NEW DAWN ON BOUGAINVILLE

220120PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW STARTS HEARINGS

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The ABG Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Law established by the Bougainville House of Representatives last Friday has already met twice to draw a plan on how and when they will consult the people of Bougainville on the proposed constitutional amendments.
The Committee met after the ABG House rose last Friday and today the full committee met this morning at the ABG Resource Centre at KUBU.
They later met with the Ministers of the ABG as their first job of consulting the people of Bougainville.
The Committee will meet with the Justice Minister and the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner tomorrow.
The Chairman of the committee and ABG Speaker, SIMON PENTANU told New Dawn FM this afternoon that the work of the committee has started and consultations with the people will start from HAKU on Buka island and will end in BUIN, South Bougainville.
He said that his committee is expected to present their report to the Bougainville House of Representatives in three Months.
The Chairman has thanked the Government for providing the necessary funding to the committee to complete its task on time.

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240120PUNGHAU SAYS EX COMBATANTS AND PRESIDENT MOMIS MUST BE GIVEN THE CHANCE TO CONTEST THE 2020 ELECTION
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The Minister for Post Referendum Consultation and Dialogue, ALBERT PUNGHAU has told the people of Bougainville that President MOMIS and the former combatants must be given the opportunity to contest in the 2020 Bougainville Elections.
He said that the talk about extension of the term of the current government has been rejected by the Government.
MR. PUNGHAU made these comments when answering questions from the public at today’s Yumi Wan festival ceremony at Bel Isi part today.
MR DYSON KAETAVARA asked the Minister why the ABG wants to extend its term in office.
He said that the intention of the amendment bill is to allow the former combatants to contest again on these three seats and also to allow the President MOMIS to contest in this election.
And if the people still want him they will re-elect PRESIDENT MOMIS to complete his task of taking Bougainville to Independence.
On the question of fast-tracking the consultation process asked by CLEMENT MATONA, MR. PUNGHAU said that they were only following the Bougainville Peace Agreement which says there must be consultations between the two governments over the result.
He said that these consultations will be only around Independence because this was what the people voted for.

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240120PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE SDETS OUT PROGRAM FOR CONSULTATION

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The Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Law today finalized program for consultations throughout the region.
According to the Schedule, all consultations will be done in fifteen days and will start on Monday 27th January 2020.
The people of HAKU and Halia will meet the committee at the Eagles Nest at Hahalis village.
Hagogohe and Tsitalato people will meet the committee at HATOKAWES Hall in Malasang.
The people of Peit will meet with the Committee on Tuesday 28th January at GAGAN and on the same day the committee will meet the people of Tonsu at Novah Primary School.
Wednesday 29th January the Committee will meet the people of Teua and Mahari on Saposa island.
The people of Atolls will meet the Committee at ADHEEVES in Buka town and on the same afternoon on Thursday the committee will meet with the people of Selau at Hantoa Primary School.
On Friday 31st January the Committee will meet the people of Taonita Tinputz and Taonita Teop at the Tinputz Station.
The following week the committee will travel further down to Central and South Bougainville.

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240120CHAIR COMMENDS REFERENDUM RESULT TO TWO GOVERNMENTS
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BRC Chair, Mr Bertie Ahern, yesterday formally announced the closure of the electoral process of the Bougainville Referendum, commending the result to the two governments for their consideration and final decision-making.
At yesterday’s meeting of the full Commission, Mr Ahern confirmed that it did not receive any objections during the 40-day petition period for the Bougainville Referendum which ended on 20 January.
Mr Ahern said it was vital for all parties to recognize that the end of the electoral process now paved the way for consultation between the two governments on the result to proceed.
“I’m delighted that the Referendum vote was a success, that it was free of objections, and that both international and local observers found it to be free and fair,” Mr Ahern said.
“However, the completion of our work means the larger task of coming to a final decision must now commence. It’s critical that the momentum and goodwill achieved during this historic and peaceful vote is harnessed and maintained.”
“We wish the two governments all the best, and again thank the people of Bougainville for their outstanding engagement and cooperation in our small part of the ongoing and longer term peace process.”
The Commission will provide an interim report on the Referendum over the coming weeks to the governments, ahead of a comprehensive report at the end of the three month wind up of the Commission.

