By David Robie
PORT MORESBY — Papua New Guinea has given the all clear for parliamentary fact-finding delegations from New Zealand and the Solomon Islands to visit Bougainville.
Pleased with the April visit by an Australian delegation, Prime Minister Paias Wingti declared "we have nothing to hide" and opened the door to other missions from countries in the region.
New Zealand and the Solomon Islands have expressed an interest in sending delegations. Commentators in PNG welcomed possible New Zealand peace involvement, the first in the Bougainville conflict since the ill-fated Endeavour Accord in August 1990.
But diplomatic sources said New Zealand was likely to remain cautious about any visit until after the findings of the Australian delegation were considered.
Barely had the Australians left Port Moresby than the prime minister announced the PNG government had decided to beef up the country's security forces with an extra 39.7 million kina in a fresh bid to crush the rebellion.
The funds will partly buy more military hardware — including two more helicopters, armoured personnel carriers, automatic grenade launchers and other support equipment.
Troops on the island will be doubled from 1200 to 2400.
The government also condemned a proposal by a backbench MP for a United Nations peacekeeping force, claiming it was "undermining" its own peace initiatives.
However, Francis Ona, leader of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, welcomed the proposal by Black Action Party leader Joseph Onguglo as the "only realistic way" to end the conflict. Ona also offered to allow a joint Pacific islands parliamentary team to visit areas on Bougainville under rebel control. The Australians were prevented by the PNG Defence Force from visiting rebel-held districts.
Onguglo, a Highlands MP, will visit Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands lobbying for support for his proposals. Onguglo said he was making a personal sacrifice in an effort to "stop the killings and bloodbath" on the island.
He made direct contact with rebel leaders during a visit to the Solomon Islands — the only PNG parliamentarian to do so since the rebels declared Bougainville independent in 1990. "I'm a Melanesian nationalist keen to solve the problem", Onguglo said.
An estimated 5000 people have died during the five-year-conflict or as a result of the government-imposed blockade.
Wingti claimed members of the Australian delegation had changed their views about what was really happening on Bougainville. They were now satisfied that the government was not using its security forces to suppress the people, he claimed.
[Asia-Pacific Network.]