Post Courier Article Today

At a lower level than the proposed handover of much of the region's wealth to McGlinn we have (Post Courier, Friday February 15th) - 

Loloho Digicel tower equipment torchedFebruary 15, 2019BY PATRICK MAKIS and MATTHEW VARI

Communications equipment at the Loloho Digicel Tower situated on the mountains overlooking Loloho was burnt on Wednesday morning allegedly by disgruntled landowners. This has now resulted in a total Digicel network outage in Arawa and the surrounding communities. Although details are still sketchy, the burning of the tower equipment is alleged to have stemmed from a dispute over the distribution of rental payments amongst family members of people who own the land where the tower is situated on. This act of sabotage is the latest of a number of acts of vandalism targeting Digicel communication towers on Bougainville. This also comes amidst recent revelations from the mobile telco that it was struggling to maintain its services on Bougainville due to the frequent acts of vandalism and burning down of its communication equipment. Many residents of Arawa town and the surrounding areas expressed grave concerns about the burning down of the tower. “The banks, the easy pay power system, mobile banking and even EFTPOS machines all depend on the Digicel network here and people cannot hold others to ransom by destroying vital communication equipment,” a town resident who did not to be named said. “Is this the type of behaviour we want to portray to the outside world especially in the lead up to referendum?” There were long queues at the Arawa BSP Bank yesterday as people; especially public servants struggled to access their monies through the ATMs as EFTPOS services in shops have been affected by the network outage and police are investigating. Meanwhile, Digicel Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer, Lorna McPherson, commented that the incident marks a sad day for the autonomous region as it continues to have individuals putting themselves before region’s development and prosperity. “The burning of the tower yesterday or the day before was an issue where the landowners had a family feud,” Ms McPherson said. She indicated the telco has no intension to repair the damage until the safety of its infrastructure is guaranteed. “We need to speak to the landowners and we need to assess the situation because if we can’t keep the towers safe then there is no point having it there. “What happens is that we fix it and then they steal the solar panels or they vandalize the towers? “We have lots of different issues in Bougainville, but it is not down to Digicel but its certain individuals who do not want communications in their own region. “You have to be able to communicate to the outside world and so therefore we need to create some sort of education and for the people of Bougainville. “This is so that they understand the importance of communication especially for the future of all Bougainvillians.”

Police appeal for return of solar panels

ARAWA police are appealing to the communities near the Aropa Airport to cooperate and return stolen solar panels taken from the aerodrome last Saturday.Outgoing Central Bougainville Regional Police Commander Chief Sergeant Herman Birengka, made the call during a meeting with stakeholders including local community leaders, ex-combatant leaders and government representatives in Arawa yesterday.Bougainville police service head ACP Francis Tokura and senior police officers also attended the stakeholder meeting.According to police reports, the two 1000 watt solar panels, which power the precision approach path indicator (PAPI) navigation lights were stolen in the early hours of last Saturday.The police report indicated that although there were security personnel engaged by the National Airports Corporation to protect the airport equipment, it was unclear how the thieves made off with the solar panels without being detected."The NAC has lodged an official complaint with us and investigations are now under way. We are currently consulting with stakeholders and the local communities.With their support we hope to make arrests soon," stated Arawa police.Air Niugini scheduled flights to Aropa (Kieta) Airport have been suspended indefinitely as a result of the incident.The PAPI lights and equipment were installed in September last year and ensured the resumption of Air Niugini flights into Aropa.The installation of the PAPI lights was made possible through funding from the NAC and additional funds of K100,000 from the MP for South Bougainville, Timothy Masiu.With the suspension of Air Niugini flights, the people of Central and South Bougainville will now have to resort to travelling on PNG Air or travel to Buka to catch Air Niugini flights out of the region.