Pacific / Bougainville

Bougainvilleans consulted on location for new capital

17:00 pm on 27 September 2021

Bougainvilleans are being asked where the capital should be located.

Photo: RNZ

It comes as the region continues its path towards independence from Papua New Guinea with the government of Ishmael Toroama expecting that to be completed by 2027.

Since early in the civil war Buka Town, on Buka Island, has been the capital, but this has always been considered temporary.

Buka is also seen as a place with not enough land to support the needs of a fully fledged capital in an independent Bougainville.

There is a strong push from Central Bougainville for the capital to return to Arawa, the original base until the civil war made life in that part of the region too difficult.

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Amendment is consulting people in Buin, Siwai and Bana in the south, then moving to Central Bougainville before returning to Buka.