Air Niugini building cleared after inspection by building board

THERE are no major safety compliance issues with the recently opened eight-level Air Niugini apartments in Port Moresby, says airline general manager, commercial, Dominic Kaumu.
He told The National that the airline was in constant communication with relevant authorities and stakeholders on the matter despite of claims otherwise. “On March 22, 2018, there was joint inspection of the building carried out by staff of the NCDC Building Board and staff of the Fire Services together with our team at Air Niugini led by the general manager, property,” Kaumu said.
“After the inspection they had a debrief and they agreed that there was no major concern and the building was compliant and that was communicated to us. This was the last inspection that was held.”
Kaumu, responding to claims that the airline had turned away authorities for inspection a day earlier, said: “The issue about them coming a day before and being turned away was that that everyone gets turned back without an appointment. This is standard for Air Niugini, which is the normal protocol for most organisations.
“The property shares the same gate as the head office and they were turned away for that reason and not because of any other reasons as claimed.”
He noted that issues on building compliance were best communicated through proper channels with government authorities rather than by making claims in the media.
The claims of non-compliance were raised by building contractor Matrix Constructions PNG on the commercial kitchen, bar and laundry.