REPLY RECEIVED FROM FRANCIS ONA AND SPOKESPERSON CLIVE PORABOU ON 3 JAN '04 (DELAYED IN TRANSMISSION?)
WE ASKED FOR MEKAMUI (BOUGAINVILLEAN) COMMENTS RE REPORTS (ALSO INCLUDED, BELOW) CONCERNING PLANS TO SEND AUSTRALIAN POLICE (AND - I ASSUME, LATER, TROOPS) TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND ALSO BOUGAINVILLE "to maintain law and order". These plans strike me - personally - as attempts to put out a small fire with a dose of gasoline! And a delusion by the oz government that they can do this better than the american occupation of iraq... Max Watts ----- Original Message ----- From: Clive Porabou Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 10:19 PM Subject: RE: VOICE IT OUT IN THE MEDIA Hi there Max, we received the report you sent and studied it; (1) These are our comments - we want you to put it out in the media. What PNG Government and the Australian Government notoriously called law and order problem in Bougainville is basically a social problem. In the beginning of the Bougainville Conflict - the rights of the black inhabitants of Mekamui homeland have been looked down on. We had fought for a cause, like the American war of Independence. We had battled to break the political link with the government of PNG. The foreign authorities are sending in foreign forces to our shores to forever bring us evil, the turmoil, the pain and the suffering beyond height that words cannot explain. Deployment of Australian Federal Police and other associates are not the answer to the century- long cry of the Black inhabitants of the Mekamui homeland. The Mekamui Defence Force and all ex-combatants do not want to be put behind bars as is happening in neighbouring Solomon Islands. We have been fighting for our right and that right is to be free in our own island. Spokesperson - Clive Porabou. ================================== From: "MAX WATTS" To: "Clive Porabou" dear clive: this story should be studied in bougainville ! (1) I HAVE HILITED SOME INTERESTING ASPECTS ! AND HAVE TALKED TO MARK FORBES (AUTHOR) ABOUT IT, HE SAYS SOMARE CAVED IN LAST THURSDAY..AND FROM OTHERS I HEAR THAT THE OZ GVT THINKS THEY CAN GET RID OF SOMARE IN FEBRUARY.. I WOULD BE V INTERESTED TO HEAR WHAT YOU ALL THINK ABOUT IT ! MAX ==================================== (1) The Age, 2 Dec 03 $500m rescue package for PNG By Mark Forbes Foreign Affairs Correspondent Canberra - December 2, 2003 In a $500 million, five-year operation, more than 250 Australian police will be sent to Papua New Guinea's hotspots of Bougainville, Port Moresby, Mount Hagen and Lae to restore order. The Australian and PNG governments have endorsed the operation, despite opposition from PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, who had claimed that placing Australian police and public servants in key positions would infringe on his nation's sovereignty. The police operation will be double the size of Australia's intervention in the Solomon Islands. The first contingent is expected to arrive in Bougainville by February. PNG's cabinet has backed the operation, which Foreign Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu said was a milestone for the two nations. "In return for this long-term commitment and the funding it will require from the Australian Government, we must demonstrate genuine political stability," Sir Rabbie said. The plan has been expanded from a proposal advanced by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer earlier this year, when he said there could be little funding above Australia's $350 million annual aid program to PNG. However, federal cabinet has now agreed to provide more than $100 million extra a year to PNG, fearful that failure to act decisively could lead to a collapse of the state. The deal will be formalised in Adelaide next week between Mr Downer and senior PNG ministers. Details will be finalised by Australia and PNG's police commissioners. PNG Police Minister Bire Kimisopa said the Australian police would be sent to four locations. "PNG's cabinet has agreed on the concept of assistance and figures produced by the Australian Federal Police and PNG police," he said. The most urgent deployment was to Bougainville, where peace monitors were scheduled to depart early next year, Mr Kimisopa said. Maintaining order in Bougainville after years of conflict was vital for PNG, he said. Also critical was Port Moresby "where government and commerce takes place", and which has been beset by violent criminal gangs. Mount Hagen and the port of Lae were the key cities in the resource-rich Highlands provinces. The Highlands Highway between them was "a lifeline of the country", Mr Kimisopa said. Highway traffic has been disrupted by armed looters and Australian police will help establish a highway patrol. Australia will also send headquarters and logistics staff. Additional resources and expertise will be provided to the police prosecutions branch. The package aims to build the capacity of the beleaguered PNG police, along with a restructure. Mr Kimisopa said stability needed to be returned to senior ranks and proper pay and conditions provided. Other elements of the assistance package include placing Australian public servants in financial management positions in PNG, to counter corruption. Australia wants redundancies across the public sector, to reduce the 75,000 workforce by two-thirds. Sir Rabbie said the assistance package addressed "core areas of national and government concern" and would require political leadership and commitment. "If we don't achieve political stability and focus on good governance, then we will be letting down our own people and the people of Australia," he said. The move follows the success of the Australian-led force in the Solomon Islands as the next step in Australia's new interventionist regional stance. Mr Downer last week said Australia planned to take a leadership role in an attempt to avoid failed states in the Pacific. ============================== (2) From: Clive Porabou Subject: Statement From Mekamui and X-mas and New Years Greetings. Dear Friends, The Mekamui National Congress and the military arm, The Mekamui Defence Force are not the party to peace process. However, we keep the peace as we are peace loveing people and didn't disrupt it. As we are not the party to the peace process, we don't surrendered or containerize our arms. This gives many Leaders headach, fortunately we don't want war and don't want to make war. Our arms are for our Country and depending our Birthright [ That is our land ] our Chlidren and their children to come. We are ready to negotiate with P.N.G, Australia and the United Nations, the main focus is freedom and that freedom is Independence for Bougainville. The above mention Country or United Nations must in line recongnize our Unilatral Declaration of Independence [UDI ] of May 17 1990. This year 2003 has been another year of struggle and we have proven beyond douth that we have come a long way and reached a point of no return. Eventhough we have ups and downs we hold on to our principal and will continue till freedom rolls down like waters. On behalf of the Mekamui National Congress and Mekamui Defence Force I am thanking you one and all for your assistance and contribution this year. Without your assistance and contribution I believe we can't come this far, we are looking forward to that same assistance in the coming new year 2004. Our special X-mas and prosperous new greetings to you all, not forgetting your family members plus those friends of yours who we don't mention who standby you. Merry X-mas and a prosperous new year 2004. Spokeperson, Clive Porabou. -- Visit the proposed Leftlink web site at http://www.leftlink.net/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
