Working towards Milne Bay autonomy

Letters

Former Milne Bay Governor Titus Philemon was working towards gaining autonomy for the province.
He was working with Sir Julius Chan on a model of social and economic policies which could sustain a self-reliant development process like New Ireland had been undertaking.
However, he lost the seat.
Now that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has made a commitment to New Ireland and given assurances that all provinces will be granted autonomous status in the coming years, is great news.
As a citizen of Milne Bay, I have always had such dreams for Milne Bay to one day be granted autonomy, so that maximum powers can be obtained to manage its own affairs apart from those which can be controlled at national level.
This is an opportunity that must have the leaders in Milne Bay thinking about setting up working committees to start consultations with the people, and drafting a constitution and policies looking towards autonomy.
There is a lot of work to do and the process should begin now.

Milne Bay Citizen