4 Sep 2019

Bougainville extends gun surrender grace period

From , 3:03 pm on 4 September 2019

A deadline for the surrender of weapons in Bougainville has been extended until mid-September.

The removal of guns from the community is a key requirement as Bougainville prepares for a referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea in November.

Agreement had been reached by most of the former rebel Me'ekamui groups to join the peace process and commit to making the referendum work.

These groups agreed to surrender their guns by 1st September.

Most of those guns, about 120, are now under lock and key at Panguna in central Bougainville but the Minister for Peace Agreement Implementation, Albert Pungahau, told Don Wiseman that more time was needed to complete the process.

Guns

Photo: 123RF