2004 WILL BE A
YEAR OF CHALLENGE FOR PEACE-BUILDING IN BOUGAINVILLE
Minister for
Inter-Government Relations
2004 is likely to see the election of the first Autonomous Bougainville Government.
The 10-15 year lead-up to the guaranteed referendum on Bougainville’s political future will begin at the same time.
The focus of attention and action for those involved in practical peace-building in Bougainville will move on from building the foundations of peace in the immediate post-conflict situation to developing structures of governance and opportunities for people in Bougainville in the long-term.
2003 has been a year of transition.
But, just on a month before Christmas, the next few weeks appear to be critical in determining exactly where the Bougainville peace process will be at year’s end.
Events and developments in this period will be vital to ensuring that peace and further peace-building are self-sustaining.
Key issues high on the agenda for all of the parties involved in the Bougainville peace process include completing practical weapons disposal, strengthening civil authority (police, courts and correctional services on the ground), and progressing work on the constitution and elections for the Autonomous Bougainville Government.
Providing opportunities for former combatants and communities to integrate and participate in development are vital to security, stability and the return of normalcy on the ground.
With the last of the neutral, regional monitors who have provided unarmed support for the peace process since late 1997 and the United Nations Observer Mission in Bougainville (UNOMB) both due to complete their assignments at the end of the year, there is no time to lose.
The prospects for securing lasting peace by peaceful means may well depend on what is achieved in the last few weeks of 2003.
Major developments during 2003 have included:
At a more basic level, much closer to most people’s lives, progress continued in reconstructing and upgrading infrastructure, including the Buka Ring Road and other roads, constructing new wharves at Kangu and Buka, and restoring basic health, educational and other services.
Australia, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, the United Nations Development Programme and other specialized agencies, together with other foreign aid donors, churches and other non-governmental organisations, continue to provide financial and other support.
The foundations of peace and peace-building in Bougainville continue to gain strength where the Bougainville peace process began – among peace-loving women and men around Bougainville and the rest of Papua New Guinea.
They are reinforced by the commitment of leaders, former combatants and communities to work together for peace.
2003 saw increasing effort being put into encouraging leaders, former combatants and communities in the ‘No-Go Zone’ in Central Bougainville to help make the peace process Bougainville-wide by participating in weapons disposal and other peace-building activities, such as removing the last road-block on the road from Kieta to Panguna.
Government and United Nations agencies co-operated in getting medical supplies into the area, while schools were re-opened and provided with staff and supplies.
Planting and replanting of cocoa and coconut trees continued throughout Bougainville.
New crops, such as vanilla, were tried.
Processing facilities were built or rebuilt.
Despite difficulties, including the way in which the ‘No-Go Zone’ prevented farmers at Torokina from transporting produce by road to the wharf at Kieta, economic recovery kept moving ahead.
An excellent report identified the real, underlying causes of food shortages in the atolls, and proposed practical strategies to help people there help themselves.
A number of incidents involving violence and high-powered guns at different locations underlined the fragility of law and order.
The determination with which communities reacted demonstrated the breadth and depth of their commitment to mutual confidence, security and peace.
It underlined the need not only to complete the agreed weapons disposal plan but to continue encouraging former combatants and communities to get rid of the guns still at large, and for urgent action to strengthen policing, courts and correctional services around Bougainville.
With the main former combatant groups due to meet on Nissan Island in late November to develop common proposals on weapons disposal and the National Government preparing to strengthen the Police presence on the ground, backed by appropriate delegations of functions and powers to the Police Commander and political leaders in Bougainville, there were sound reasons to hope for substantial progress in the new year.
On weapons disposal, there can be absolutely no doubt: the process must continue; the guns already put away must be immediately destroyed.
These are the only decisions that would be both credible and acceptable to peace-loving people around Bougainville, nationally, and in the eyes of the international community, whose support we will continue to need during the transition to the establishment of the Autonomous Bougainville Government – and beyond.
Members of the United Nations, whose support will be critical to the National Government’s efforts to retain UNOMB, together with foreign aid donors, both current and prospective, will be watching developments closely.
The decision is critical to the National Government’s ability to work effectively on Bougainville’s behalf to obtain financial and other assistance from foreign aid donors for reconstruction of infrastructure, restoration of services, and the provision of increasing opportunities for Bougainvilleans to participate in development.
A firm commitment to destroy the guns, followed by prompt and thorough implementation, will send the clearest, most positive signal that Bougainville is ready for normalcy to return, and doing everything possible to give foreign aid donors and others the confidence to provide support.
Appreciating the contribution that former combatants have made to work with Police in providing security during weapons disposal, pending full restoration of normal peacetime policing, the National Government has come up with scarce funds to help provide modest allowances.
But these are purely transitional measures.
The over-all goal must be the restoration and strengthening of normal arrangements for peacetime policing, courts and correctional services.
The National Government and Bougainville leaders agreed to the key elements of a plan when the Interim Joint Supervisory Body met in Buka in October.
Australia and New Zealand will assist with funds and technical advice.
Implementation of the plan for strengthening police, courts and correctional services in Bougainville can, therefore, begin – and start making a difference to people’s lives – before this article appears.
At the same time as key Government agencies are working to restore civil authority on the ground, claims are being made for the payment of outstanding debts, allowances and entitlements, some of them dating back to the earliest years of the crisis.
Such claims are, obviously, difficult to meet at a time when the economy is experiencing adverse conditions, budgetary restraint is required, and other needs in Bougainville and Papua New Guinea as a whole are great.
When they are backed by threats to disrupt services, or worse, as some of them are, they impact even more seriously and negatively on the Government’s ability to respond fairly and in accordance with relevant laws.
They have serious implications for the confidence with which Government, foreign aid donors, banks, insurance companies and potential prospective investors look at prospects in Bougainville.
They cast doubt on the credibility of the commitment to self-reliant development made by leaders and the community in Bougainville as a whole.
At worst, they have the potential to weaken the peace which benefits those making the claims.
On this issue,, like others, the National Government has tried to meet legitimate demands by allocating K4 million to help met them, and proposing a mechanism through which claims lacking adequate documentation can be addressed and resolved.
Bougainville leaders have co-operated with National Government Ministers through the Interim Joint Supervisory Body (IJSB) in agreeing to a practical way forward.
Other agreements reached through the IJSB are also beginning to bear fruit.
They include the joint development of detailed plans for the preparations required to get the Autonomous Bougainville Government up and running in 2004.
These plans will not only be used to guide funding and action by relevant National Government agencies and the Bougainville Administration.
They are expected to attract foreign aid funding, both from existing donors and possibly from new, untried sources.
With consultations over the development of the proposed constitution for the Autonomous Bougainville Government ready to resume after a period of frustration and delay, the way is now clear for preparations for the establishment of the Autonomous Bougainville Government to move into high gear.
The Bougainville Constitutional Commission can be expected to complete its recommendations in time for the Bougainville Constituent Assembly to meet, consider and adopt the proposed constitution early in 2004, before submitting it to the National Government for endorsement as consistent with the National Constitution.
2004 promises to be a challenging and potentially very productive year for everyone involved in practical peace-building in Bougainville.
Continued commitment and co-operation by all of the parties will be critical to the progress we make towards our shared goal to secure lasting peace by peaceful means.