also condemned O’Nell for lacking sensitivity over Bougainville that struck a New Zealand-brokered peace agreement which ended a 10-year civil war and included a referendum vote on independence.

Miriori, a Panguna landowner and pro-independence leader, was reacting to a statement by O’Neill at the Business Forum in Brisbane last week and repeated in PNG’s The National newspaper that the vote was not about independence, but what was best for the people of Bougainville.

READ MORE: PNG prime minister says Bougainville vote is not about independence

“When the prime minister comes out openly making such a statement in public, my view is that he is already undermining the good intentions and the spirit of the Bougainville Peace Agreement which, among other issues, clearly states that the issue of independence for Bougainville will be also among the options for a referendum vote to be taken by the people [in] June next year,” he said today in a statement.

“This is also the common understanding of the international community as well [as] including the United Nations,” Miriori said.

“For the prime minister to water down the main focus on the independence issue at this time is simply a big slap on the face [of] the people of Bougainville.”

Miriori said Bougainvilleans would not have “fully committed themselves” to the joint partnership with Papua New Guinea in the peace process if they knew that they were “going to be tricked”.

“We must not lose the trust and confidence of the people at all cost, and in doing so try to confuse them by making such statements, which could easily undermine all our good work and tireless efforts being invested in this very delicate and sensitive process since we first fully committed ourselves at Burnham [New Zealand] in July 1997 towards achieving lasting peace by peaceful means,” Miriori said.

RNZ Pacific reports that O’Neill told the Business Forum in Brisbane that when the outcome of the referendum was tabled in the national Parliament, he was sure every MP would vote in the interests of a unified and harmonious country.

Guitars instead of guns
Meanwhile, the film maker of a forthcoming documentary about the Bougainville peace process, Soldiers Without Guns, has released a trailer.

In a social media message message to supporters last week, Will Watson said: “We were celebrating the 20th anniversary of lasting peace for Bougainville yesterday.

“Yes, the 30 April 1998 was the signing of the peace accord.

“The other big news is that I completed the trailer for the upcoming movie, Soldiers Without Guns. It took lots of work but I think it describes the Pacific’s worst civil war and peacekeeping with guitars instead of guns.

“Still lots of work to do to complete the film. I hope you like the trailer.

BACKGROUNDER: PNG Mine Watch

Mine Watch recently predicted that Bougainville President John Momis’ appetite for crooked foreign miners was very much alive. How right we were.

In a gushing column in the Post-Courier – which reads like a salivating love poem – it was announced that President Momis had teamed up with his former nemesis – money bridges all divides – Sam Kauona to bring in a Filipino mining company to explore 183 square kilometres of land.

The company is called, SR Metals Inc., and is led by Eric Gutierrez. It has come to “liberate” Bougainville from its bloody history, we are told.

READ MORE: Philippine mining company wins Bougainville search licence

Now while we might want to believe the Post-Courier, John Momis and Sam Kauona, as entities of integrity who would never lie, the ever sceptical PNG Mine Watch team decided to look at the track record of SR Metals Inc. and Eric Gutierrez.

What did we find?

Report after report in the Filipino press accusing SR Metals and its chief of corruption, clientalism, and illegal mining.

Indeed we are told Gutierrez is very fond of funding politicians who are good for his business.

‘Duping government’
And, no less, he has been accused of using fraud to “dupe the government and their business partners of billions of pesos in mining revenues”. Guess they saw President Momis and Kauona coming.

To cap it off, the company SR Metals, has been fined for environmental violations.

And a Senate inquiry found the company “over-extracted 1.8 million tons of nickel ore”, in violation of regulations. 

• Philippine mining company wins Bougainville search licence
• Landowners and companies in new battle for Panguna mine
• Candidate Roxas’ mining cronies
• Gutierrez charged with falsification
• Mining ban still in effect, says Roque
• SR metals trending stories

The Autonomous Bougainville Government has granted its second mining exploration licence to a Philippine company in a low-key event at Tunania, the seaside home of Bougainville crisis commander of rebel forces Sam Kauona.

The event was set against the sombre double backdrop of the bloody crisis which had begun as a protest against mining giant Bougainville Copper in 1989 and a desperate race against time to get some serious investment on the ground before the referendum next June to decide the question of independence for the Autonomous Region.

Bougainville Exploration Licence No. 5 covering a 183 sq km area was launched by Bougainville President Dr John Momis with a plea to stand “united” and “strong”.

