One-stop fishing town in Morobe

Morobe is to build a modern fishing town, a one-stop-shop, to cater for the booming fishing industry in Papua New Guinea and the neighbouring Pacific island countries.
To cost up to K30 million, the fishing town will be built at Tikeleng, several kilometers outside of Lae city and work is expected to start in January.
The Morobe Fisheries Management Authority (MFMA) yesterday said the project, named as the Tikeleng Marine Park, would host fish processing plants, cold storage facilities, boat building and repair facilities and other services linked to the fishing industry in the country.
“The marine park when fully commissioned will pave the way for onshore processing facilities thus contributing to the government’s downstream processing and export driven policy.
“It will also encourage economic activities and generate revenue for the Morobe provincial government,” chairman of MFMA Royden Aigal said.
He said the marine part would be a one-stop-shop for the fishing industry and would be a place everyone would go for fresh fish.
Mr Aigal said the project was supported by the Morobe provincial government and industry leaders in the country.
He said companies involved in fishing activities and down stream processing were keen to see the marine park developed so that they would not have to continue to send work overseas.
Mr Aigal said: “Today all the fishing vessels are sent overseas for maintenance because PNG does not have any facilities to do the jobs.
“To kick start the project, the Morobe provincial government has committed K300,000 to fund the feasibility study, which is expected to commence in January.”
Mr Aigal said the authority was confident that financial institutions and donor organizations have already indicated their willingness to support the project.
"We are confident of securing the funds. The actual cost of the project would be determined after the study is completed.
"It would be safe to say it could go up to K30 million," Mr Aigal said.
He said the MFMA would work closely with the National Fisheries Authority and the National Planning and the Rural Development Officers to get the necessary paper work in place for the project to get off the ground.