NEW DAWN ON BOUGAINVILLE

Hamal final feast 301021 HAGOGOHE

291021 AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS AROB WITH ELECTRIFICATION
NEW DAWN FM NEWS

The Australian Government will pay two new bigger Generators for both ARAWA and BUKA to ease the current power situation whilst it works on further improvement of electrification in Bougainville.
Australian High Commissioner to PNG, His Excellency, JON PHILP made the commitment at the KUBU Power House in Buka yesterday.
He said the new Generators are to make sure there is sufficient power, to make sure its stable and runs all the time.
The High Commissioner said once that is done, they will carry out a feasibility study to work out a long term solution on the power needs here in Buka and Arawa.
That will be at a frontline, Solar Power with huge batteries both in Arawa and Buka to allow power storage so that Generators can be used during the day and Batteries continue during the night.
And the generators they buy will stay here and they can be used as backup.
He said Solar generators can support the diesel generators to make sure there is continuous power and also Solar is free.

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291021 BUKA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION HAPPY WITH AUSTRALIAN SUPPORT
NEW DAWN FM NEWS

The Buka Business Association has welcomed the announcement by Australia to support electrification in Arawa and Buka.
Speaking at the PNG POWER house at Kubu yesterday, the President of the Buka Business Association, ROBERT CRITCHLEY thanked Australia for this timely assistance.
MR. CRITCHLEY who recently led the Buka Business Association PEACEFUL PROTEST in Buka town said electricity was very important to the economic growth of any nation and the continuous power outages is slowly killing small Businesses.
He said that what Bougainville needs is a reliable power supply and this announcement will definitely assist Bougainville’s progress towards independence.
He also welcomed investment into Solar power to support diesel generators which continue to shutdown due to short supply of fuel by their fuel suppliers.
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281021SUWAMARU WANTS BOUGAINVILLE TO SUPPORT OWN PROGRESS
NEW DAWN FM NEWS

The ABG Minister for Technical Services and member for Kopii, Honorable DR.JOE KIM SUWAMARU said that Bougainville has to learn to support its progress rather than relying on handouts from donors.
Speaking at the KUBU Power house this afternoon, DR.SUWAMARU thanked the Australian government and the people of Australia for their continuous support to Bougainville this time with the Purchase of bigger Generators for both ARAWA and BUKA, the Minister said Bougainville must learn to create its revenue and work on these issues instead of relying too much on donors.
He said that the ABG was working on an energy policy that will address power issues in the region.
DR. SUWAMARU said that the South West highway into Buin through Panguna needs bridges as people especially sick die whilst waiting for the floods to go down.

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Australian team

Sing dancers

Sing 2 Market

281021 AUSTRALIA COMES GOOD AGAIN FOR BOUGAINVILLE
NEW DAWN FM NEWS

Australia has come good on Bougainville with the opening of the FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINA SING RURAL MARKET in the Hagogohe Constituency, Buka island and the announcement of the Australia’s support to Electrification in Bougainville both were announced by the AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER, MR JON PHILP today in Buka.
First was the grand opening of the rural market at SING village in which the High Commissioner opened with the local member and Minister for Lands and Physical Planning, Honorable ROBERT HAMAL SAWA.
There was much singing and dancing by women and the people of Hagogohe with Speeches made by leaders in the Community who thanked Australia for their continued support to infrastructure of key institutions throughout the region.
The High Commissioner said that Australia was committed to working with the PNG and Bougainville governments to make sure Bougainville continues to build its capacity to support families with improved water and sanitation and better hygiene throughout the region.
He said that the Sing Market with water tanks is one of the many projects Australia is helping Bougainville with.
On the Bougainville electrification support, two brand new Generators with more power will be given to both BUKA and ARAWA to try and minimize continues outages that people have been complaining about.
The HIGH COMMISSIONER said apart from these two generators a further assistance will be made by using other sources like SOLAR to support electrification in Bougainville.
He said FIFTY MILLION KINA will be used to improve power generation in the region apart from other sectors in which Australia continues to support Bougainville in Law and Justice, Education, Health and other such support.

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281021 Police Minister condemns attack on former chief secretary
New Dawn FM News/Media

Minister for Police & Correctional Services and Member for Baba Honorable Emmanuel Carlos Kaetavara has condemned the attack on former Chief Secretary and Project Manager of Bana Special Economic Zone (BSEZ) Project Paul Kebori as the work of criminal elements.

Minister Kaetavara who is also the Patron of the BSEZ issued this statement following the attack of Mr. Kebori at his home in Baba over the weekend resulting in his hospitalization at the Buka General Hospital.

