Church leaders from Papua New Guinea led by Cardinal John Ribat the Archbishop of Port Moresby arrived in Buka on Tuesday. They were on a fact-finding mission to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville ahead of next year’s planned vote on possible independence. The aim of the mission was to understand the role churches could play Read more
In June next year, Bougainville will be voting to decide if it is to become independent from Papua New Guinea. The bishop of Bougainville, Bernard Unabali, says the church will support whatever the outcome would be – independence or autonomy. He said this when preaching at Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral at Hahela in Buka Read more
A visit by three former Papua New Guinea prime ministers in an attempt to stop Bouganvilleans voting for independence is a “complete waste of time and absurd,” says Martin Miriori, a leading figure in the Bougainville separatist movement. Miriori is the former Bougainville Interim Government (BIG) and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and Secretary and Read more
Bougainville Copper Limited’s (BCL) proposal to the Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) on re-opening Panguna copper mine has brought satisfaction to landowners. The details of the BCL forward plans for Panguna were made at a presentation by the company recently. The chairman of the Port Mine Access Road, Mr Peter Miriona, said the proposal was satisfactory Read more
THE gaping hole carved into mountains was at one point the world’s largest open-cut copper mine. Now Rio Tinto is saying, “not our problem.” This controversial pit became the flashpoint for a bitter civil war in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s that cost as many as 20,000 lives. Now, 27 years after the war Read more
The Solomon Islands Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace which has just completed a week of national reconciliation ceremonies for Solomon Islands own ethnic crisis in 1998, now wants to pursue reconciliation with PNG and Bougainville. Organisers of a week of reconciliation ceremonies held in Solomon Islands say the programme is a first step Read more