Abe: Treat SOEs as assets, not liabilities

Business

STATE-OWNED entities should be treated as assets and not liabilities, Kumul Consolidated Holdings acting managing director Thomas Abe says.
Abe, pictured, told the meeting of department heads in Mendi, Southern Highlands, yesterday that “we need a new direction for state-owned entities”.
“I want to be frank here as a passionate Papua New Guinean.
“State-owned entities are an asset and not liability to the State.”
Abe said there was a need for new vision and a strategic direction for SOEs.
“I have noted that a lot of amendments have been made to the Kumul Consolidated Act and the SOE legislation.
“And I find that many SOEs are running around with NEC submissions.
“There should be one master plan, for our electricity for instance, going forward.”
He said when he was in charge of Kumul Minerals (Holdings Limited), he cut the department’s strength from 100 to about 50 ‘to live within its means’.
“Those are commercial realities.
“We cannot build an empire that is not sustainable,” he said.
Abe also noted the continuous changes made to heads of State-owned entities.
“Changing managing directors every six months or 12 months needs to stop too. We need some tough decisions.
“This is the time as within the next few months, you will all be responsible for policy.
“Hopefully in the next few months, we can put something to the Government in terms of managing the future of state-owned entities.”