Bougainville President, Ishmael Toroama, has outlined his bold vision for Bougainville’s future, focusing on political independence, economic independence, and good governance.
He announced all these at the Bougainville House of Representatives during his recent inaugural address at the second sitting.
“Let me now focus on what I stand for in this new term of parliament - I campaigned to pursue three main goals in this new term of parliament, which are political independence, economic independence and good governance,” he said.
He reiterated that Bougainville’s journey for political independence is very clear – Bougainville voted for independence as provided for in Part 14 of the PNG Constitution, three years was spent consulting as if Bougainville did not know about its future political status, adding that the real question is ‘whether PNG is ready to accept the Bougainville people’s choice.’
“We expect the Melanesian Agreement and the Sessional Order to be the conduit through which the PNG Parliament will endorse the people’s choice,” he said.
According to President Toroama, Bougainville must be a Republic in the true sense and not the current hybrid of Presidential system mixed within a Westminster system of government, stressing that President is directly elected by the people and should not have to negotiate with Ministers in the exercise of his mandate.
In his statement, President Toroama further mentioned that the journey home must embrace economic independence at all levels, at the family level, the community level and Bougainville as a whole.
“At the government level, my government will first of all ensure that Panguna quickly progresses to the next stage of development,” he said.
President Toroama further announced the following projects under economic development:
- Bougainville Gold Refinery in Arawa will begin operations soon.
- Land is fundamental in economic development and the Toroama/Masatt government will explore ways of bringing more customary land into commercial production, adding that the private sector needs to be ready to take advantage of such opportunities.
- At the farmer level, people continue to work hard growing cocoa and copra, but the government must do more with these crops, and the excellent cocoa downstream processing research work by the DPI at Kubu must now progress into commercial production.
- Fisheries continues to be a sleeping giant but needs to be awakened, and if PNG is serious about economic independence for Bougainville, then it must immediately transfer the foreign investment powers and functions.
The third agenda is ‘Good Governance’ and he stated that governance is the foundation of any nation as it is concerned with institutions, systems and processes that regulate the conduct of any nation.
“Institutional reform, both in structure and function are necessary to ensure that the administration is aligned with the Republican political system,” he said, adding that the new Bougainville Constitution must ensure this alignment.
Furthermore, good governance is achieved through transparent leadership and strong institutions, and President Toroama challenged the leaders to take lead in practicing good governance.
“Good governance is not just talk only, we leaders must lead in practicing good governance – compliance is absolute,” President Toroama challenged, further calling on the public servants and citizens to follow the rules and laws of the land. “Leadership must lead by example, and the people will follow.”
In presenting his final remarks President Toroama reiterated that the transformation he was advocating for under the three agendas mentioned is not difficult to achieve with co-operation at all levels and roles that leaders and citizens play in Bougainville society.
President Toroama reiterated his 100 days plan, adding that the priorities will require coherent political leadership in providing the necessary policy directions for each relevant Department.
“I urge the administration through the Chief Secretary and the relevant Heads of Departments to take note of the priorities for the next 100 days as well as the broader priorities stated in this speech and undertake necessary tasks required to achieve all of these during this term of government as we head towards being a sovereign Bougainville,” he said.
