By AUGUSTINE KINNA
BOUGAINVILLE people have taken ownership of the peace and reconciliation process through their traditional Melanesian custom of breaking bows and arrows to signify that peace is restored.
Reconciliation meetings have been conducted between high level parities of government leaders, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), the Bougainville Resistant Force (BRF), the Mekamui and others.
However there are still issues in various regions, districts, villages and communities that need to be immediately addressed in order for true peace in Bougainville.
In this report I will share my experiences and insight of the Peace Fair Programme and reconciliation ceremony that the Bougainville Community Development Services (BCDS) and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) office in Buka took the initiative to do.
The initiative which involved the local community was a big step towards the Bougainville peace process in a bottom up approach.
The Peace Fair Programme aims to facilitate peace building, human rights, reconciliation, and had accompanying courses of conflict resolution, leadership and governance, economic and business skills and life skills development in the communities of Bougainville.
Reconciliation was what most people talked about and wanted however it was not easy to negotiate and bring about peace between individuals, groups, fighting factions and political leadership of government.
The reconciliation process in Bougainville took a lot of time and understanding from individuals before the actually result of peace was reached.
Reconciliation is believed to be a desire from ones heart rather then just for the sake of compensation without any meaning.
We visited Arawa recently and met with Peace Fair Committee members to see how they were coordinating and organizing the Peace Fair Programme.
The Arawa Peace Fair program was basically a public presentation for all parties involved to come out publicly and to reconcile and forgive one another.
Over 500 people attended and witnessed 16 groups reconciling in public and forgiving one another of their wrong doings.
The groups included clan groups, churches, women, youths, individuals and families.
Arawa Town Mayor Paul Nakara said that such programs initiated by UNDP are what most Bougainville communities need in order to strengthen peace in the region.
“My people of Arawa town are more than satisfied with the peace fair because through the program it has once again brought peace in the hearts of our communities, churches, youths, women and families,” said Mr Nakara.
“It is true that peace has already been restored in Bougainville but with such reconciliation program facilitated by the UNDP it is making a big impact to our lives,” said Mr Nakara.
He said the peace fair program is really a bottom up approach which provides opportunity for the grassroots people to come together in peace and unity.
School children also took part in the event reciting poems which touched the hearts of many.
The team also visited Rino, Baubake, Sikondo, Panguna, Kunua and Manetai to witness similar events.
Government officer James Torowa accompanied the UNDP team to witness the events.
At the Sininai School ground we met the chairman of the Peace Fair Michael Poowa who welcomed the team into the area.
The closing of the Peace Fair was well attended by more than 2000 people. The reconciliation ceremony witness mainly high profile BRA, BRF and BFF soldiers who were involved in the crisis.
In Buin district, the executive manger, John Itanu accompanied us to the Peace Fair in the Baubake constituency.
The Baubake Peace Fair was organized differently in that the main reconciliation ceremony and the grand opening were done on the first day of the Fair.
At first the atmosphere was tense as there was a sense of unwillingness by the people to reconcile.
The program began with a march past, prayer and the first reconciliation ceremony which involved the Paramount chief and other chiefs from the sub- clans in the area.
Tensions eased when the people saw chiefs reconciling with one another.
Ex-combatants and youths to come forward and reconcile.
It was revealed that 34 pre reconciliation ceremonies had already been conducted in the area by the chiefs. The Peace Fair was to witness seven identified reconciliation cases but only five cases reconciled while the other two did not attend the fair.
From the Peace Fair there was two major reconciliations witnessed between the BRA and BRF, and the other one was between Buin BRA commander, Thomas Tari and Wally Tomitom’s family.
The reconciliation was done in a traditional manner where the fractions exchanged traditional shell money called ‘Mimis’ which signifies forgiveness and acceptance for one another.
The ceremony was very emotional, it saw for the first time ex-combatants coming forward to reconcile and to say sorry for their wrong doing which was not easy for them to do.
This year 2008 the Government has recommended it to be the year of reconciliation and weapons disposal
 

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