Academy receives K4.5m funding

Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd presented a K4.5 million cheque to its subsidiary Kumul Petroleum Academy yesterday to implement of one of its strategic objectives – training the nation.
The initiative is funded through KPHL’s participation in the South Pacific Employment Institute (SPEI).
KPHL managing director Wapu Sonk, in the presence of the first batch of intakes this year,  said Papua New Guineans would have an opportunity to be trained at the first “live gas training centre in the South Pacific at Idubada in Port Moresby.
Sonk, who is also a director of the SPEI board that runs the academy, said the Kumul academy was an integral part of the company’s deliberation strategy in skills development which complemented a workforce nationalisation initiative of the Government.
“The Government notes the concerns of skill gap of the nationals to fill technical and the operational jobs required for the hydrocarbon, energy and  power and construction sectors. Therefore, during the PNG LNG construction phase, a lot international labour was mobilised,” Sonk said.
“With the establishment of Kumul Petroleum Academy, PNG will produce and supply an internationally certified and accredited workforce.”
Sonk said the training facility would provide for the needs of other process-oriented industries such as like mining, the oil palm industry and  shipping.
He said the live gas process training facility being built in the Philippines, will be installed and used for training at the Kumul academy.