News and Public Notices

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) has declared a three-months State of Emergency (SOE) today following the effects of Cyclone Maila.

This decision was agreed upon by the Bougainville Executive Council (BEC) during an emergency meeting today and announced by the Vice President Hon Ezekiel Masatt this afternoon.

“A critical decision has been made by the BEC today - State of Emergency is now declared for the whole of Bougainville commencing today,” he declared.

The BEC has also agreed to allocate K10million to fund this SOE and currently the SOE has a budget of K2million under the existing budget for Disaster and Emergency.

The SOE will run for three months to assess and assist communities across Bougainville that have been affected by cyclone Maila; however, all services will continue as normal.

As it is a legal requirement when declaring an SOE to name a Controller and a Deputy Controller, the BEC has appointed Chief Secretary Kearnneth Nanei as the SOE Controller and Secretary for Community Government Mrs Belinda Gara Lanbong, as the Deputy Controller.

“Let me make it absolutely clear that all of Bougainville is declared an SOE, all our efforts and plans must go through the office of the Controller and Deputy Controller,” Vice President Masatt stressed.

According to Vice President Masatt, the establishment of the Controller and Deputy Controller now allows for a central command centre to be the focal point to coordinate relief efforts and also oversee assistance from other countries as well as the National Government.

“We need to have a coordinated approach to manage this assistance that will be given and so we felt the need to declare an SOE and also to make sure the Controller and Deputy Controller were appointed,” the Vice President explained.

Speaking as the SOE Controller this afternoon, Kearneth Nanei announced that SOE orders will be issued in the next 18 hours, adding that operational centres will also be established in North, Central and South Bougainville respectively.

Operational centres for North, Nissan and Atolls will be in Buka, while the Operational Centre for Central Bougainville will be in Arawa and the Operational Centre for South Bougainville will be in Buin.

Regional Directors for each region will be the team leaders in each of the operational centres working closely with government officers on the ground, including Community Governments.

“We will be issuing the SOE orders in the next 18 hours, and these orders will also bring in officers from the regional level, headed by regional directors to be the team leaders within the operation centres in the regions,” he said.

Mr Nanei said a team will be mobilized to conduct an immediate needs assessment to ensure initial relief supplies are organized and distributed to all affected areas during the course of the SOE.

Meanwhile, the BEC has also appointed a Ministerial Team that will be providing oversight and assistance to the Controller and Deputy Controller.

Vice President Masatt announced that this team is chaired by the ABG Minister for Community Government Hon. Milton Tukana and Hon. Delourdes Semoso, ABG Minister for Health as Deputy Chairlady.

Minister for Community Government Hon. Milton Tukana in supporting the SOE declarations, called for citizens to assist the government and urged Community Governments to work with the regional coordinators in the operational centres during the SOE.

Minister for Health Hon Delourdes Semoso shared similar sentiments and called for cooperation amongst all stakeholders to work together to ensure people in the affected areas receive the timely service and supplies during this SOE.

Citizens of Bougainville are called to be mindful of these SOE and comply to the SOE orders that will be issued in the next 18hours.

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