By AUGUSTINE KINNA
THE Tulele Peisa Association (TPA) that is working behind the resettlement of the Carteret’s Islanders in the Atolls of Bougainville has already drawn up a six months priority-based activities for its people.
According to TPA president Ursula Rakova the priority activities set were to provide relevant information on key areas of work and to include necessary budget expenses needed to accomplish these activities.
She said TPA and its task force committee had planed to carry out some of these activities early this year but due to lack of financial support these activities were on going.
“There is an urgent need to carry forth these activities as they would complement the relocation programme of Carterets,” Mrs Rakova said.
She added that awareness raising, exchanging programmes, youth speaking tour, landholder negotiations would be the vital aspects of the Carterets relocation programme as they pointed towards a coherent approach, participatory and community approach.
Mrs Rakova revealed that one of their main priority areas was the outright purchase of a plantation or land on the mainland Bougainville where the islanders would move together as an island group and be settling as one community with a set of values and cultural identity.
She also pointed out that the complementary equitable social services that would form the bases of the total package would include;
*Building homes for the 3,000 plus Carterets islanders;
*School, health and social services;
*Community centre and administrative centre;
*Administration block; and
Sports ground.
“This year TPA and its committee have had five landholder negotiations but still there is a big need for more land negotiations to continue with leaders in the mainland Bougainville,” Mrs Rakova said.
She said the international media had also been keen on climatic changes and rising sea levels that affected the small Pacific islands which local media seemed to be coming into the picture very late.
She said TPA as a way of educating the local media they were now planning to organise a PNG media expo to the Carterets where media personnel would be taken to the island to document the raising sea level and its impact.