Bougainville on path to stability

 BOUGAINVILLE’S impending referendum to determine its autonomy will be one of the most significant dates in Papua New Guinea’s history.

Since the crisis that engulfed the island province in 1988, Bougainvilleans had stood fast in their right to decide whether they want to continue to be part of PNG or become an independent state.

National Governments have for the most part tried to facilitate this process but it has not been an easy one.

After the initial crisis and the civil war that broke out on the island following the events 26 years ago, the path to autonomy has largely been a peaceful one.

The setting up of an Autonomous Bougainville Gov­ernment was a natural consequence of the peace process. 

To date the Government has accommodated Bougainville in its special status and accorded it the support it has requested in order to function in its new state.

On his latest visit to Ara­wa last Friday Prime Minister Peter O’Neill assured the people of Bougainville of his Government’s commitment to providing the services they want.

He signed a list of resolutions with Autonomous Region of Bougainville President Dr John Momis during a joint supervisory body meeting.

That signing is perhaps one of the most important agreements between the two governments since the peace agreement. 

The key point in the list of resolutions is O’Neill’s promise to support the island’s referendum period to determine its status from 2015 to 2020.

That means starting this year until 2020 Bougainville is to take the question of referendum to its people and work at deciding once and for all whether nationhood is their answer or if some form of continued existence in an autonomous state is more beneficial to their cause. 

O’Neill acknowledged the complexity of the decision and the process. 

Momis pledged to see that the resolutions agreed on would be pursued until they were realised. 

He said the signing sho­wed that if the will was there and both parties were committed to finding a solution then progress would be made. 

Whatever happens over the next five years will impact the country. 

Bougainville has been a part of the PNG since the colonial period. 

Its importance to the rest of the nation has been clear in the years preceding 1975. 

But this fact was in part how the crisis started. 

According to historical records, the discovery of vast copper ore deposits in the Crown Prince Range on Bougainville in 1969 led to the establishment of the huge Bougainville Copper Mine by the Australian company Conzinc Rio Tinto. 

The Panguna mine began production in 1972 under the management of Bougainville Copper Ltd, with Papua New Guinea as a 20 per cent shareholder. 

At the time, the Panguna mine was the largest open cut mine in the world. 

It provided over 45 per cent of Papua New Guinea’s national export revenue, incredibly important to the economy. 

The mine brought thousands of non-Bougainvilleans to the island, most of whom were Papua New Guineans. 

Other foreigners, mostly Australians, were brought in to work the mine. This immigration caused further tension among the Bougainvilleans, who did not want foreigners on their land.

That eventually led to the crisis in 1988 which lasted another decade. During that time several thousand lives were lost as the conflict encompassed different factions. Despite the tragedies that have occurred on the island one cannot deny the tangible links the former North Solomons Province has with PNG.

Bougainville will continue to have strong ties to this country. Many Bougainvilleans live and work on the mainland and inter-marriage ensures that cultures are mixing.

Despite the dark days of the 1990s when the crisis was at its peak, normalcy has returned to the island and peace has been restored. 

Although pockets of resistance remain, these are areas that cannot hope to impede the peace process.

The path to peace and self-rule will be reached in the space of a few short years thanks in part to the Melanesian approach of finding a consensus, and to a desire for peace and stability.