NEW DAWN ON BOUGAINVILLE

090622 BEER AND TOBACCO TAX NOT COMING SAYS MINISTER FOR FINANCE
NEW DAWN FM NEWS
The ABG minister for Finance and Treasury and member for North Nasioi, HON MATHIAS SALAS says that Bougainville collects tax from Beer and Cigarettes on Bougainville whilst other taxes are done by the IRC in Port Moresby.
AND companies owe the ABG in unpaid taxes has risen to over Twenty Million Kina.
The Minister also said that these companies are not paying anything because they are saying the taxes are very high, but these issues can be negotiated and the tax reduced.
The Minister made these statements when replying to questions raised by the ABG Member for TOROKINA, HON FABIAN SALEU who wanted to know why funds made from these sources were not coming at all since January 2022.
Minister SALAS also said that Companies refusing to pay have been taken to the courts to deal with their issues.

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301221 SOUTH BOUGAINVILLE POLICE UPROOT MARIJUNA PLANTS IN REMOTE LARUMA VILLAGE TOROKINA
NEW DAWN FM NEWS
Police in South Bougainville have uprooted 4 gardens of Marijuana plants during the Christmas period and four people are now in Police lockup in Buin Police Station for planting these plants.
Buin Police Station Commander, INSPECTOR JOHN POPUI told New Dawn FM this afternoon that Police were tipped off and they undertook this operation to uproot Marijuana Plants at Laruma village.
He said that Police will not tolerate such actions of citizens and would be tough on such people.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Bougainville Police, DCP FRANCIS TOKURA said that Police will move into other regions of Bougainville to eradicate the cultivation of Marijuana throughout the region.

New Dawn FM understands that Buka Police under Sergeant, LESLEY METEN as the Head of the Community Policing has been uprooting marijuana plants in Wakunai and Tinputz in similar operations in the past.

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250621TOROKINA COMPLETED TODAY
NEW DAWN FM NEWS

The Department of Primary Industry team advocating for Backyard Gardening and integrated with inland fishing, Poultry, Piggery and other animals completed South Bougainville today by conducting last training in TOROKINA.
According to the Buin District Agriculture and Livestock officer, LEO PAUPAU the team was satisfied with its training and will be returning to Buin and Buka at the weekend.
The team was in SIWAI last Friday, Travelled to BANA on Monday this week before heading to Torokina on Wednesday.
MR. PAUPAU called from TOROKINA and said that the team was happy to have met the people of South Bougainville who were very happy to learn from these trainings.
He said that the team will now sit back and do evaluation of these trainings before registered fish ponds are inspected individually through a Bougainville wide baseline survey.
On behalf of his two colleagues, MRS JOSEPHIN WARIMBARA and SUSAN ITANU, MR PAUPAU thanked all farmers who have attended their trainings in South Bougainville in the last two weeks.

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270521 SOUTH BOUGAINVILLE POLICE COMBINE FOR A JOINT OPERATION IN BUIN

NEW DAWN FM NEWS
Members of the South Bougainville Police Service have combined to conduct a two weeks operation in Buin the head-quarter of South Bougainville.
Buin is the fast growing town in Bougainville and Police are conducting awareness of roadsafety, vehicle road worthiness and driving under the influence of alcohol, Drivers Licenses and vehicle registrations.
Operation Commander, CHIEF SERGEANT JOHN POPUI told New Dawn FM that this was normal Police work conducted every year to make sure the people are safe in their communities.
He said the operation covers, conducting awareness of road and vehicle safety, awareness on Covid 19 and the new normal practices due to the covid 19 and the general awareness on Law and Order in the communities.
The Police personnel involved in the operations are from Torokina, Bana, Siwai and Buin.

