Firm supports provinces

Business

THE Ok Tedi Mining Limited tax credit scheme has provided infrastructure for the people of Western and West Sepik in the past 20 years, according to the company.
It said in a statement that providing infrastructure development to these provinces had improved living standards because it allowed services to reach the remote communities.
The infrastructure tax credit scheme was set up in 1992 by the government.
It set a 0.75 per cent of assessable income for participating petroleum and mining companies to deliver infrastructure and development projects, on behalf of the provincial and national government, to areas where the resources are and where the company operations were located.
OTML registered under the programme in 1996. Since 1997, it had provided significant development and impact projects to Telefomin and Oksapmin areas in Western and West Sepik.
The projects cover education, health, law and order, roads, bridges, agriculture and livestock, airstrips and jetties along the Fly River corridor.  The scheme’s project appraisal committee undertakes project site monitoring annually to ensure projects are implemented smoothly and within the approved funds.
In a recent visit to various TCS project sites, committee representatives were impressed with the progress of the projects.
They thanked OTML and the Ok Tedi Development Foundation Infrastructure Development Department for the assistance.