Respect result: Sir Julius

NEW Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan says the people of Bougainville have the right to self-determination.
Monitoring the referendum process from Kavieng, Sir Julius said: “Whatever the outcome of the two weeks of polling, the national government must respect and honour on the floor of parliament.”
Sir Julius said both the greater autonomy and independence choices were win-win deals
“The people of Bougainville want to benefit from their own resources, they want to have more say and control over their economic and political future. As it stands, Waigani has not lived up to its commitment of issuing the constitutionally mandatory infrastructure restoration and development funds on a timely basis. They need to be free from Waigani to stand on their own feet,” Sir Julius said.
While he will support whichever decision the majority of Bougainvilleans will choose, he firmly believes Bougainville will remain an integral part of PNG.
“If they choose to be independent, let them have it, it doesn’t mean they are leaving us. It is better to stand on your own feet then to constantly wait for handouts from Waigani,” he said. Sir Julius’s comment comes on the backdrop of New Ireland’s push for greater autonomy for the past 10 years.
Having two of the country’s largest gold mines operating in his province, Sir Julius said he felt both the mining companies and the national government had not given the province a fair share of benefits from the billions of kina generated from the mines.
On top of that is the continuous illegal logging taking place because of the approved logging permits from the PNG Forest Authority.
“Right now all our provinces are remotely controlled.
“People who don’t live in our provinces are meddling with the affairs of our provinces. Where is the sense in that?
Sir Julius said the Government needed to be serious about greater autonomy; it was not a new concept.
It has proven to work in Australia and American states. Although there they call it federalism – when the states or provinces make the national government – not the other way around.
Sir Julius said it did not mean the provinces would break away but he warned if the national government did not heed the desires of the provinces, then there would be resentment and one day they would break away.