Changes to be made on Act to suit PNG conditions, says an official

By BRADLEY MARIORI
CHANGES will be made to the Small Craft Act to suit PNG conditions, says National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) small craft safety officer Ishmael Kawi.
He said some parts of the current legislation were “not necessary or not in the context of PNG”.
The Act came into effect in 2015.
The NMSA now wants to find out from provinces “where we are in terms of implementation, coordination, what we have achieved”.
“Some provinces have gone ahead. We have 15 maritime provinces with 12 already establishing a board and registry,” he said.
“Of the 12, eight (had gone) into registration and licensing already.
“Four, because they were recently established, were not yet into registration and licensing.”
Kawi said when the Act was introduced, there were certain provisions “not applicable to us”.
“Our team from the maritime rescue communication centre gave an overview of their roles and responsibilities globally, nationally and gaps that need to be addressed,” he said. “They provided statistics to tell the provinces the number of boats that went missing, and how small crafts contribute to a lot of maritime incidents compared to bigger boats.”
Kawi said the NMSA wanted to see the number of small boats going missing decrease.