PAPUA NEW GUINEA'S Prime Minister Bill Skate has appealed to the people of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea for forgiveness for the pain and suffering inflicted on them over the nine-year civil war.
His plea came as the people of the war-torn island looked forward to free elections and the laying down of arms as agreed under the ceasefire pact reached at Lincoln University in New Zealand on Friday.
Bougainville and PNG leaders will cooperate to restore and develop Bougainville's public and private sectors with emphasis on rural areas.
The ceasefire becomes effective from April 30 and the political issue of Bougainville's future will be addressed at further meetings on Bougainville by June.
A free and democratic election on Bougainville will be held this year to "elect a Bougainville Reconciliation Government".
The leaders meeting in New Zealand decided on this as part of the Lincoln Agreement on Peace, Security and Development.
In an open letter to the people of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea on Sunday, Prime Minister Skate said: "I feel compelled by the grace of God that the time has now come to say sorry and ask for your forgiveness.
"I now humble myself before God and all of you and ask for your understanding, acceptance and forgiveness."
It is the first time since the Bougainville conflict started in 1989 that a PNG Prime Minister has openly asked for forgiveness.
"As Prime Minister, I acknowledge the responsibility and role of the National Government, including agencies of the Government, that have been part of the conflict, the pain and suffering of the people of Bougainville and indeed from other parts of Papua New Guinea," Skate said.
"As my delegation and I sat, watched and listened during the opening ceremonies and open discussion session during this meeting, we were touched and deeply moved by the voices and cries of the people of Bougainville.
"We learnt a great deal. We also shared in your lives and pain, the suffering, the longing, and the sense of loss and of opportunities.
"We acknowledge that the impact of the past nine years of conflict will continue to be faced by generations to come."
Skate said the current peace process which the leaders and people of Bougainville began with the Burnham Declaration of July 1997, and which the National Government joined at the Burnham 2 Talks, recognised "all our roles in the conflict."
"The fact that the conflict erupted and continued over nine long years is testimony to our inability and mistakes. We must all be prepared to acknowledge this fully," Skate said.
The PM said that over the past several months a new beginning had been witnessed through reconciliation and peace ceremonies by families and communities throughout Bougainville.
"At the same time people throughout Papua New Guinea have prayed for peace and reconciliation."
Skate added: "I now humble myself before God and all of you and ask for your understanding, acceptance and forgiveness.
"We must now, with confidence and determination, continue our journey to achieve a lasting peace on Bougainville and Papua New Guinea."
The Prime Minister said nothing could be done about the past, "but if we forget the past we will have done everything for the future. As the scripture directs us in Isaiah 43:18-19."
Skate added that "it is now my humble prayer that in asking for your forgiveness that we all together forget the past and look to what God is doing now in giving to us as one people, one country and one nation a new hope and a new future."
The Lincoln declaration was signed at the end of five days of talks described by participants as "tough" in the first face-to-face meeting between the government and rebels.
