Papua New Guinea has paid a total of $US6.5 million to the Autonomous Region of Bougainville for referendum-related activities and other projects.
PNG prime minister James Marape meets members of the Bougainville House of Representatives in Buka, 11 September 2019. Photo: PNG PM Media
Bougainville is to hold an independence referendum in late November.
The payment came in the form of cheques from three PNG government ministers.
Works Minister Michael Nali presented a cheque for $US2.7million to the Autonomous Bougainville government to complete two road projects.
Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Lino Tom paid another $US1.5 million to assist Bougainville's marine sector.
Minister for Bougainville Affairs Sir Puka Temu presented cheques worth $US2.3 million.
The rump of this goes towards the Bougainville Referendum Commission for referendum awareness and security related work, while over half a million dollars is directed to the Arawa School of Nursing.
The cheques follow recent comments by Bougainville's president John Momis about PNG's failure to pay hundreds of millions of dollars it owes his region.
Mr Momis recently hosted PNG prime Minister James Marape and his cabinet who made an historic visit to Bougainville last week.
During the visit, the two governments were briefed on preparation for the vote by the Bougainville Referendum Commission.
