There are hopes that Bougainville and Papua New Guinea can iron out issues over preparations for the referendum on possible independence when they meet at the end of next week. [JUN 14]
The Joint Supervisory Board or JSB, comprised of both governments, is to meet in Arawa.
The referendum vote is now just a year away but Bougainville continues to complain about Port Moresby not paying the 20 million kina it had committed to pay to allow the Referendum Commission to do its work.
There are also issues over the shareholding in Bougainville Copper that the ABG had expected to be transferred to Bougainville by the national government, but that has not happened.
PNGis also dragging its feet on appointing commissioners to sit on the Referendum Commission, to be chaired by Ireland's Bertie Ahern, and this is holding up work as the Bougainville Minister for Peace Agreement Implementation, Albert Punghau, who explained to Don Wiseman, Bougainville has already appointed its commissioners.
Bougainville's Panguna Copper mine
Photo: Supplied
Transcript
ALBERT PUNGHAU: Our commissioners will have to be endorsed at the JSB meeting. We have appointed them already - the national Government hasn't done that yet.
DON WISEMAN: It's just two weeks away this meeting, isn't it, so that's going to be sorted out in terms of the commission. There has got to be this question of the funding that's been promised, that hasn't been paid. Do you think all of that is going to be sorted out.
AP: The onus is now on the national Government because it had been agreed the national Government would make available 20 million kina to finance and set up the referendum commission. But to date they have not come up with the concrete commitment to make the money available, and I am hopeful that at the JSB we might resolve some of these issues.
DW: Now James Tanis resigned and then he unresigned a couple of weeks ago - that was over all these money issues was it?
AP: No it was not on the money issue or the implementation of the peace agreement, it was an issue in relation to some outstanding claims that we need to make payment to the service providers. Thee autonomous government owes a number of claims to service providers who have provided service to the autonomous government. That's the issue as to why the secretary wanted to resign. And I as the minister intervened to get him back again, because that issue has now been put to the JSB
DW: The ABG is a very large shareholder of Bougainville Copper Ltd but last week there was a meeting of the board of Bougainville Copper and the ABG was, I understand, stopped from voting at that because there was some questionmark around its shareholding. Do you know anything about that?
AP: Yeah 17.5 percent of the [Rio] shares that were supposed to be given to the Prime Minister, he said that he would be giving it to Panguna landowners, and to the ABG. That has not been done as yet so that issue needs to be also rectified and talked about at the JSB [meeting later this month between both governments] so that we can finally put the matter to rest.
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