ADB report disappoints Air Niugini

By EMMANUEL MAIPE
AIR Niugini is disappointed with the Asian Development Bank’s report on state-owned entities, saying it was never involved in any discussions with ADB to get proper information.   
Chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri said he had never been invited to, or had had any discussions with ADB report writers on the airline operations and its operating constraints, or its achievements and direction for the future.
“I think this is the very sad state of the report, which deteriorates its credibility materially,” he said.
“Our minister (Ben Micah), Independent Public Business Corporation managing director (Thomas Abe) and management, our board and our management team and I and all our staff are more focused to make more-reliable and more-affordable air services to the public and more services to rural communities.
“This comes with at least with once-a-week service connecting doctors, health workers, school teachers and public service machinery and developing tourism in PNG as an alternate mechanism to develop PNG’s regional economies.”
Kumarasiri said he briefed a meeting yesterday that Air Niugini operated consistentLY with public and government expectations and had been a profitable operation.
“Certain funds Air Niugini received were a shareholder prerogative and we could not reject,” he said.
“It is up to the shareholder to reinvest profits and, where necessary, make additional capital injection with a hope of making a stronger airline to deliver service to the public.”
The ADB report stated that SOEs in PNG, including Air Niugini, had become a liability to the state rather than an asset due to the high costs of their operations and low generation of profits.