panguna

Chairman Sylvester Birou Pisi said promises of financial assistance at this time when parents are looking for school fees is not the way to gain social licence if they want to mine Panguna. 

He said RTG and its agents have done more damage than good in Panguna and have created disunity among the people.

The women, supported by youths, men and children, were disputing the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), proposed to take place in Panguna tomorrow (June 16), between the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and Panguna landowners. This will see Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) return to reopen the Mine before June 2019.

The new BCL is a step away from the post-colonial and pre-crisis arrangement that had Bougainville at a disadvantage.

It is partly owned by the Autonomous Bougainville Government, the National Government, Panguna Landowners and people of Bougainville to develop the defunct Panguna Mine with the landowners for the benefit of Bougainville.

This was the message from NCD Governor Powes Parkop, in a recent visit to Bougainville to launch the Little Doctors program as well as his Social Democratic Party (SDP).

“I want to assure you Bougainvilleans that I am the Governor of your capital city Port Moresby, it is your city too,” Parkop said.

“And I would like to convey my sincere greetings from the people of NCD to you people here on Bougainville.

“You also contribute to building Port Moresby with your skills and ideas and of course, your Panguna mine when it was still operational.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, this week announced PNG was gifting its Rio Tinto shares in Bougainville Copper Ltd or BCL to the province.

This means Bougainville will have majority control of BCL, something the province had been seeking.

President John Momis has expressed his gratitude for the move and said he hopes the shares would come directly to his Government.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill confirmed this to Loop PNG this morning.

He said the discussion will not only relate to Bougainville shares but LNG shares, Western Province Ok Tedi shares and others.

“This government wants to empower landowners to have rights and ownership of their resources.

“And I will deliver that before I go to the elections in 2017”.

The incident happened on Thursday morning where passengers from Torokina in South Bougainville, who were travelling to Arawa Town, were involved in yet another nasty accident while travelling through the section of the Panguna to Arawa main highway.

Eleven male, two females and two children, were rushed to the Arawa Health Centre where one died and two were gravely injured with fractured skulls.