THOUSANDS FILE WAR CLAIMS IN BOUGAINVILLE CONFLICT Lost wages, goods, services[FONT="][/FONT] PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, Feb. 23, 2011) - Bougainville is faced with a 1.3 billion- kina [US$492 million] crisis-related bill from local, national and foreign businesses including individuals. And a total of 9676 registered claims are with the Bougainville Administration of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), currently under pressure to pay up.These are the claims incurred during the 1996 Bougainville crisis which destroyed Bougainville, specifically central Bougainville, Kieta, Arawa and Panguna. But the Bougainville Administration has advised that the combined cost of the crisis-related claims (CRC) has decreased drastically to 245 million- kina [US$93 million], significantly less than the 3 billion- kina [US$1.1 billion] previously quoted. ABG Administration managed to work out the crisis-related claims under four main categories: unpaid salaries and wages, goods and services rendered to the Government, damage and loss of property, physical injuries and deaths and unlawful arrest and imprisonment.[FONT="][/FONT]
