Independence not the best choice for B’ville

Letters

Up to this point as, an ‘expat’ Bougainvillean, I have felt that I should listen to those who live at home rather than express opinions.
I was a schoolboy in Buka in the 1960s, worked at Loloho hospital in 1970, and Arawa hospital in 1973 and 1978 (the later as medical superintendent), but have only made short annual visits home since my dad died in 2012.
Nevertheless, as is the way of PNG (and Bougainville politics) one keeps up with the local news and opinion. However, it has concerned me over the past year how little discussion there has been about the referendum and the risks, benefits and consequences of the two proposed outcomes: Greater autonomy and independence.
I have read all the six research reports put out by the National Research Institute on Bougainville and the referendum.
However, when I went to Buka to facilitate a seminar for district executive managers and district health managers on sexual and reproductive health and population issues, it was an opportunity to catch up with family and friends.
I was surprised that so few people had read any of those reports. I was again concerned that so little discussion was taking place about the referendum outcome issues.
So now, instead of remaining silent, I have decided to set out my views in the hope that it may stir up some more discussion and help other people come to crystalise their own opinions regarding how they might vote when the referendum eventually takes place.
It is my view that strength, better opportunities and overall benefit (especially for our grandchildren) is in unity rather than bruklus, or fragmentation of the nation state.
The United States is the most powerful nation in the world. The country was formed by a number of independent entities (like Texas, Virginia, Maryland and Louisiana) giving up their independent sovereignty and uniting.
Perhaps the next most powerful political block in the world is the European Union, which is the coming together of 28 countries.
Many of the smaller European countries like Slovakia, Portugal, Luxemburg and Latvia have very little political power or influence, but as members of the EU they are collectively powerful.
And now it is becoming clear that if the United Kingdom leaves the EU it is very likely to suffer serious economic and social detrimental consequences.
Australia also is a federation of six colonial states that gave up their individual sovereignty to become a more functional and powerful nation state.
On the other hand, the history of countries which have broken up is not so good – even when there seemed a very good reason for breaking away. South Sudan is a case in point, where in spite of the fact that there seemed to be extremely good reasons for leaving the greater Sudan state, there is now chaos and civil war after the separation.
The bottom lines is that for a nation state to be successful and cater well for the benefit of its citizens it must have sufficient resources to function.
Bougainville requires K200 million just for recurrent costs (The total AROB budget in 2016 was K286 million).
At the moment Bougainville itself raises about K23 million (i.e. only about 12% of what is required), and of this ‘internal revenue’ of K20 million is income and other tax receipts to the IRC, which is remitted back to Bougainville.
Bougainville survives financially on Australian aid (K120 million a year) and PNG government grants, under the National Economic and Fiscal Commission, of about K100 million.
Independence without some semblance of fiscal autonomy would not be real independence and could easily lead to a level of subjugation, much more than has ever existed with the current autonomy arrangements.
By and large it is only Australia that is prepared to gift aid money to Pacific states. China is only prepared to give loans.
And why would PNG gift money to Bougainville if it voted to separate itself from the PNG nation state?
In addition, the financial experts who looked at this issue in the third of the NRI monographs focused on “Financing for fiscal autonomy on Bougainville’ have concluded that “the total budget for an independent Bougainville nation, calculated on the basis of population-weighted budget of the neighbouring Melanesian nations, will be anything between two to three times more – K500 million to 700 million.
My view, therefore, is that unity in diversity is the best option (we should not be influenced by the “grass is greener on the other side of the fence” mentality), and in fact I consider that “high” autonomy, as outlined it the Bougainville Peace Agreement, is arguably the “best of both worlds”.
Being part of a bigger entity is not only more efficient (we are not going to waste money on duplicating lots of institutions and offices – like an army, currency, appeal courts, postal and telecom services, foreign and overseas legations, etc.), and if we have a fiscal problem, then our membership of the sovereign state of PNG could be a useful backstop, particularly in light of some of the poor financial management decisions that have been made by the AROB government in the recent past.
Those interested in financial management decisions of the AROB government should have a look at the New Dawn (Buka) FM radio FB page and other relevant blogs. For example, how come money that is earmarked for roads, health and education is invested in “fly by night” Asian companies that produce no dividends and even disappear once the “investment” has been made. And in spite of hundreds of millions of kina being raised and remitted to the AROB government annually, health (other than health workers’ salaries) is virtually not funded at all.
I would like to propose that we vote for “greater autonomy”, and then start looking forward to more unity with Melanesian states like a federation with the Solomon Islands (which I think is suffering from some of the problem of being a microstate), and joining with Vanuatu (and Governor Powes Parkop of NCD) to try and help the West Papua Province of Indonesia become independent.
A federation of PNG, Sol islands and West Papua – Federated States of Melanesia – could become a Pacific Power.

Professor Glen Mola