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270120COMMITTEE TOLD NOT TO RUSH THE AMMENDMENTS
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The Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional law was today told not to rush with making any amendment of the Bougainville constitution especially on the eve of the Bougainville elections.
Leaders who spoke at today’s consultation said that the people of Bougainville must be educated further on why these changes are taking place.
They said whilst they agreed with the changes to suit the situation they want people to fully understand the changes before they can make their comments on these amendments.
They said these changes must be left to the incoming government.
The representatives said that without any prior clarifications by the Parliamentary Committee the people will not contribute well to the expectations of the committee.
All proceedings were recorded by New Dawn FM on video and audio and were broadcasted tonight at 8pm and will be replayed at 7.30 tomorrow morning.

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270120PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW MEETS HAKU HALIA AND HAGOGOHE LEADERS TODAY

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The Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Law started its consultations with the leaders and communities throughout Bougainville by meeting with the people HAKU, HALIA and HAGOGOHE at the Eagle’s nest Club at HAHALIS village on Buka island today.
They will meet with the people of PEIT, TSITALATO and TONSU at Women’s Centre in Malasang village tomorrow.
The meeting was attended by leaders including Community Government members, women’s leaders and Church representatives as required under the constitution of Bougainville.
The presenters requested more time for them to consult with their ward representatives and other stakeholders in their communities and promised to meet by Wednesday and come with written submissions to the Committee by Friday.
The Committee members are BEN MALATAN the Ex combatants member for North Bougainville, THOMAS TARII the Ex-combatants member for South Bougainville, Member for BABA WILLIAM SILAMAI, the member for KOPII TONY KUHENA, the member for KONGARA STEVEN TOPESI, the member for TAONITA TINPUTZ DAVID BRAUN VATAVI, the member for TSITALATO, FIDELIS SEMOSO and its Chairman and Parliament speaker, SIMON PENTANU.
The ABG member for HALIA GORDON BATEK and the member for HAKU ROBERT TULSA CHIKA also attended the meeting.
Earlier the Committee met with the Commissioner for the Bougainville Electoral Commission, GEORGE MANU who updated the committee on preparations for the 2020 ABG elections.

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270120BUIN CHIEFS PETITION ABG SPEAKER
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The Buin Council of Chiefs today presented a petition to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Law and Parliament Speaker, SIMON PENTANU to get clear response from him if the amendments to the Constitution will be done in time for the ABG elections.
They said that they were concerned that the three seats for the former combatants and the seat for the President may not be amended in time for the election.
They highlighted 4 points that they wanted response from the speaker in seven days.
The four points are many Bougainvilleans want President MOMIS to contest this election and continue with what he started and should complete the process into Independence before handing over to new upcoming leaders.
Second point was that the people of Bougainville donot want President Momis to leave politics during this very critical time of the peace process.
Three, Is that when the people of Bougainville wanted secession from PAPUA NEW GUINEA in the 1970s President MOMIS was sent to New York with the late JOHN TEOSIN to present Bougainville's case to the United Nations.
And fourth as the man who headed the Constitutional Planning Committee that established the PNG Constitution he can be an asset for Bougainville to utilize as Bougainville will be working on its new Constitution for an Independent Bougainville as voted by the people of Bougainville.
The petition was signed by PETER TAKARI and ANDREW PEUGAI representing the Konnou Constituency, PATRICK PATARA and PETER MOAS representing BAUBAKE constituency, AUGUSTINE TOM WAPE and SEBASTIAN KINANI representing LULE constituency, PETER KOKOPA and THOMAS KOPII representing MAKIS Constituency and witnessed by FRANCIS KAUMA.
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230120PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SEEKS LEGAL CLARIFICATION BEFORE STARTING CONSULTATIONS
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The Parliamentary Select Committee of Constitutional Law Chaired by Speaker, SIMON PENTANU today met for the 3rd time since its establishment and wanted clarification on the future status the three Ex-combatants seats.
They said that they sought legal advice and were told that in the absence of compliance and processes to the removal of the seats, they remain available to be contested in the 2020 election.
The Committee has come across certain legal issues in relations to the proposed amendment for the extension of the term of the President as section 91 (F) needs legal clarification.
The Committee said that you cannot amend Section 89 without amending 91(F).
Section 89 of the Bougainville Constitution talks about the two terms requirement for the seat of the President and 91(f) says that a person is not qualified to stand or to continue to stand if he has been elected as President on two occasions.
The Committee has also summoned the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner, GEORGE MANU who is in Port Moresby to appear before the Committee on Monday morning.
The Committee has also requested the Government to provide the signed copy of the drafting instructions.
Meanwhile the committee could start consultations in the communities starting Tuesday next week.

