BOUGAINVILLE ELECTIONS
The Bougainville elections concluded in a safe and orderly manner. Around
90% of the former members were not returned, including President Tanis who
is replaced by Chief John Momis. The result was conclusive for the position of
President and it was not necessary to go to preferences.
I met the new President in his first week in office. The meeting was both
cordial and constructive. It was an opportunity for me to brief the President on
the economic and technical issues in reopening Panguna and also to discuss
the challenges his government and the company shared. I emphasised the
importance of getting all interested parties to the negotiating table to discuss
the future of the mine. I told the President BCL's first priority is safety and
requested he do what he could to get company safety experts on the ground.
We agreed to keep in regular contact and since the meeting the new
Government has initiated a program to have a united mine lease landowner
representative body elected. Once this is complete there is a proposal to
commence a multi party renegotiation of the Bougainville Copper Agreement
under which the company operates.
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THE NEXT SIX MONTHS
The company will focus on preparing for a formal engagement with landowners
and the National and Bougainville Government over the future of the mine and
settling all outstanding issues between the parties. The Bougainville
Government has indicated its willingness to participate in such talks. All parties
have agreed that it is necessary to establish a landowner group that can
represent all landowner interests during negotiations. The Bougainville
Government is taking the lead and the company has offered its assistance
where appropriate. The new Bougainville Government has tenure of five years
and the early signs are that it is interested in reopening the mine provided the
local landowners are in agreement. A number of studies will be undertaken in
preparation for negotiations of the Bougainville Copper Agreement.
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