IT is now six years since the establishment of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and no powers have been fully drawn down from the National Government to the ABG. The National Government has also been accused of ?ignoring? and dragging the whole issue and both governments are way behind with the Joint Supervisory Body meetings to address them. ABG vice President Patrick Nisira briefly said the draw-down of powers to Bougainville was an issue that needed immediate attention, especially from the National Government. ABG President John Momis also indirectly, during the high-powered trilateral meeting between the United Nations, the Autnomous Bougainville Government and the National Government, mentioned the lack of National Government interest in fast-tracking the issue of the draw-down of powers to his government. The ABG leadership was concerned that by now the immediate draw-down of powers for the Education, Health and Agriculture Departments together with the region?s own timing to Bougainville should have been given to them fully. Mr Nisira said the draw-down on the mining powers was slow because of the 15-steps that had to be abided to by the two governments. Mr Momis acknowledged that the issue of capacity was a problem for the ABG but asked what the National Government was doing to help the ABG to address the issue of its capacity building. Members of the National Government team from Foreign Affairs in the meeting indicated that they could not comment on these issues because they were not the right people to give the response.
BOC Price at posting:
91.0¢ Sentiment: ST Buy Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)