“As Minister for Police and Member for Baba, I strongly condemn the attack on the senior servant of Bougainville. I condemn the actions of those who colluded to plan how this attack would be carried out and those individuals who continue to put the future of Bougainville at risk through law and order issues,” Minister Kaetavara stressed.

“I condemn such actions that shows that there are few individuals on this island that are selfish and are inconsiderate of the common good and common objective of Bougainville in the light of the timeline that this government has set, where we must prove it to the international community, the National government and our people that Bougainville is secure and ready for independence and secure to attract investors.”

Minister Kaetavara says the Bougainville Police Service in the Southern Region is investigating the incident and a report will be filed soon, whilst urging people in the community to assist the police to address this issue.

“I want to assure families in Baba constituency that the police in Southern Region are working on this case to make sure that reports are completed after the investigation and also thank the community for helping with information leading to this case,” he said.

Minister Kaetavara thanked the civil society organizations and combatants in the community that are helping to get information on this matter.

He made a further call encouraging the bond of working together with the police and the government to maintain law and order in the community.

“As Minister, I urge all communities to work together. Policing is a national agenda and we all must work together to uphold the rule of law, uphold law and order and uphold security of our people so that we can ensure that we are prepared for our journey within the timeline that the President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government has set in the next four years from 2025 to 2027,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister Kaetavara also clarified that the attack on Mr. Kebori is not related to the Bana Economic Zone project as mentioned on social media but it was purely criminal in nature and he called on these criminals to stop such actions and give themselves to police.

“I want to make it clear that this incident is not related to anything the government is doing in terms of BSEZ. This is an incident where criminals who are interested in grabbing assets such as vehicles, in their own social interest from another constituency coming into Baba constituency to create this problem,” he said.

“The actions caused by those individuals may have tarnished the image of Bougainville at this time, however, it has not dampened the attempts of this government to make sure that we continue to build and reinforce confidence with the international community and the national government, that we are able to handle our own affairs in terms of security for our people,” he said.

“I appeal to all those who have been involved in this attack to own up and be responsible by surrendering yourselves to police. I also appeal to the families of those that were involved to come out and surrender yourselves to the relevant authorities” Minister Kaetavara said.

“I want to ask those individuals to surrender yourselves to the law, if you are interested to support this walk for independence and you want to support this government, I want you to come out and give yourself to this government and the police so that you can be processed and the communities can be safe from the fear guns and fear of being harassed by criminals.”

He also appealed to those individuals to be mindful of their actions as such actions can have a negative impact on Bougainville’s journey to independence.

Minister Kaetavara also made a call to all communities inside Bougainville to move away from such actions and continue to work together to uphold law and order, calling all citizens to respect the boundaries and constituencies across Bougainville.
ENDS

Media Statement

The Hon. Joseph Mona, MHR

Appointment as Minister for Public Service

26th October 2021

I am honoured to have been sworn in today as the new Minister for Public Service in the Autonomous Bougainville Government after being appointed by our President, the Hon. Ishmael Toroama on the 21st October 2021.

As Minister, I am committed to reforming our public service institutions, and laying the foundations that will support our future independence.

A critical area of work that we must focus on now, is the implementation of the Sharp Agreement, that was signed by the President and Prime Minister Marape earlier this year. This is the means through which we will achieve rapid acceleration of the transfer of powers and functions that we need, as a government, to sustain critical services.

As Minister for Public Service, my portfolio must play a lead role in leading this process, for no matter what the power or what the function, it will be the public service that will administer it.

That is why we must invest in our public service workforce, continue to build the capacity of our workers, and ensure that we put in place strong systems that promote and support excellence and good governance.

I want to acknowledge my predecessor, the Hon. Emmanual-Carlos Kaetavara for his recent work as Minister for Public Service. Minister Kaetavara, who has become Minister for Police, has been a leading voice in Government advocating for public service reform. I intend to build on his legacy as I take on this new and important role.

In the coming weeks I will be meeting with Department of Personnel Management and Administrative Services staff to gain a first-hand knowledge of the Department’s priorities and challenges. I will also be meeting with my colleague Ministers and other senior public servants to discuss how we can continue to build momentum and traction in drawing down those powers that are most critical to our economy.

I will also be reaching out to my counterpart minister in the national government, the Hon. Joe Sungi, MP to arrange a meeting in the very new future, so we can discuss how we can work together to facilitate the implementation of the powers that had been drawn to the ABG.

I take this opportunity to thank President Toroama, the people in my electorate and the men and women of Bougainville for giving me this honour. I intend to work hard and do my best to ensure we deliver practical public services for all Bougainvilleans.

Hon. Joseph Mona, MHR
Minister for Public Services