The terms paving the way for the Bougainville referendum were agreed upon in Kokopo in Papua New Guinea on the 26 January 2001 by the leaders Moi Avei, John Momis, late Joseph Kabui, Joel Banam, UN's Noel Sinclair and PMG representative Stephen Henningham; and to most of us, its conditions are ignorant of the Bougainville problem.
In the agreement, it should be noted that when they said that, ' Bougainvilleans will vote not earlier than 10 years after the formation of the Autonomous Government and the Bougainville Constitution and no later than 15 years'. What is this nonsense?
Sam Kauona came out first to attack this by saying: ' That the conditions should be 'cautiously welcomed' as they were clearly 'unfair'. He further claimed that too much was given to the corrupt and dishonest PNG government. His question was: ' Did not we learn through the years we have been ruled by the Redskins'
The government of PNG knew all these conditions were to be challenged by the Bougainville economic status. Poor economic performance would have the Bougainville people vote against independence which shows PNG's continued attraction to this resource reach Solomon island of Bougainville. The 20 000 people that perished during the conflict were ignored.
Beside, more was said of the BRA to disarm completely. This is another gesture of PNG placing itself over the people of Bougainville. The biggest question is: why should we trust PNG? Unlike the evil Redskins, Bougainvilleans are peace loving people and we know where and when to use the gun.
As Bougainville is now approaching the set dates, all I am thinking of is the amendment of the useless PNG constitution. The section on Bougainville referendum must be amended to suit the situation on Bougainville.
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