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120220COMMITTEE CONQUERS LAST FRONTIER TOROKINA
NEW DAWN FM NEWS

The Parliamentary select Committee on Constitutional law today met the people of Torokina one of the difficult places to go to on Bougainville.
The team had to travel by road to Marau beach where they took three boats for the one hour trip to Torokina despite the strong wind warnings from the weather office.
The team had to walk for another one hour to Piva government station where they met the people.
The only vehicle in Torokina met the team on the road and took them to the District office.
Here the Chairman and the people of Torokina rejected outright the bills and said that the time was not right for any changes to me made on the eve of the Bougainville elections.
They said that they were not happy for the government to come up to them only to get their views on issues as they have been forgotten by their government for many years.
The Deputy Chairlady of the Torokina Community Government said that they have not seen any changes to the livelihood of former combatants, widows, orphans and want to follow the constitution.
They said because the constitution says ex-combatants seats will not be available after referendum so be it that is the law.
On the Presidential seat amendment they said the people who designed the constitution wanted two terms only for the President and it should remain as two terms only.
The Committee arrived in Arawa tonight and will meet the people of Atolls in Buka this Friday.

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031019 MEMBER STARTS DELIVERING RELIEF SUPPLIES TO SOUTH BOUGAINVILLE

NEW DAWN FM NEWS

The member for South Bougainville in the National Government, TIMOTHY MASIU has started delivering relief supplies to the people of TOROKINA, BANA, SIWAI and BUIN after they were recently hit by floods from heavy rains in the area.
He told New Dawn FM this morning in Buin that estimates of damages to roads, homes, plantation and food gardens were estimated to be in TEN MILLION KINA.

He said that he was more concerned at the hunger that the damage to food gardens have done to his people so his immediate address is to supply food to his people.

He thanked the Executive Managers for the four districts for their comprehensive reports from their districts that has assisted him to seek assistance from the National Government through the Finance and Treasury.

He said that he personally saw the PM and the Disaster office and he was pleased to announce that the National Government gave him ONE MILLION KINA for this relief effort in South Bougainville.

MR. MASIU said that these funds are not enough to fix the roads and other damages to properties but will monitor how the relief effort will go.

He said they are only supplying Rice and Noodles but many districts do not want noodles as they want more Rice as destroyed food gardens will take time to recover so they need more food.

MR MASIU said because of the situation all public servants handling the delivery have been requested not to ask for Allowance as they are already on the payroll and should assist their people.

The member also said that he has not received any commitment from the ABG members to counter his Kina for Kina offer to constituency members.

He said that for every ONE KINA a constituency member contributes the national member will contribute to assist constituencies hit by this natural disaster.

Supplies for Torokina will be delivers from Buka whilst BANA and Siwai will get their supplies from Arawa and Buin will get their supplies from Buin wholesalers.

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150619TEMU FIRST PNG MINISTER TO VISIT TOROKINA
New Dawn FM News
The newly appointed minister for Bougainville Affairs, DR. PUKA TEMU became the first Papua New Guinean Minister to visit the people of Torokina on Saturday.
The trip to Torokina involved travelling to Marau by road then another one hour on a 60HP Yamaha boat to the famous Torokina district.
The Minister was accompanied by his counterpart Minister from the ABG, ALBERT PUNGHAU and the UN representative, RUI FLORES and the NCOBA Director JOHN ANUMA and their support staff plus media team from PNG and the local media, NBC, Post Courier and New Dawn FM.
The delegation was welcomed by a traditional Sing Sing DARE group on the beach and were escorted to the Torokina Primary School.
They were addressed by the Minister for Bougainville Affairs, DR. PUKA TEMU and ALBERT PUNGHAU before time was given to the public for question time.
Many asked very highly explosive questions in which both Ministers responded well and supported by the former ABG President, JAMES TANIS who is now the strategic advisor to the newly Bougainville Affairs Minister, DR. PUKA TEMU.
The team travelled back to Marau at 4pm and this time the sea was rough due to strong wind and low tide in the area.
The team finally arrived in Arawa at 7pm.

