NEW DAWN ON BOUGAINVILLE

Semoso says people playing politics over funds

By Aloysius Laukai

Speaking on New Dawn FM, the Regional Member for Bougainville, Hon Fidelis Semoso, has refuted claims that 4.1 million kina for Bougainville projects has gone missing.

He said these funds were paid for two specific projects on Bougainville which he applied for through the National Planning Office.

Mr Semoso said 2.7 million kina was paid to Millenium Water for the Buka General Hospital water rectification project and another 1.4 million kina was paid to Hastings Deering for the earth moving equipment for the Buka Council of Elders.

He said that as the elected leader for Bougainville he had to source funds for projects on Bougainville. The funding came through the National Planning Office.

He said that because of complaints by people, the Ombudsman Commission stopped further transaction of funds thus delaying the projects.

Mr Semoso said that materials for the hospital’s water purification program have been sitting in Buka rusting away due to the continued politics on these projects.

He said he did not know if the funds were taken from South Bougainville’s allocations.

He warned that Bougainville will continue to suffer if people continue to play politics on development projects on Bougainville.

He also stated that all the funds were handled by the Bougainville Administration and paid out from the Bougainville Treasury.

ABG budget for 2010 total 173 million kina

By Aloysius Laukai

The ABG House of Representatives has passed the 2010 budget after lengthy debate from members.

The budget totals nearly 173 million kina, and includes an additional 15 million kina previously excluded from the PNG government budget.

The money was included again after an agreement made at a meeting held in Buka this week.

A supplementary Budget will be tabled in the new year to accommodate other areas that this budget has not included.

New Bishop of Bougainville is named by the Pope

By Aloysius Laukai

The Bougainville Diocese has a new Bishop to replace outgoing Bishop Henk Kronenberg.

He is the current Auxiliary Bishop of Bougainville, Benard Unabali.

A message from the outgoing Bishop stated that Pope Benedict 16^TH had appointed Bishop Benard as his replacement.

The Installation has been scheduled for March 19^th 2010, which is the Feast Day for Saint Joseph.

Outgoing Bishop Kronenberg was installed at Tsiroge in 1999 after serving Bougainville as a priest for more than 40 years.

He arrived in Papua New Guinea as a young Priest in 1965.

Buka market rehabilitation funding problems

BY FIDELIS LUCIO

The K534 000 Buka market rehabilitation project has been slowed down due to lack of funding.

Assistant project manager, Charles Hulagan, said work on the market has not stopped but the company has laid off some workers.

The work is being carried out by the Katsin Pluming and Construction Company.

The first and the second payments have been made but the third payment has yet to be released. Currently people are selling their goods at a temporary market site.

Mr Hulagan said he was confident the situation was a minor problem and assured people that the market rehabilitation will be completed by the end of February.

Development problems in Hagogohe constituency

BY FIDELIS LUCIO

Road conditions between Hanahan and the Haku constituency are deteriorating, says Hanahan chief Zechariah Somol.

Mr Somol said the government has forgotten to help the people in his area and poor road conditions deter mothers who use the road to trade with people from islands like Pororan.

He said road rehabilitation to be carried out before it gets worse.

Mr Somol said the people have already told their local member about the problem but he has done nothing to help. 

He also urged the Autonomous Government of Bougainville to establish an Ombudsman office in Buka town so it will be easy for the public to lay complaints.

Mr Somol said he was also concerned about the Rural Electrification Project, which he said should be extended to his area.

“It is good to see development taking place in other areas but I’m concerned about my people‘s needs,” he said.

Commissioner issues festive season warning

BY TAPO TOVILU

The Liquor Commissioner for Bougainville, Ruben Tokome, has said people should limit their consumption of alcohol and sue their common sense during this festive period.

Mr Tokome called on liquor sellers to be aware with their customers.

“The Christmas and New Year period is a time when family members come together to plan and strengthen the family relationship,” Mr Tokome said.

He urged alcohol consumers to be careful during the festive season and said it was very dangerous to drink alcohol over the limit.

He said there would be a lot of black market activity in the sale of liquor and he asked licence holders to report the illegal sale of alcohol.

