Bougainville referendum

FINALLY the National Executive Council (NEC) has decided to meet in Buka with only one agenda, just before Bougainville goes to polls to vote for either Independence or Greater Autonomy.
Why has the NEC decided to meet in Buka now and not between 2005-2018?
Why discuss major infrastructural projects this week and not 15 years ago?
Bougainvilleans have been fooled many times and this time, we will not accept it.
Being fooled by Papua New Guinea is not new.
I remember being in high school in 1989 when the Bougainville crisis started and soon after the declaration of Operation mekim save by then premier of North Solomons. The national government quickly offered a ‘restoration package’ to the then North Solomons province.
In that package, North Solomons was offered complete sealing of all major roads and bridges all over Bougainville, electricity supplies from Arawa to rural villages and many others.
The national government at that time never fulfilled its promises but instead sent in security forces to Bougainville.
This led to an all-out war on Bougainville which subsequently resulted in more than 20,000 people being killed on Bougainville.
To Prime Minister James Marape and your team, we cannot be fooled any more. Let us decide on what is best for us.
Just allow us to determine our political destiny and help us to facilitate achieving the type of political status we will choose in three months time. It is too late.
We cannot accept more lies.

Joel Nava LLM, (Hons)NZ