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050315ROLE OF HAKAU INVESTMENT CLARIFIED
BY JENNIFER NKUI

The former manager of Hakau Investment Thomas Betetis has clarified the role of Hakau Investment with regards to the Torokina Oil Palm project.
He revealed to New Dawn Fm in an interview last week that as far as the contract of Hakau Investment is concerned, Hakau Investment was awarded a contract by the ABG to conduct feasibility studies.
And as a person who has worked with Hakau Investment for three months, Mr. Betetis stressed that the overall contract to Hakau Investment was not to develop or plant oil palm in Torokina.
He said the main role of Hakau Investment was to conduct full feasibility studies to see whether Torokina is viable to plant oil palm or not.
He added that the contract also specified the activities that Hakau Investment will have to carry out before they can present a report to the ABG.
Mr. Betetis revealed further that the activities carried out by Hakau Investment were laid out in the contract between Hakau Investment and the ABG.
He then pointed out that the last activity was the establishment of Incorporated Landowner Groups in Torokina which have been done successfully and now the report is with the ABG.
He said with this report, the ABG will have to come up with a business plan and also to negotiate with a potential developer for oil palm in Torokina.

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031114NISIRA VISITS OPERATION RENDER SAFE IN TOROKINA
BY JENNIFER NKUI

The ABG vice president Patrick Nisira visited the operation render safe sites in Torokina last Thursday upon invitation from Captain Jay Bannister after the removal of a total of 1, 200 bombs.
The vice president was accompanied to the sites by the member for Torokina Steven Suoako, Captain Jay Bannister, ACP for Bougainville Police Paul Kamuai and two media personnel from Post Courier and New Dawn Fm.
In his address during the site visit, the vice president said he feels satisfied that the actual operation is going on and having been involved with render safe from day one, he is very happy that he is in Torokina to see first-hand what is happening.
After seeing the work being done, Mr. Nisira added that it can now be said that the critics are wrong in their accusations and they are also wrong in the way they think.
He stressed that what is needed on Bougainville is a more balanced thinking because we have to balance the way we think on issues that affect the people in general.
According to the vice president, the operation is a historical break for the people of Torokina in the sense that for over 70 years, the people of Torokina have been prisoners on their own land because of the legacies of the Second World War which were left by the allies.
Mr. Nisira pointed out that before any economic or any other development can take place in Torokina, first, the bombs have to be removed.
He explained that as leaders, sometimes people criticise them for the decisions that they make and former combatants have been critical of this operation.
He added that former combatants said that this operation is a breach of the Bougainville Peace Agreement but he had explained to them that the operation is not a breach of the Bougainville Peace Agreement but enhances the peace that the people of Torokina want.
The vice president believes that within the next two weeks as the operation continues, the people will appreciate more of what is happening and those who are disputing the operation will come to understand that the decision that the government has made is the best decision of the Momis government to say yes and liaise with the Australian government to conduct this operation.
He added that for them as leaders, they see the outcome of their decisions and the outcome of their decision is a happy and free people of Torokina, a people who will be able to enjoy their lives after the operation render safe concludes.
Mr. Nisira is looking forward to a successful conclusion of the operation and believes that the recognition and partnership between the ABG and the Australian government will go a long way.

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031114KORAIKOVE ASSURES NISIRA OF THEIR SUPPORT
BY JENNIFER NKUI

As revealed by the executive manager for Torokina District Simon Koraikove, the people of Torokina fully support the Operation Render safe.
He made this statement to assure the ABG vice president Patrick Nisira of his people’s support of the operation during the vice president’s operational tour of Operation Render Safe in Torokina last week.
He said especially the mothers, the fathers and the general public are fully supportive of this operation but the big thing is that the operation is progressing well.
He added that the district office and the people are very supportive of this operation because in order for development to take place, we have to get rid of the bombs first.
He further went on to say that we cannot ask for development or for the roads to be fixed when we still have the bombs.
He pointed out that this is the peoples’ stand in Torokina district as development can only take place after the bombs have been removed.
Mr. Koraikove stressed that one cannot go far to see people living with one leg or are dead because of the bombs.
He said these are the issues that the people of Torokina are living with and this is also the main reason why the ABG requested the Australian Defence Force through the Australian Government to come and remove the bombs.
He added that the people of Torokina are happy that the bombs are being removed and are fully supportive of this operation because they want the bombs to be removed so development can take place in Torokina.

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Newdawnpic the damage are contained to a minimum