JSB gets underway at APEC Haus
The Joint Supervisory Body meeting between the National and Autonomous Bougainville governments has started at APEC Haus in Port Moresby.
The meeting today follows two days of deferment. Prime Minister James Marape and ABG President Ismael Toroama will both give their opening remarks as co-chairs of the meeting before they go into closed-door leaders’ dialogue.
The closed-door discussions will highlight the final stages of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, specifically focused on Parliament’s ratification of the Referendum results and a string of long-running issues regarding governance and development.
An agenda paper made available to NBC News, says the issues of Fisheries Revenue Sharing, Cocoa Levies, Financial Matters which includes issues of the Restoration Development Grant and Prime Minister’s Commitment funding, and the Bougainville Copper Limited Shares, will be up for discussions, apart from the major issue of a sessional order, or temporary rule, for Parliament, on how the ratification process should proceed in Parliament.
Bougainville currently receives 5-million Kina annually from the National Fisheries Authority as benefit sharing from its share of tuna exports in the country.
The ABG has been arguing that the current arrangement does not equate with Bougainville waters being rich breeding ground for tuna stocks in the world.
The NFA and the ABG Department of Primary Industries and Marine Resource has since been working on a formula on how tuna benefits can be shared equally with Bougainville.
Issues on the Restoration Development Grant will also be discussed. Under this arrangement, Bougainville is to receive 100-million Kina each year for restoration and development work.
However, it was established by a United Nations moderator in 2019 that the National Government owes Bougainville over 800-million Kina in RDG’s. This amount may have already shot past 1-billion Kina.
The ABG has been arguing that this money is guaranteed under the Constitution and its regular payment must be honored by the National Government.
The Prime Minister’s Commitment of another 100-million Kina annually to Bougainville will also be discussed, with the ABG of the view that this monies should be converted into paying the RDG which the National Government owes the region.
On the issue of shares in the Bougainville Copper Limited company, the ABG wants a 36.4-percent share from the National Government quickly transferred to it.
The ABG currently holds a 36.4-percent share of the BCL, it received from Rio Tinto, and while talks for the transfer of the other 36.4-percent share by the National Government has been promising, the actual transfer of the share certificate is yet to happen.
Prime Minister James Marape says the upcoming consultation meeting will provide clarity on the procedural aspects, including the deployment of Sessional Orders, presenting of Referendum results before Parliament.
Mr. Marape reaffirmed his government’s commitment to facilitating the democratic process stating that his administration enabled the conduct of referendum in 2019.
Today's JSB meeting ends at 4pm this afternoon.