Bougainville

The company split its shares between the autonomous provincial government and the national government in Port Moresby.

But Bougainville is furious that it was not given all the shares, and that Rio Tinto said it is was no longer obliged to do anything about the damage caused by the Panguna mine, which sparked a civil war that lasted through the 1990s.

The province hoped to reopen the mine as a way to generate revenue should it vote to become independent from PNG after a referendum scheduled for 2019.

PNG Power staff arrested for claims of stealing

http://www.looppng.com/content/png-power-staff-arrested-claims-stealing

Police have arrested a PNG Power Limited (PPL) employee for allegedly stealing K38, 000 from the company between 2014 and 2015.

AROB sets up committee to account for ‘missing persons’

A lot of cocoa and copra have been rejected despite the production getting higher throughout the region from North to South.

A cocoa farmer from the west coast of Bougainville Patrick Miaro said his area makes quality Cocoa because they follow all procedures and make no mistake about it, and they listen carefully to awareness by extension officers.

“It’s about time we put Bougainville back on the world map and to do that we must  deliver good results in the end of the day from our products like cocoa,” Miaro said.

The date has been agreed on in a breakthrough meeting between the PNG central government and Bougainville's regional government co-chaired by PNG prime minister Peter O'Neill and Bougainville president John Momis.

Under the terms of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, a referendum must be conducted in Bougainville before mid-2020.

President Momis said that although the date could not yet be finalised, due to various legal steps required to be taken first, it would be impossible to plan the referendum without a target date.

The fishing boat, of Asian origin, has now stirred up fear amongst islanders as the boat’s crew is suspected of being in possession of firearms.

A disaster coordinator on Bougainville said the ship was sighted by locals and has been there for quite a while now.

“We received the report and alerted the police here in Buka, a joint task force was formed consisting of members of the Bougainville Police Service and ex-combatants, who were then deployed to inspect and do reconnaissance work,” Franklyn Lacey said.

Most con artists and bogus buyers have been coming in and lying to most alluvial miners about prices that are beyond ones imagination.

An alluvial miner from the Karato area George Diba told PNG Loop that a lot of gold miners have been tricked and duped by certain conniving agents.

“We have been told that unimaginable prices like K200 to K500 per gram was available and that is not legitimate these are lies we have been told, by certain people who get mind boggled when they see money,”  Diba said.

The drug network on Bougainville has now spilled over into the neighbouring Solomon Islands and drugs are now being smuggled over the border.

A former drug trafficker who wishes to remain anonymous told PNG Loop that the trend is really getting out of hand, and tougher penalties need to be imposed.

 “I use to do that before but now I have dedicated and given myself to the Lord, but according to my observation this is really getting out of hand,” he said.

You must have concrete evidence, says PM O’Neill

I am not going to allow the Office of the Prime Minister to be demeaned, questioned when they are false allegations.

http://www.looppng.com/content/you-must-have-concrete-evidence-says-pm-o%E2%80%99neill

Police confirms 12 deaths after plane crash in Kiunga

Twelve people, including three children and the pilot, who crashed on Wednesday, are all confirmed dead.

The inspectors all swore an oath of office under the Chief Public Solicitor at the Bel Isi Park in Buka on Thursday.

Disaster coordinator Franklyn Lacey was present to hand over all the roles and responsibilities to the light craft board chairman Anthony Tsora.

The Disaster office in Bougainville has now reached another milestone by establishing a light craft board, the first of its kind in the region.

Lacey told Loop PNG that everything regarding light craft will be under scrutiny and will be regulated in order to meet safety standards.

But there are some things that are needed to be in place to make the industry grow and prosper in order to contribute to the regions development.

The introduction of direct flights from the nearby Solomon Islands into Aropa airport is one, and the re-introduction of insurance companies to come back into the region. Right now tourist’s assets like cars and boats cannot be insured on Bougainville but has to be done from outside.