Photo credit: ABG
“As Bougainville continues to make great headway in its political development, we must also ensure that our socio-economic development is on par with our independence ready mission.”
President Toroama made this bold declaration in parliament, emphasising the importance of hastening internal economic development plans.
“We already have several high impact projects that this government is initiating, but we are yet to capture the low hanging fruits through the industries that Bougainvilleans are already involved in. We need a strong Bougainville Economic Development Strategy that will allow us to harness revenue from economic projects,” Toroama said.
“It is time we stopped procrastinating with plans that do not go beyond the paper they are written on. We must practicalise economic development and start earning revenue for Bougainville.”
President Toroama urged all Bougainville landowners to begin to trust the government and to engage with it to support economic projects that would help the government raise money.
“To enable tangible development and social progress, they (landowners) must work with the government by releasing their lands for development and respecting the progress of the economic projects initiated on their lands.”
“My government has always adopted rights before resources approach to development where we place the rights of the people above monetary and financial value. By respecting landowner rights, we expect the landowners themselves and the investor to comply with our economic laws and regulations to avoid problems.”
President Toroama, on the other hand, noted that a number of international enterprises had established themselves in Bougainville but had to abandon their investments and assets owing to landowner disputes and criminal activity.
“We may complain about the government not doing enough to support economic development, but our greatest impediment is ourselves when we refuse to support the government’s economic initiatives. If we continue along this path, there will be no real economic benefits to support our Independence agenda,” President Toroama said.
While Panguna is a significant economic driver for Bougainville, President Toroama stated that it would not be the exclusive source of money for the country, instead, Panguna must be viewed as a supplement to the country's overall prosperity.
“It (Panguna Mine) must not impede our desire to grow other investment opportunities for Bougainville that will provide revenue, it must be seen as complementary to our economic growth.”
President Toroama also stated that his administration is not planning any covert schemes to undermine the Panguna Landowners.
“I want to make it clear to the Panguna landowners and the people of Bougainville that my government has not made any commitment to any mining company. We are only dealing with Bougainville Copper Limited because the government is required to do so when it concerns the Panguna Mine. This government has no secret plot to undermine the landowners and give concessions to mining companies without the people’s consent,” Toroama stated.
Reference: Autonomous Bougainville Government (27 April 2021). “President Toroama on economic development”.
