B’ville sets authority in motion

By STEPHANIE ELIZAH
THE Bougainville Executive Council yesterday officially endorsed the Bougainville Restoration  and Development Authority (Brada) as the implementing agency for restoration and development of high impact projects in the autonomous region.
It now remains for the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the national government to formalise this arrangement.
In acknowledging the endorsement, ABG Minister of Works, Transport and Communication Carolus Ketsimur said he looked forward to the signing of the agreement as it would allow Brada to do what it was set up to do.
Ketsimur said Brada would co-ordinate the task of identifying, prioritising and implementing high impact projects aimed at restoring and improving infrastructure and facilitating economic and community development.
“It is now 20 years since the Bougainville civil war which devastated infrastructure and others such as the Bougainville trunk roads were left to deteriorate to a state where they are not much help to our hardworking population,” Ketsimur said.
He said the Bougainville government’s attempts to get off the ground and move forward had been hampered by a lack of proper development planning, mismanagement and misuse of funds, corrupt practices and general lawlessness.
He said as a result economic and general development had been very slow, with Bougainville still largely dependent on the national government and outside aid for money.
“Our leaders who established Brada five years ago had recognised the need for a special body to concentrate on restoration work and building new high impact infrastructure. This need has become more urgent to address,” Ketsimur said.
He said Brada would take on larger and more complex projects, which when completed, would then be handed over to the region’s technical division for ongoing maintenance.
“The order of the day should be co-operation and working together. Our united aim is to provide infrastructure to help our people and our region in the shortest time possible.
“The time for talking is over, we must now take action,” Ketsimur said.
He called on all sections of the government, public service and the community to support Brada in its work to re-build Bougainville.