By Nikana Kansi

Imagine this all too familiar scene where a piece of bone is shown before a hungry dog, with tongue wagging it gives full attention to the bone and never will allow another dog get in its way when the bone is thrown down, and if there is another dog around, there is sure to be an ugly war. When people become hooked to money, this is exactly what happens. And that is the danger when the love for money overpowers rationale human conscience. 

And the danger is especially for individuals who take precise stances for or against issues. To be more specific; those who are for or against the Panguna mine reopening.  

The ability to use money to waver favour has been, and is a powerful tool used by corporates, politicians, and any individual who has the monetary capacity to do so. Ultimately, this is referred to as bribery, but it can also be an enticement or lure, whether to make one change their mind or sides, or to simply turn a blind eye, money is an all the more powerful medium of influence. 

The concern in the matter of this discourse is simply where one is in regards to the issue that Bougainville has strenuously been faced with overtime. The war, which culminated in the loss of tens of thousands of lives, and an environment that simply is beyond repair, the toll on both human and environment is nothing less of genocide. 

The people who write for the blog site BCL24 should know well that that ‘better devil’ was ever content to allow and sponsor terrorism mostly on the innocent. 

This is as explicit as it can get, there has to be a problem with one’s conscience to think that mining can actually alleviate the problems that Bougainville faces today. May be so for economic recovery, but why with the entity that was content back then in allowing the PNG Defence Force to torture, rape and harm the innocent whilst searching for the individuals whom BCL referred to as “terrorist”. 

As rationale beings, we really need to examine our ability to analyze things. Self-scrutiny on how we would look at issues is important as discussing them. We have to understand why many Bougainvilleans do not have favourable opinions towards mining, however, if they do, there are always strong conditions attached. And this is the same point that can be proven in many centres throughout the region. This is not an assumption. And to assumptions, they are the mother of all muck ups, as the less vulgar meaning implies.     

Hence, if we are to allow money over our moral conscience to choose what is morally right, then we will in turn suppress each other. And this is a factor we must avoid falling victim to.  In the end, if something goes terribly wrong, we will be the ones pointing the guns at each other, simply because for the love of money, we put aside our ability to think. We have a responsibility to each other, and our island. We should not pit us against ourselves. 

As the picture illustrates, if we are to leave our conscience for money, we might well end up like this...