By ALOYSIUS LAUKAI
THE chiefs and ex-combatant leaders in the Kunua district of North Bougainville have agreed to let the Papua New Guinea Defence Force remove the remains of three soldiers killed in their area during the Bougainville crisis.
The remains of the three soldiers are still in the bushes of Kunua after several attempts to recover their remains by the Department of Defence were rejected by the chiefs and former combatants. The soldiers were killed during a confrontation with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army near Petspets village in 1996.
The Kunua chiefs and the former combatants met with the Autonomous Bougainville Government vice-president John Tabinaman at the Raban’s Guest House last Friday and agreed for the Defence Department to remove the bodies.
Kunua district executive manager John Sisiasi, who was at the meeting last Friday, told The National that the people wanted to release the bodies as a sign of goodwill so that their remains can be returned to their families for proper burial.
Mr Sisiasi said a special committee was established to speed up talks with the Defence Department to decide on the time and date that the remains could be retrieved.
He said the people of Kunua would like to see a special reconciliation ceremony with the Defence Force and the people of Kunua next month.
Vice-president Tabinaman, who is the Member for Mahari which covers parts of Kunua, said he was happy that the people have at last agreed to release the remains of the three soldiers.
He said that it was good to let the families get the remains of their loved ones at last because the Bougainville war had ended and their families were still waiting to get their remains and bury them properly.
He called on other Bougainvilleans to also allow the families of other PNGDF and other Bougainvilleans killed in different locations throughout Bougainville to do the same.
He said that real reconciliation and peace will only be achieved if these outstanding issues are addressed.