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230120ABG PRESIDENT REFUTES RTG CLAIM
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The ABG President Grand Chief DR.JOHN MOMIS refuted claims by RTG as false and misleading.

He said that the most recent announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) dated 21stJanuary 2020 whereby RTG deliberately made false claims to mislead their shareholders, the general public and the ASX.

Firstly, the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners Association (SMLOLA)was an entity established under the controversial Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) regime, which mistakenly placed landowners into individual blocks.

This is infact inconsistent with the traditional land inheritance system whereby land is owned by clans and families.

The ABG has started the process to rectify this grave past mistake with the rejection of BCL’s licence over Panguna, thereby deeming all current mine affected landowner associations, including SMLOLA illegal, null and void.

So while it is true that RTG are the joint venture partner of SMLOLA as they have confirmed, I would like to confirm SMLOLA have no legal rights over Panguna and cannot enter into any legally binding agreements relating to Panguna.

I am happy to advise however that the ABG will be assisting the true and genuine landowners to ensure proper social mapping is carried out in order to establish new legal landowner associations and entities.

Secondly, as per a media statement released from my Office on the 23rd of December 2019, I would like to re-confirm and reiterate that the below RTG executives currently still have a travel ban on them, preventing them from entering Bougainville:1.Mr Michael J Carrick-Chairman of RTG Mining2.Ms Justine A Magee-CEO and Executive Director of RTG Mining3.Mr Mark Turner-COO of RTG Mining4.Mr Robert N Smith-Non-Executive Director of RTG Mining
5.Mr Phillip C Lockyer -Non-Executive Director of RTG Mining.
I also re-confirm and reiterate that this travel ban will not be uplifted under any circumstance.
Whilst there was a travel ban into Papua New Guinea, it has recently been uplifted due to RTG’s lies and deceptions to the PNG government and immigration department about their purported involvement in the Mt Kare project –a project that the world knows it will not succeed.
It is therefore concluded that RTG have taken advantage of the fact that both the PNG and ABG operate independently of each other and do not always consult each other on foreign companies, and that RTG’s interest in the Mt Kare project is merely an expensive ploy and deceptive tactic to be able to have a presence in PNG and access to their only real interest –the financial rewards of the Panguna pit.
RTG and their executives should be totally and utterly ashamed of themselves for their corrupt, disruptive and divisive behaviour. They have tried to take advantage of our landowners and people and have shown a complete lack of respect for government authorities.
RTG have completely misled the markets for their own financial gain and convenience.
The ABG will not rest until all RTG and their executives are banned for life from Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. As it is my duty to protect the people of Bougainville from immoral charlatans, I appeal to the ASX, TSX and OTCQB, as your duty to protect current and potential shareholders, that you perform a full investigation into RTG Mining and their executives and their misconduct. My Government would be more than happy to assist you with any enquiries relating to RTG and their activities whilst in Bougainville.
For current and potential shareholders and financial markets, I hope that this clears up any confusion or misunderstanding on RTG Mining’s position in Papua New Guinea, Bougainville and Panguna.

