Bougainville's unique time zone, public service punctuality, and the hunt for missing billions

Living and working in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville presents unique challenges, particularly concerning timekeeping. The region operates on "Bougainville time," which is one hour ahead of mainland Papua New Guinea. This temporal difference often leads to confusion, with meeting organizers needing to clarify whether a time refers to PNG time or Bougainville time.

Some organizations with head offices in Port Moresby justify later start times for their Bougainville teams, citing the delayed opening of the Port Moresby office. While this rationale might draw criticism, it reflects an effort to emulate head office operations. The article notes that this practice, while perhaps unconventional, is simply "what it is" in Bougainville.

The article highlights a common criticism regarding public service delivery and punctuality in Bougainville. A local saying suggests that public servants "clock in at PNG Time (one hour late) and clock out at Bougainville time (one hour earlier)." This quip underscores the perceived lack of punctuality among some public servants.

Beyond timekeeping, the piece delves into the persistent issue of missing public funds. It mentions the establishment of the National Monitoring and Consultation Authority (NMCA) tasked with tracking down K56 billion in Public Investment Program (PIP) and other funding that has seemingly vanished over the past 50 years. The article lists an array of agencies involved in this pursuit, including the Auditor-General, PAC, Fraud Squad, and ICAC, describing them as an "impressive bunch of tracker dogs."

However, the author expresses skepticism about the outcome, questioning what will happen to those caught stealing. The article suggests that corruption is deeply entrenched, with many reports likely to be "swept under the carpet" without accountability, echoing the late Sir Mekere's sentiment that corruption is "systemic and systematic."

Finally, the article touches upon the unreliable mobile network coverage in Buka. The author describes experiencing a "magic trick" with two major mobile providers whose networks frequently drop. The 4G network symbol often appears, but the internet service is rarely available, especially when power outages occur, which the article states happen almost 10 times a day.