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Bougainville Bougainville

BOUGAINVILLE'S

NEW PLAN

Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama.
Photo: AsiaPacificReport

By Kevin McQuillan ers’ organisations or businesses must be mobilised to play a
greater role.
The new president of Bougainville is Ishmael Toroama, a “Many businesses here in Bougainville have not been paying
former commander in the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, taxes. This must now change.”
and one of the key players in the signing of the peace agree-
ment with PNG in 2001 Long Term Vision and Planning
In his inauguration speech, Toroama outlined six broad “We must plan, say 40 years. And have a political com-
strategies and three core issues. Here are the key quotes. mitment to such planning so that Bougainville rises from the
ashes into a vibrant economy.
The Six Strategies:
Political control of our destiny. International relations
“We can only exercise political control through Indepen- “Our doors under my government will be open to the inter-
dence. We must pursue Independence by all peaceful means. national community especially to those who want to help us
It may happen in one year or it might take a few more years, achieve our dreams but in a way that is of mutual benefit to
but we must never lose focus however long it may take. us and to our friends to be.”
“Independence has been our dream since the days of our The three core issues: Independence, Corruption and Law
forefathers. We have fought for it, and won the war, but we and Order.
have not yet won the battle. My government’s priority is to
continue the preparations [in] dialogue with the government On Independence
of PNG.” “We have fought for it and won the war but we have not yet
won the battle. Let there be no doubt about the legality and
Economic Growth and Control validity of the Referendum and the results (98% in favour).
“Political control will not lead to much improvement in
our livelihoods if we are bystanders in the economy. We will On Corruption
have a specific targeted plan for growing our economy. The “We must get rid of any individuals, systems or institutions
Panguna mine will be a key target but we will not put all our that are practising corrupt behaviour. My government intends
eggs in one basket. My government has a number of large to to keep a clear separation between decision making and
medium project ideas in mining, agriculture, fisheries, and implementation.
tourism that will create employment and generate revenue “I am aware of the weaknesses in the current financial
for Bougainville. management system as it has too many leaks. We must fix the
“We welcome foreign investment because without outside leaks going forward.”
funding and technologies we may not be able to exploit our
natural resources. But we expect a fair share of return and On Law and Order
participation in the form of shareholding or equity in large- “I will be meeting with the Law and Order agencies here in
scale projects.” Bougainville to develop ways of combatting increasing law and
order issues such as drugs, home brew and gender and family
Administrative Control violence.
“The Administration must change from being pen pushers to “There is no longer any reason for anyone to carry arms or
being agents of change.” weapons or causing violence of behaving in unruly manners.”

Mobilising the Private sector and Civil Society editor@islandsbusiness.com
The private sector and civil society be it the church, farm-

34 Islands Business, November 2020