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Thursday, 7 February 2013

My 2012 Speech Insights at Oune Primary School in Panguna


Leonard Fong Roka

Nearly all primary schools’ end of 2012 academic year ceremonies I attended, had the voice of the same issue; we want a Bougainville that is prosperous and independent. That is, a Bougainville that is free from the grip of the Papua New Guineans.
Mr. Leonard Fong Roka
 
An independent Solomon island of Bougainville is what and why our 15 000-plus innocent people perished for under the PNG’s long rule since 1975, military intervention and total blockade for ten years since 1990. The blood of all these people is still warm on our hands and we are here doing more harm by our irresponsibility, negligence and self-centeredness on these spirits of our dear brothers and sisters.

On the 13 of December 2012, I was invited as a guest speaker by two primary schools, Darenai and Oune, here in the Panguna District. I choose Oune because it is here that the Bougainville struggle for independence in the 1960s began; the precedence was set here.

People across Bougainville can claim that the Panguna people are responsible for the conflict on Bougainville. Then the Panguna man will not hesitate to state that it is the Oune people to the west of the Panguna District that started the conflict long time ago. They started it through the little organization they called, the Oune Mumungsina that later had the Napidakoe Navitu as its umbrella body.

The moment I was called to talk, I ran down this history of Oune. The crowd was silent because, despite the fact that in history, they were responsible to lead people to go into anti-CRA and later anti-PNG demonstrations in Panguna and Arawa, they—the current generation—had no idea what their elders had done and gone into their graves.

For the day, I gave the longest speech, with the people so captivated and a few in tears.

And this is one general characteristic of people in my Kieta Society; we had run our politics with our mind and, not with our hearts! We start up a thing, and then let it fade without investing more into it. This can be seen in the many confrontations with the CRA and BCL where bribe money from a BCL official had for long easily coerce the protestors into accepting an unfair decision despite the fact that one in the midst of the group is still not satisfied. Then, once the bribe money is gone, we look for another trouble and the cycle goes on. Then along the way, once a new problem confronts us, we instigate a new counter measure that shakes the whole of Bougainville.

Such is well evidenced in Bougainville history of political struggles. I ran a short discourse with emphasis on my Kieta peoples’ responsibility in diverting our island into chaos of blood and tears that is still quaking beneath our soles.

As Kieta people we are responsible for the 15 000-plus people by the simple fact that in 1990, with the first cease fire and the withdrawal of the PNG government, we as Bougainvilleans had the greatest opportunity to built a political administration that should have had paved the road to independence swiftly without pain, but instead with our irresponsibility, pride and lack of vision and planning, we dumped Bougainville into a civil war and immeasurable suffering on our innocent people.

This mistake must not be repeated by the Oune people as it is now practiced by two of our former BRA men in Kieta. These two figures today have gone astray from their old fight for the good of Bougainville and now competing against each other to be at the top with money.

But our people are keeping their eyes on them. Our responsible former combatants in August 2012 warn Ishmael Toroama for his octopus culture by torching dozens of the scrap metal collector, Panguna Metal’s plants and equipment in Panguna, Pakia and Loloho that Ishmael Toroama’s men provide security to. If Ishmael Toroama did react, hopefully that was his death as I am gleaning.

His rival, Chris Uma also kept silent at his side, for he too, is a problem in Kieta by contradicting the positive things he suggests to most media and public and yet, under cover, people see him running after public money, bribes and other illicit practices that our people are now fed up with.

If people are slowly turning against these two developing warlords, then what people of Oune should look towards is commitment of investing into education. Children should all be in the classrooms for this century is the century of the educated brains to play politics. The era, where our people came out of the caves of Oune to play politics in the international stage is over with the reign of globalization.

If our ancestors were crying to see Bougainville free in the 1960s through their organization Oune Mumungsina, then we have to follow their footsteps by correcting areas where they did failed if we want our children to enjoy their land and resources as the Solomon island people of Bougainville.

As Oune people, this is the moment to turn away from the negativity we are investing into our children with the gold generated money we get daily. In Oune, every child has access to cash, and to me that is not a positive step to building a good Bougainville. Every afternoon, our kids walk home from school and end up down at the Kavarong panning for gold instead of studying. That must end if we are responsible parents of Oune and Bougainville.

I did recognize the fact that many speech makers fear exposing the reality to the people. The people know what development that happens around them inside-out but as leaders, people turn to suppress the truth despite the fact that as Christians we roam around Bougainville preaching, ‘The truth will set you free’.

‘Be responsible parents today if we want to save Bougainville and the sacrifice that our 15 000-plus brothers and sisters paid for with their lives under the Australia-backed PNG blockade of our Solomon Island of Bougainville will be a reality. Know that students we are sending outside Bougainville to be educated, are there running around the place wearing PNG shoes! Educating Oune the Bougainville way is Educating Bougainville the right way!’ I closed my speech with this and walked through dozens of handshakes all day.

My speech, though not fully captured here, is still in the mouths of my people as I write.

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