Momis: No one is above the law
President Hon. Chief Dr John Momis has strongly condemned the behaviour of a minority group of service providers, going outside the law, saying their actions are harming the political aspirations of all Bougainvilleans.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, President Momis described the actions of service providers to side-step government finance process and the rule of law was dangerous, unnecessary and misleading.
The President was responding to service providers going directly to the national government to settle their claims and disrupting flights to Buka.
“The ABG is mandated by the people to fight for the interests and welfare of the people of Bougainville – to manage limited government finances, maintain rule of law, implement good governance, and in negotiations and dealings with the national government and development partners.”
“The ABG will do all it can to ensure that our one opportunity to determine Bougainville’s political future will not be undermined by the behavior of a few.”
Mr Momis said proper processes must be followed to sort genuine claims from those that were not.
“The process of reviewing claims put forward by service providers has already begun and this has shown that not all claims are genuine. This process will continue to identify all genuine claims, which will then be put forward to the administration to settle accordingly when funds are available”, Mr Momis said.
President Momis said that by now it should be clear to all that the National Government has been starving the ABG of funds, and that this has a roll-on effect for settling outstanding invoices as well as government service delivery.
“I acknowledge the patience of those genuine service providers with outstanding claims who are still waiting”, he said.
“However the recent unlawful activities and comments will only make it difficult for Bougainville to show that it is following the principles set out in the Bougainville Peace Agreement.”
“In order for the referendum process and outcome to be seen as credible by the national government and especially the international community, Bougainville must continue to strictly adhere to the principles of good governance, transparency, rule of law and following due processes,” he said.
Meantime, the Police Minister has made funding support available to the Bougainville Police Service to substantively increase their capacity to effectively maintain peace and stability in Bougainville.
[ Back to News ]
