PNG government and ABG committed to realize referendum choice for Bougainville
THE people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville are looking forward to the day when it breaks away from the rest of Papua New Guinea and becomes an island country of its own.
This was echoed in the recently concluded Joint Supervisory Body (JSB) meeting co-chaired by James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Ishmael Toroama, President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Arawa on Friday, Feb 05.
Toroama in a Joint Communique said, “There is great anticipation from the people of Bougainville on the 97.7% vote and much needs to be done to actualize this on both sides.”
Mr Toroama was referring to the non-binding referendum on independence held in late 2019 under the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
Almost 98 percent of Bougainvilleans voted for independence in the historic referendum, but the result is subject to ratification by PNG’s national parliament. First the two governments are entering extensive consultations.
In the meeting on Friday, the two leaders reaffirmed their joint commitment to the implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
Prime Minister James Marape in his opening remarks acknowledged that both governments had taken a long break from progressing discussions since the last JSB meeting in March, 2020 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
However, he thanked the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) for the patience showed and acknowledged all technical officials for maintaining consistent dialogue on both sides.
Prime Minister Marape said that the national government recognizes the referendum choice of the people of Bougainville, and that the two governments must continue to use the Bougainville Peace Agreement as its main guide while on this peace process.
He announced his government’s commitment to have the joint consultations commence in the first quarter of this year, and reaffirmed his commitment to pursue the path as outlined in the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, which should eventually see National Parliament dealing with the Referendum result.
President Ishmael Toroama in his remarks acknowledged the Prime Minister and his delegation, and described the national government’s commitment to Bougainville as very strong.
The two leaders discussed a total of nine agenda items. Key of which was the Post Referendum Consultation Framework where the two leaders agreed to have the first joint consultation meeting on the referendum result on the 4th-5th March, 2021 in Kokopo, East New Britain province.
The leaders also resolved through the JSB to formally accept the recent Joint Communique as the roadmap to consultations on the outcome of the Bougainville Referendum.
On the Economic and Investment Summit, the leaders acknowledged the preparatory work done so far, and accepted the recommendation to have the Summit held from 5th to 6th May, 2021 in Arawa, Central Bougainville.
The JSB resolved to prioritize creation of investment in the fisheries sector as well to generate revenue for Bougainville, and also to further explore the development of a Tuna Cannery in Bougainville.
Also the meeting considered other key issues such as the SME funding, establishment of Foreign Development Offices in Bougainville, taxation and revenue matters and other outstanding financial issues including national government’s commitment to retire fully the K621million outstanding RDG and the K100million a year Special Infrastructure Funds.
The leaders agreed that the next meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body will take place in June 2021, and a third JSB meeting to be held in December 2021.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister James Marape said his government will fully retire the K621 million owed to Bougainville in Restoration Development Grants (RDG).
He also reiterated his government’s commitment to give a separate K100 million every year to Bougainville in Special Infrastructure Funds.
