Could Tourism Help Lead Bougainville Into The Future?
Article – RNZ
A former rebel who fought in the bloody Bougainville Civil War in the 1990s is now running a tour business and sees tourism as a bright light to rejuvenate the economy., RNZ Pacific Senior Journalist
Bougainville has gone through many turbulent periods over the past 100 years, not least the Civil War of the 1990s, which claimed as many as 20,000 lives.
The government is now looking to develop the economy and has its eye on mining as an immediate solution as it strives for independence.
However, for at least one Bougainvillean, tourism in the region is more than just a promise.
Zhon Bosco Miriona has been running his business Bougainville Experience Tours for years, and he spoke to RNZ Pacific about the sector now and its prospects.
(This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity).
Zhon Bosco Miriona: I started the company in 2010. But in 2002 the Bougainville government had sent me as a youth to represent Bouganville at the Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival in Fiji, so that is where got interested in tourism.
I was one of the people that had joined the rebels to fight against the system in the Bougainville War. So after that, I went down there [Fiji], and that way I got interested in the tourism after the mining had an issue with our people in Bougainville. So that is why I saw that tourism can help Bougainville better than mining.
Don Wiseman: What sort of tourism?
ZBM: At the moment we are running tourism for people that are coming for culture, history, World War Two and the Bougainville War, trekking, bird watching, and even people just want to come to take pictures on photography tours, and fish, game fishing. And also, we are looking after super yachts and small expedition vessels, like the New Zealand owned, Heritage Adventure, which comes once a year, but I think it's going to be coming here twice a year.
DW: Now when you when you see photos and film at Bougainville – it's a spectacular place, isn't it?. You can see the appeal for tourists. But the problem, I guess, is getting people there. It's difficult, isn't it?
ZBM: The main problem for people, especially Papua New Giuneans that want to come to Bougainville – and the biggest killer in the tourism industry – is the air fares. You will spend a big amount of money that you can do around the world, from maybe Australia [and] New Zealand, to travel around the world and back to your country. That is the amount of money that we spend from Port Moresby to reach Bougainville. Around 5000 kina (about NZ$2000) – too much.
But we have a airport that is coming up – our Kieta Airport, which is under construction now – maybe by end of 2026 it will open.
We will have flights coming in from the Solomon Islands so that will be a big bonus for our tourism industry in Bougainville. We will have clients coming to especially Fiji or Australia, come up to Honira or Munda, and it is like 30 minutes or 25 minutes flight from Munda to Kieta.
DW: How many of the tourists you get are from overseas?
ZBM: At the moment, we used to have, like, previously used to have, like, one or two every quarter, just after we started. But now we are getting, like, every month tourists coming in. Like, not really big numbers, but in a small way, but it's increasing like five to 10 a month.
DW: And there's enough accommodation as numbers increase?
ZBM: No, that is one issue. But people are building more. We have a new hotel that's this coming up in Arawa, built by a local company.
It is good that they are going to have a four storey accommodation in Arawa, and we need to build some more in Buka, because at the moment, accommodation is going to be the problem, along the years that we will be getting more people in.
Also we are trying to look to encourage our guest houses, or the lodges, to put more rooms into their accommodation.
DW: Now Bougainville, of course, has had a turbulent history going back a long way, but I guess, most particularly the recent Civil War.
ZBM: A lot of people that are coming in are interested about the history of Bougainville from the colonial era, or before the colonists came.
There were people that came up looking for gold and stuff like that. And lot of people are coming here for the history, about the war, about even why Bougainville went into war and how we stopped the war.
But I would like to thank the government and the people of New Zealand for your assistance from the troops and peace monitoring and all these things.
We also have New Zealand police still around here in Bougainville. So thank you very much the people of New Zealand for being with us after we went through this conflict.
DW: Bougainville is on the verge of independence, at least as far as your government's concerned. We don't quite know what the people in Port Moresby are thinking at this stage, do we? But how is that going to impact your business?
ZBM: I think the Bougainville people – we have had enough of the war and all this.
We are peace loving people so we do not want to have any war again. But the thing, especially for our independence, that is up to the politicians. We already voted for the referendum, we told the world that we want to go and have our own country.
It is now between our government and the Papua New Giunea government to give us what we have wanted. People might say, 'Oh, I think if the referendum failed, people will go back to war'.
No, we do not want to go back to war. We want just the world to recognise us, and then we can have our own county.