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230120 ABG SETS NEGOTIATION FORUM
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The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has set up a fifty six (56) member Post Referendum consultation and negotiation forum to get views of Bougainvilleans to map out issues in the Post Referendum period.

The composition of the 56 Member Forum was approved in a special Bougainville Executive Council held last week at the ABG Parliament.

The forum is comprised of individuals from various organisations including women groups, churches, youths, Ministers and Members of the House of Representatives and former combatants in the Bougainville uprising of 1990s.

They are; Hon Chief Dr chief John Momis, Hon Raymond Masono, Hon Albert Punghau, Hon Robin Wilson, Hon Willie Masiu, Hon Clarence Dancy, Hon Robert Hamal Sawa, Hon Robert Tulsa Chika, Hon Thomas Pataku, Hon Joseph Watawi, Hon Rodney Isioco, Hon Chris Kena, Hon Jerry Napto, Hon Fidelis Semoso, Hon Francisca Semoso, Hon Ezekiel Masat, Hon Thomas Tarii, Hon Marcelline Kokiai, Hon Joe Lera, Hon Willian Nakin, Hon Sam Akoitai, Hon Timothy Masiu, Mr Sam Kauona, Mr Ismael Toroama, Mr Glyn Tovirika, Mr Benedict Paula Takusi, Mr Donald Hamao, Mr Michael Komoiki, Mr Lawrence Matau, Mrs Benedette Neras, Mrs Anita Salas, Marama Helen Toroi, Mr Henry Onsa, Fr Polycarp Kaviak, Pastor Albert Magoi, Pastor Lawrence Pai, Rev Tim Haata’ha, Mr Augustine Teboro, Ms Fiona Tibo, Mr Eugene Pana, Mr Phillip Takaung, Mr Joel Korus, Mr John Numake, Mr Moses Pipiro, Mr Gunther Huming, Mr Chris Uma, Mr James Tanis, Dr Naihuo Ahai, Dr Lohi Matainaho, Helen Hakena, Sr Lorraine Garasu, Mr George Diva, Mr James Ornato, Fr Simon Dumarinu, Mr Allan Nakin and Mr Patrick Nisira the former Vice President of ABG.

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SUSTAINING PEACE IS PARAMOUNT SAYS DENNIS KUIAI
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Former Secretary of the Department of Post Referendum Consultation and Dialogue (DPRC), Mr Dennis Kuiai says the first twelve (12) months after Referendum will be an important time for the people of Bougainville.
He said the period was most significant for Bougainville as it was the time for the people to assess their expectations of their independence aspiration with the time it would take to implement the result of the Poll.
Mr KUIAI made his comments during a briefing with department staff and the Autonomous Bougainville Administration Chief Secretary, Retired Col Thomas Raivet at the Administration Conference Room last week.
“This is the time that we need to effectively manage our expectations and uncertainties after the Post Referendum Period to avoid a return to conflict. “He said.
Mr Kuiai added that crucial issues regarding the rehabilitation of former combatants and weapon disposal were vital and must be reviewed and be completed.
He also said plans should focus to areas regarding, governance, determining the economic path for Bougainville, maintaining national and international relations, carrying out ongoing peace building programmes, mapping a development capacity for an independent Bougainville, realignment of the Department of Post Referendum Consultation and Dialogue (DPRCD), continuation of weapon disposal, rehabilitation of war veterans, control and regulation of firearms in Post Referendum Bougainville.
Amongst other plans this year, the department has plans to prepare for the upcoming Joint Supervisory Body Meeting (Meeting) scheduled for the 6th of February in Arawa, an economic summit to be held in Arawa in June, and a 2nd symbolic national reconciliation between the Papua New Guinea Government and the people of Bougainville to be held later this year to settle grievances committed during the height of the Bougainville conflict in 1990.
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