Connectivity needed: MP

South Bougainville MP Timothy Masiu says the Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) needs proper connectivity between its leadership and administration to work on nation building.
Masiu, who is the Information and Communication Technology Minister, said there was a lack of connectivity between the AGB political leadership and administrative machinery in preparation for independence.
He was commenting on a ministerial statement by President Ishmael Toroama in which he highlighted six “strategic pillars”.
Masiu said the public service machinery was not in a position with the vision and aspirations of political leadership.
“ABG members must work together and get the public service machinery tuned to our (political leaders) instruction on the president’s highlights,” he said.
He summarised the pillars as political control, economic growth and control, administrative control, mobilisation of the private sector and civil society, long term vision and planning and international relations.
Masiu urged ABG leaders to translate the pillars into workable outcomes or the vision would just be another statement.
“The president has made a statement, it is now the responsibility of each and every leader take it on board and run with it,” he said, declaring that he was giving himself the challenge to do what he could at his level.
On the economic growth and control pillar, Masiu said the ABG was missing out on opportunities available to raise the much-needed revenue, including airport tax, ticket sales fees, wharfage and berth charges and many more and questioned how much internal revenue did the administration raised.
“The ABG must now take control of its administrative machinery to ensure it was responsive and serving the interest of the government of the day,” he said. “Now, the administration seems to be serving its own interest.
“Law and order was still the main sticky issue under the pillar of mobilisation of the private sector and civil society,” he said.