READ MORE: Bougainville government welcomes infamous Filipino mining company

The echoes of the crisis were palpable here and brought a sombre note to an occasion that speaker, after speaker suggested, was “the turning point”, “a special milestone”, “a breakthrough”, and a fresh start”.

The silence and the people’s reactions spoke more forcefully than the speeches.

The people gathered in small silent groups under the shade of trees and coconut palms, more observers than participants, while the representatives of Philippine company, SR Metals Inc. battled it out in the clearing under the blazing sun, appearing to all like a graduating class of foreigners in some Bougainville initiation ceremony.

The chiefs of nine affected clans were first called out and they gave their blessing and permission for the forests to be disturbed in the interest of all during the exploration period.

Leap of faith
Then each speaker coaxed the people to leave their fears behind and take a leap of faith.

Sam Kauona said: “I fought for this 28 years ago. After going through many years of sacrifice and pain, we deserve to see the benefit of what we fought for. I as your general assure you. Do not be afraid. Let us move forward.”

Bougainville President Dr John Momis said: “Bougainville now stands at the threshold of a new social, economic, political, and moral order.

“Independence is imminent, just round the corner. But independence will not just happen.

“We dream dreams and we want to be free. We want to be free agents of development. We want to break away from the syndrome of dependency and economic exploitation and manipulation by those who have money because we treasure our people and their resources.

“But we need resources ourselves to do this. That is why Mr Gutierrez [manager of SR Metals], we are so grateful that you could have listened to my plea to have come to Bougainville.”

Bougainville South MP and Deputy Opposition Leader Timothy Masiu said: “This is a breakthrough. This is the day that our former leaders and our people have dreamt of and fought for. The wheels of change are starting now.”

Call for trust
“Masiu called on the people to trust in the leadership of the ABG and be responsible partners in all undertakings if there was to be real meaningful development.

“These people (mining company) have the expertise. They have the experience. They have the money. They will teach us how to do mining but only if we respect them and look after them.”

The SR Metals Inc Managing Director Eric Gutierrez said his people were ready but would mobilise only if the company was invited by the government and the people.

Mrs Kauona, representing women, said: “We mothers bore the burden of the mining industry here in Bougainville. 20,000 people have died because of this industry, because of Panguna mine.

“Our children have bathed this island with their blood. Today we celebrate because this new deal has been forged out of the expensive and fresh blood of our children.

“Papua New Guinea was sustained by Bougainville. We are doing the same thing. History has come around again. We are going to sustain the independence and livelihood of Bougainville.”

However, Papua New Guinea Mine Watch accused SR Metals Inc of being fined for environmental violations in the Philippines, adding the company’s track record showed “report after report in the Filipino press accusing SR Metals and its chief of corruption, clientalism, and illegal mining”.

Frank Kolma is a senior journalist with the PNG Post-Courier.

• Landowners and companies in new battle for Panguna mine

By Meriba Tulo in Port Moresby

The autonomous arrangements for Bougainville have been described as positive.

However, there is also room for improvement – among these, the need for the effective use of knowledge, capacity and time.

These were points highlighted this week during a presentation of two draft research reports into Bougainville’s referendum for next year.

The research has been conducted by Papua New Guinea’s National Research Institute (NRI) through its Bougainville Referendum Research Project.

According to PNGNRI Director Dr Osborne Sanida, these reports highlight some issues that the institute believes need to be considered by stakeholders from PNG as well as from the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

The report on fiscal autonomy was spearheaded by Professor Satish Chand.

Professor Chand said an immediate need for Bougainville was to increase the capacity to fund its own budget – regardless of the level of autonomy it has now, or may have following the referendum.

Broader tax options
He said developmental taxation should be an option to consider in an effort to broaden the tax base for Bougainville.

Professor Chand said that given mining was still a controversial issue on the island – and that mining revenue might take a decade – the Autonomous Region should consider fisheries or agriculture as an alternative in increasing internal revenue.

Also released was a Draft Report on Political Autonomy presented by Martina Trettel.

This report considers the various forms of autonomy that are present in other jurisdictions, and compares these to the Bougainville experience.

According to Trettel, there is an imminent need for both the national government and the ABG to work an arrangement which may be beneficial for the island region in the immediate future, as well as post-referendum.

The report has highlighted the need for both governments to share the responsibilities of autonomy.

The research team has been presenting their findings to the Autonomous Bougainville Government this week.

Meriba Tulo is a senior reporter and presenter with EMTV and currently anchors Resource PNG and the daily National News. Asia Pacific Report republishes EMTV news reports with permission.