Members of the Fourth Bougainville House of Representatives were recently congratulated for completing the first year in office, since the inauguration in 2020.
President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) Ishmael Toroama applauded his government MPs in a recent parliament sitting. He highlighted that September 29 this year marked the first year of the Toroama-Nisira government in office. He described the first year as an eventful one.
The President said, “In the last twelve months our government has progressed our Independence Mission from a seemingly impossible concept into a reality driven by our people in our constituencies. We have mapped out an economic roadmap and the administration is well on its way to reform.”
President Toroama acknowledged the challenges that were faced in the first year in office, and described these challenges as perennial and his government has worked hard to mitigate. He also acknowledged the loss of two of its senior Members of Parliament.
“The House suffered its greatest tragedy in the loss of our two senior members of parliament in the Late Hon. Raymond Masono who passed away and the Hon. Charry Napto who has gone missing at sea. The memory of these two great men is embedded in our drive for a better and independent Bougainville,” he said.
In the first year in office, the Toroama-Nisira government has achieved several milestones under the President’s Six Point Strategy that has put Bougainville on the path to rebuilding its socio-economic and political capacities. A key milestone was the agreement reached on the independence timeline during the second Joint Government Consultations this year in Wabag, Enga Province.
“Based on the successful outcome of the 2019 Referendum results our government through the consultations, has outlined our position on independence and we have agreed with the National Government on a timeline for the final political settlement for Bougainville that must not happen before 2025 and no later than 2027,” President Toroama said.
On the economic front, much work has been progressed to realign the government’s economic priorities to be proactive to suit Bougainville’s current revenue generation abilities.
“We have introduced a new macro-economic model under the Bougainville Blue Print to create a self-sustaining economy through the development of our resources and encouraging foreign investment. We have embarked on several high impact projects through this initiative. The Department of the President and BEC (Bougainville Executive Council) is currently cooperating with other economic sector departments to articulate the vision of the government on creating a fiscally self-reliant Bougainville,” Toroama outlined.
In this first year, the Toroama-Nisira government has also made critical changes in its ministerial leadership to ensure progress and development.
“If a government fails to evaluate itself and institute change then it is bound to become complacent, corrupt and it loses its focus to serve the best interest of its people,” he said.
President Toroama added that his recent decision to reshuffle ministries in his cabinet was to address pressing issues that have gained prominence in the last twelve months including continuation of public service reforms towards independence readiness, response to COVID-19 pandemic and improvement of law and order on Bougainville.