But we will be with PNG, working together, like what Papua New Guinea is doing with Australia, after Australia gave them the independence. It is just a political thing, but the relationship will be always be there.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
Poor Countries Set To Pay $22billion For China Debt
Article – RNZ New research from the Lowy Institute shows the world's poorest countries will make record high debt repayments to China this year. , RNZ Pacific Senior Journalist New research from the Lowy Institute shows the world's poorest countries will make record high debt repayments to China this year. The research, released last month, showed China is set to call in US$22 billion for debts from 75 countries assessed by the World Bank as the world's poorest and most vulnerable in 2025. Ten Pacific nations were on the list. China's foreign ministry, meanwhile, denies Beijing is responsible for developing debt. Lowy research author Riley Duke said China had shifted from lead bilateral banker to chief debt collector for the developing world. 'Because of the large amount of lending that China did in the mid-2010s, and the way it structured its loans through its Belt-and-Road initiative, this year, it is seeing a huge spike in repayments,' he said. For Pacific countries that had borrowed from China, Duke said repayment strain was already an issue. He identified Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu as being at higher risk due to respective loans. In Tonga, the impact of Chinese loans had been a 'big political issue' this year. Duke anticipated that about 15 percent of the government's revenue over the next few years would be devoted to debt repayments. 'Last year, Tonga spent more on its debt repayments than it did on health for its citizens,' he said. 'And so when we look at the….forward outlook, there are more challenges on the horizon. There are key development issues across the Pacific that countries and their governments and their people want to be dealing with. 'But instead, these debt burdens are there and they're persistent. 'Again, just to focus on Tonga…. [it] ran five successful budget surpluses in the lead-up to having a big wave of Chinese debt repayments coming in. 'But then it faced huge economic costs from the pandemic, from the earthquake, from cyclones, and so that wiped out all the money that [the government] had put aside.' Duke believed the amount of China's lending into the region was less than a quarter of the level it was in the mid-2010s. 'I'd be surprised to see any new large loans from China in the region, and I think related to that is the broader topic of whether Pacific countries should take on lots of debt. 'Pacific countries have large financing gaps. There's a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built, and sometimes loans are the best way to do that, and ultimately that just comes back to the quality of the project. 'People are a bit afraid of debt, and I think it's a bit…of a dirty word, but if a loan is taken out to finance a project that is good for economic growth, good for a Pacific country [because] it drives connectivity [and] it drives the economy, then it's a good loan, and it's good debt to take on, and it will pay itself back.' He said there had also been a shift in how China engaged with the region. 'China's main form of engagement with the Pacific 15 years ago was lending. I think 80 percent of all of China's development financing to the region was in the form of loans, and that's fallen off dramatically since around 2018.' That shift was due to a range of factors, including increased financing options for Pacific governments, Duke said. 'In 2010, China might have been the only partner offering large-scale infrastructure financing. 'Australia is now offering more financing in that space. The World Bank is offering more financing in that space; there's climate funds that are also offering adaptation projects and adaptation infrastructure. 'So there are more options on the table for Pacific countries than there was previously. And I think that is part of the reason that China's lending has declined.' China's foreign ministry denied Beijing was responsible for developing debt. 'China's cooperation on investment and financing with developing countries follows international practice, market principles, and the principle of debt sustainability,' spokesperson Mao Ning said. 'A handful of countries are spreading the narrative that China is responsible for these countries' debt. 'However, they ignore the fact that multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors from developed countries are the main creditors of developing countries, and the primary source of debt repayment pressure. 'Lies cannot cover truth and people can tell right from wrong.'
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Deficit budget announced in Tonga; largest ever spend
St George Government Building, Nuku'alofa CBD Photo: Matangi Tonga Tonga's 'Aisake Eke Government has produced its first budget, pumping up spending by more than 10 percent compared with last year. It has some key elements that differ from previous years, such as an assistance boost for some private sector businesses. Don Wiseman spoke with RNZ Pacific's correspondent, Kalafi Moala, and began by asking where the additional money is going. KALAFI MOALA: One of the key things that this government, when they came into being, was declaring and proclaiming changes that they were going to make, compared with, say, the previous government. And one of the things that you've been saying was that they're going to, probably for the first time in Tonga history, give money to the private sector. They've been given the message of private sector development, it is the pathway to economic development, to the future and so on. So in this budget, one of the specific things they've done is assigned quite a bit to private sector development. ...But the whole budget of 992 million plus [pa'anga] - it's the biggest in Tonga's history, more than last year's budget. And also it's a deficit budget. I think, if I can remember this, about 28 million [pa'anga] in deficit. But then the government have said that they are going to pay for this deficit by issuing bonds, public bonds, so I guess they've got it all worked out. DON WISEMAN: Public bonds - has Tonga issued bonds before? KM: I can't recall when, but yeah, in the last, say, 10 years or so, they've done that. DW: In terms of this money going to the private sector. There are no details at all? KM: No details other than the fact that they think that fisheries and agriculture is going to be a major focus, particularly on businesses that have already started. For example, things like marketing and setting up pack houses for export. This is the kind of things that they think government is going to help in the development of the private sector. DW: That essentially is the only difference from the previous government, despite what they had said about the failures of the previous government. KM: That's right. The other thing too, there has been quite a bit of talk this year about kava - kava being a product that Tonga wants to focus on exporting. I mean, you've got this ban out of Fiji, out of Vanuatu, quite successfully. And so Tonga is entering the market. And this is another issue, another thing that they're going to help in the private sector development. DW: We don't know precisely what they might do in terms of that trade? KM: No. But you see, one of the problems that Tonga has been known for over the years is that Tonga has talked about marketing certain products. You remember the days when we were marketing squash, sending to Japan, and to China, and then we ran out, because the complaint has been that Tonga was not able to produce enough for the market. And we've seen that happening to cassava, we've seen it happening to other products, and there's hope that this is not the kind of thing that will happen to kava, that there's an excitement about exporting kava. People are starting to plant kava now, and there's a lot of talk about it. But then are we going to be able to stay and produce enough for the market? DW: In terms of education, subsidised loans will be available for non-government schools. What have they got in mind here? KM: Well, you see, it's been a normal thing that government's contribution to non-government schools - it's 700 [pa'anga] per head for every student. In other words, they're paying all non-government schools 700 per head per year. And this has been going on up to the last government. So they are wanting to continue this process, but to make sure that it's done and to follow up to make sure that the money goes... not just to the schools to spend on just projects that may not be necessary, but the focus on paying teachers. Because the complaint has been that a lot of teachers of non-government schools are underpaid, and some of them are leaving for greener pastures overseas, and so there's a shortage of teachers in non-government schools. So, yes, they're pledging that they're going to continue to do that. Photo: ppart/123RF DW: Work is going to go into the nursing school. KM: Yes, there's a lot of planning going with that. You know, Tonga now, of course, has what we call the Tonga National University, and so all training, tertiary-type training, is now being under the Tonga National University - teachers training, nursing training, training of seamen, that kind of thing. And so, yeah, there's a lot of funding that will go to that as well. DW: And a new hospital - I presume it's a new hospital, on Vava'u. KM: That comes under what they call the development budget. You have the recurrent budget, of course, which is part of the budget that goes into carrying the expenses, the current expenses of government. And then you've got the development budget, which goes to projects. And much of the development budget, of course, comes from aid. It goes into building wharfs and hospitals and things like that. And yeah, there's been a lot of calls for Vava'u - that they need to upgrade healthcare in Vava'u - so the hospital is a major focus.
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- RNZ News
Papua New Guinea aims to resurrect shortwave radio
NBC Papua New Guinea logo Photo: Facebook / NBC News PNG Papua New Guinea's state broadcaster NBC wants shortwave radio reintroduced to achieve the government's goal of 100 percent broadcast coverage by 2030. Last week, the broadcaster hosted a workshop on the reintroduction of shortwave radio transmission, bringing together key government agencies and other stakeholders. NBC had previously a shortwave signal, but due to poor maintenance and other factors, the system failed. Its managing director Kora Nou spoke with RNZ Pacific about the merits of a return to shortwave. Kora Nou Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koro Vakauta (The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.) Kora Nou: We had shortwave at NBC about 20 or so years ago, and it reached almost the length and breadth of the country. So fast forward 20, we are going to celebrate our 50th anniversary. Our network has a lot more room for improvement at the moment, tthat's why there's the thinking to revisit shortwave again after all this time. Don Wiseman: It's a pretty cheap medium, as we here at RNZ Pacific know, but not too many people are involved with shortwave anymore. In terms of the anniversary in September, you're not going to have things up and running by then, are you? KN: It's still early days. We haven't fully committed, but we are actively pursuing it to see the viability of it. We've visited one or two manufacturers that are still doing it. We've seen some that are still on, still been manufactured, and also issues surrounding receivers. So there's still hard thinking behind it. We still have to do our homework as well. So still early days and we've got the minister who's asked us to explore this and then give him the pros and cons of it. DW: Who would you get backing from? You'd need backing from international donors, wouldn't you? KN: We will put a business case into it, and then see where we go from there, including where the funding comes from - from government or we talk to our development partners. There's a lot of thinking and work still involved before we get there, but we've been asked to fast track the advice that we can give to government. DW: How important do you think it is for everyone in the country to be able to hear the national broadcaster? KN: It's important not only being the national broadcaster, but the service it provides to our people. We've got FM, which is good with good quality sound. But the question is, how many does it reach? It's pretty critical in terms of broadcasting services to our people, and 50 years on, where are we? It's that kind of consideration. I think the bigger contention is reintroduce software transmission. But how does it compare or how can we enhance it through the improved technology that we have nowadays as well. That's where we are right now.
