Cabinet approves new power project

Cabinet has approved a new Ramu Two project to start which should address power issues in the Highlands and parts of Lae and Madang, Minister for Public Enterprise and State Investment William Duma says.
Duma told parliament yesterday that power supply problems needed immediate attention.
“Due to a number of factors, no one was able to pay attention to the deteriorating power generation system at Yonki,” he said.
“We are actually back by 10 years in terms of maintenance and refit of the turbines and generation capacity in Yonki.
“This is why Cabinet has given approval in principle for the new Ramu 2 project which will rehabilitate and help restore some of the energy needs we have.
“It’s a long overdue requirement that we have ignored over the years to our detriment and I admit that not only Lae but all our centres right across the Highlands as well as Madang is experiencing power shortage.”
Duma said that in the electorate that he comes from, they have had blackouts for two to three weeks running.
“This is unacceptable and I have instructed the acting MD of PPL and the board to take immediate steps,” he said.
“About a year ago, that problem became apparent to us and I did give necessary instructions. In these sorts of matters where we ignored those state entitles for awhile, we are now paying the price.”