“If you are caught selling liquor without a licence, you will be fined K500 and you will lose your licence if you are caught selling at restricted times,” Mr Tokome said.

Mr Tokome said many licence holders have not paid their licence renewal fees this year and he asked them to pay up.

No foul play in teacher selection process

BY ANTHONY KAYBING

Teachers in Bougainville are dissatisfied with their postings for next year and are blaming the Bougainville Education Department.

A group of teachers who want to remain anonymous said that the system is being manipulated by the Education Office and teaching posts are being dished out according to personal preferences and favouritism.

They say postings aren’t done according to applications which teachers use for teaching posts and promotions.

One teacher says that with applications not being followed, teachers may not perform up to standard.

“Having been ignored many times, teachers lose their incentive to teach,” he said

Responding to the claims, Catholic Education Office Secretary, Simon Kuraikove, said applications were thoroughly screened by the agencies.

“There is no favouritism in the office. Applicants are chosen according to how suitable they may be at getting the job done,” Mr Kuraikove said.

“Many times, more than one person applies for a position, and we select the one we think is eligible for it,” he added.

He explained the process in detail, saying that after screening at his office the applications are given to the Bougainville Education Board which determines the final posting.

The Division of Education separates the applications into two folders, government and agency schools, and the Board screens the applicants for two days.

He assured teachers that no foul play occurs during the selection process.

Refresher program for Christian college graduates

BY TAPO TOVILU

The Christian Leaders Training College is carrying out a graduate refresher course for ex Bougainvillean graduates at the Summer Institute of Linguistics training centre in Buka.

Jeff Graf a lecturer from the college, along with his wife Suzanne and two other lecturers, are in Buka to facilitate the one week course.

“A total of 38 Bougainvilleans have graduated in the past years,” Jeff said.

The refresher course is a nationwide program held once every 10 years with organizers splitting PNG into 10 zones which they try to cover over that time.

“It’s more like refreshing their minds, just reminding them on what they had learned in their time in the college and at the same time helping them both mentally and spiritually,” Mr Graf said.

The course started with the opening dinner on Monday night and will end on Saturday with a total number of 38 ex CLTC graduates attending.

LSF teachers bring dedication to their work

BY FIDELIS LUCIO

La Sallian Family teachers in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville have gathered to discuss issues affecting them and to reflect and evaluate how they have worked this year.

The group consists of teachers who graduated from Holy Trinity Teachers College, Mt Hagen, and are devoted to following the footsteps of John the Baptist De La Salle, the father of all teachers.

“It is a way to better ourselves in our profession as teachers,” said Sandra Maineke, coordinator of the group.

Miss Maineke said that the LSF will also start charity work in communities around their schools, which is very much part of the work John the Baptist De La Salle started.

She said teaching is a very tiring job and added that prayer is the key to overcome this challenge.

She urged her colleagues to be committed in their work and be faithful to what they teach in order to follow in the footsteps of John the Baptist De La Salle.

One of the teachers said that, since joining this group, she noticed a great different between LSF and ordinary teachers.

The major problem with teachers is that they are not committed in their work and absenteeism is rife.

LSF teachers and all other teachers want to see that what they are teaching will benefit the students of Bougainville.

Search for missing Nissan islanders called off

By Anthony Kaybing & Tapo Tovilu

The search for five missing Nissan Islanders missing for two months ago has been called off.

The five, two men and three women, left Buka on 22 October to travel to Nissan Island when their banana boat probably drifted off course.

The search was abandoned after a Twin Otter plane chartered by the National Disaster Office was engaged to carry out a three hour aerial search over possible locations where the boat may have drifted.

Bougainville Disaster Coordinator, Franklin Lessie, said that the cancellation was due to the fact that it was expensive to maintain the search and the timeframe for the search had been exceeded.

“This does not mean that we have totally abandoned all hope, we will follow any leads that may help us to locate them,” Mr Lessie said.

He said that people travelling to the outer islands of Bougainville must take heed of standard sea travel regulations.

He revealed that the missing boat left Buka on the day he had issued a strong winds warning to sea travellers.

He added that, according to some reports, the boat’s skipper had failed to bring with him travel aids such as a Global Positioning System.

Mr Lessie said that carelessness and not taking heed of warnings was always dangerous.