5 Mar 2003

UN Envoy to Bougainville realistic about not completing weapons disposal by June

5:17 pm on 5 March 2003

Noel Sinclair, the United Nations envoy overseeing the peace process on the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville says the containment of weapons as part of the arms disposal programme may not be completed by the end of June.

The Peace Monitoring Team team is scheduled to withdraw from the island on June 30th.

Earlier, the Commander of the PMG, Brigadier Doug Tyers said 87 percent of weapons have been handed in and contained, but that Mr Sinclair wants 100 percent.

Mr Sinclair says the peace monitors, UN officials and Bougainvilleans are hopeful and working frantically to try and achieve that target before the PMG members leave.

"I am working desperately to make sure that it's completed by the end of June. If it so happens that after the 30th of June, we find that there is still some work requiring the kind of capacity the PMG has, then I will hope that there would be some kind of arrangement in place, whereby the UN agency will be able to have access to that kind of capacity."

Elections for an autonomous government in June or July as hoped for by Bougainvilleans will not happen if Mr Sinclair does not approve of the level of weapons collected and their security.